Mussels and Wild Mushroom Risotto

I went to Miller's at 14 and Haggerty, the only good place to buy fancy ingredients near me. I got a bag of live mussels from behind the fish counter, some dried wild mushrooms, a package of sliced portabellas, 2 shallots, a $5 bottle of white wine and a bunch of fresh parsley. I had the rest of the ingredients at home.

INGREDIENTS

MUSSELS:
1/4 sweet white onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 shallot, sliced
1 T capers, drained
2/3 cup white wine
Olive oil
Chopped parsley
Juice from 1 lemon

Crumbled bleu cheese *optional

MUSHROOM RISOTTO:
1.5 cups arborio rice
2 T olive oil
2 T butter *optional
1/4 sweet onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 shallot, sliced
1 package wild mushrooms, steeped in warm water for 30 mins (about 1 cup warm water)
1 package sliced portabella mushrooms
Chicken stock, heated
2/3 cup white wine, chill taken off
Chopped parsley
2 T (or more!) parmesan cheese
Salt/pepper to taste

PREPARATION

MUSSELS:

Sautee onions, shallots, garlic in olive oil for a little while until transluscent (not browned).
Increase heat to medium/high and add in wine, capers, parsley and juice from 1 lemon.
Put the mussels in, toss in the wine, and cover for 4-7 mins or until all/most of them have opened.
Pour into a bowl and serve with crumbled bleu cheese.

RISOTTO:

Strain the mushrooms and reserve the liquid. Chop the mushrooms and add all of the mushrooms to a hot oiled pan. Brown the mushrooms, stirring often, and set aside.
Sautee onions, shallot, garlic in olive oil for a little while until transluscent (not browned). Add in rice and stir to coat. Keep cooking over medium/low heat for 5 minutes or so, stirring often. Add in 2/3 cup of white wine and stir. Cook until the wine has been absorbed by the rice. Add in 1/2 cup heated chicken stock and stir stir stir. While that cooks, add in the mushrooms and keep stirring. Once the chicken stock has been absorbed, add in the mushroom stock (about 1/2 cup) and stir. Once the mushroom stock has been absorbed, add in another 1/2 cup of warmed chicken stock and stir. Salt/pepper to taste.

Once the rice is *almost* done, add in parsley, butter, and parmesan cheese and stir some more.
Take off heat and serve.