Bring in the pig!

My sister asked me for some easy dinner recipes and I'm going to attempt to accommodate her here. She's a big fan of meat (when presented with a tofu curry, she asked repeatedly why there was no form of the good stuff located on her plate) and alcohol (who doesn't like Sunday Funday?), so here is my marriage of the two.

Shallot Risotto with Sausage in a Beer-Mustard sauce. And some green stuff for color.


Bomb-diggity.

Here's what you might be ruminating on: what the heck is beer-mustard sauce? Is that good or terrible? Let me tell you, friends: it is wonderful. And so flipping-flanging easy, you'll soon feel like a truly legitimate German who has been slinging homemade sausages since the ripe age of 3.

You will need:
Risotto:
2 T olive oil
1 c short-grain rice
1 shallot
1/3 c white wine
4 c chicken stock

Sausage:
1 lb sausage (I went would go for something that is not too far in any direction; ie, not spicy, sweet, etc. Just sausage.) removed from casing
1 beer (I only had Tecate, which turned out well. I would go for something that isn't an IPA and pairs well with the mustard)

Totally not German at all, but who cares? Beer is good, beer is great, I want beer on my plate.
1 heaping tablespoon Mendocino mustard, or a sweet-and-hot brand of your choosing

Spinach and/or arugula, or a green of your choosing (kale would go nicely)

Start with the rice, since that will take the longest.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.

Dice your shallot finely and add to the pan when it's hot.

Saute until translucent, then throw in the rice.

Stir and toast until it browns ever so slightly. This will only take a few minutes and is mostly to coat the rice sufficiently in the fat.

When the rice is nice and oily, add the wine.

Let it cook down a tad, then begin slowly adding the broth and reduce the heat to med-low. You want the rice to be just submerged for the next 20ish minutes, so stir often and keep adding liquid to keep all of the rice covered.

When you've got that under control and doing it's thing, heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add the pork (no oil needed, pig is quite fatty) and cook through.

Make sure to mash up the sausage into small bits so it cooks evenly. You could do this with links or slices, but I feel like this gets the most flavor out of every little morsel.

When the pork is nearly done, pour about 3/4 of the beer into the pot. It will froth a bit.

Drink the rest of the can. Or bottle, if you reside in a classier apartment than I do.

Spoon the mustard into the pot and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium low, allowing it to simmer until the rice is done.

Speaking of rice, are you remembering to stir and add more stock? Don't mess it up, ok?

When you've added all of the stock, taste it to make sure it's cooked through. If it's all set, stop adding stock and allow the liquid to cook off a bit. I like mine to still be creamy and pretty saucy, but you can let it cook more if you want it a bit less-wet.

Put your veggie in the bottom of your serving bowl. Spoon the rice on top and add your meat and sauce.

Voila! Tasty magic. The mustard is sweet, the pork is salty, and the beer is...well, it's beer. It's just perfect the way it is.

This is a very easy meal to cook up and tastes great the next day (or later that night...ahem...no comment).

Nommy!