A special dinner for an interesting day

Since it was so pretty outside today, the bf and I decided to take the dog Paddington to the dog park. Since he got me such a nice Valentine's Day present I decided to make him his favorite, mushroom risotto for dinner, meaning that we needed to stop at the supermarket on the way home from our favorite dog park.

Now, I usually try to focus my posts only on food, BUT today was so interesting that I absolutely have to post about it (followed by the risotto and steak recipe of course). So I was sitting at the dog park minding my own business, reading some Partnership taxation watching Paddy play when I hear people starting to shout. I thinking that some dogs have gotten into a fight or something so I call Paddy over to me and put her on her leash. I also see the bf start running to the crowd of people and dogs that had assembled. Of course, I wasn't having any of that, but I was curious so Paddy and I walk closer to the crowd and see that its not two dogs fighting but that its actually two middle age men fighting. These men did not want to be broken up and were beginning to shout at those who were trying to break up the fight. Since the incident did not appear to be breaking up anytime soon, I decided to call the police and was told that the incident had already been reported. Turns out, the aggressor and the other dude's dog had gotten into a fight and the aggressor threw the other dog. The other dude's daughter told the aggressor to not throw her dog and the aggressor pushed her (apparently she was 15). The other dude's son then hit the aggressor who kicked the other dude's wife in the chest. The other dude then attempted to subdue the aggressor. So, apparently the aggressor then tried to escape on foot (and was able to do so) and the police came and the incident cleared up.

So after such an exciting day at the dog park, the bf and I were starving and I made steak and mushroom risotto. I have to thank foodnetwork.com for help with the risotto recipe, but I tweaked it to make it cheaper and to make it more steak friendly.

Horseradish Crusted Steak
1 package steak (any kind you want, I used petite sirloin b/c it was on sale)
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup bread crumbs
4 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the mayo, bread crumbs, horseradish, pepper, salt and cheese in a bowl. Season the steak with some additional salt and pepper. In a cast iron skillet heat some olive oil over med. high heat on the stove top. Place the steaks in the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes per side. Top each steak with the horseradish mixture. Place in the oven and back for 10 - 12 minutes or longer depending on how well done you like your steak.

Remove from oven and allow to rest before serving.

Mushroom Risotto (thanks Food Network)
2 cups Arborio rice
1/4 cup red wine
6-8 cups beef stock (warmed)
1 onion minced
3 cloves of garlic finely minced
1 lb mushrooms (any kind you like) sliced
2 bay leaves
handful of parsely chopped
hanful of thyme finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

In a large skillet or dutch oven saute the onions and garlic in some olive oil. Once softened add the mushrooms and cook for about 10 minutes until the mushrooms have browned. Add all of the herbs and spices. Cook for a minute more. Add the rice and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and allow to cook for another minute.

At this point begin adding the warmed stock one cup at a time. Allow the rice to absorb all of the liquid before adding more. Keep adding stock until the rice will no longer absorb any more liquid. Then add the butter and parmesan cheese.

Enjoy and I hope your day was less exciting than mine!