Budget Friendly Steak and Mushroom Risotto

Remember that beef that I cut into steaks and froze?  Well we just finished those steaks this week with a side of risotto.  I have been wanting to finish off some risotto rice that I had open from a while back, but I wanted to wait until the gourmet mix of mushrooms was on sale.  I was in luck this week because they finally went on sale!

• Mushrooms- $3.49
• Risotto- $1 (I used 1/4 of the bag and bought the bag for $3.99)
• Steaks- $2.40 (I used 4 of them and they were 60¢ each)
• Spinach- $1 (used 1/6 of the bin and bought the bin for $2.99)
• Onion- 30¢
• Chicken broth- 25¢ worth (BOGO find)
• Parmesan rind- free?  I was going to throw it away, but saw an article and blogged about it.
• Garlic powder- 5¢ worth?
• Spoonful of Philadelphia Cooking Creme- FREE with coupons!
• Balsamic vinegar- ~40¢ worth for dressing and marinade

Total $8.89 or $4.45 a serving!  I don’t think I could get a steak and risotto dinner anywhere for $4.45.

The makings of mushroom risotto

I boiled the risotto and mushrooms brought it back down to low and continued to add chicken broth until it no longer absorbed any more then I added a spoonful of the cooking creme.  Then I added the rind of the cheese, I shredded what I could and when I got tired of shredding I added the whole rind.  Also included lots of garlic powder.

Earlier in the day I had marinated the steaks in balsamic vinegar with a little salt and pepper.

The mushrooms that didn’t fit into the risotto where sautéed in olive oil before pan frying the steaks.

The steaks were panfried over high heat for about 2 minutes on one side and 1 on the other.  We like them medium rare, so cook for longer if needed.  The sautéed mushrooms were added to the plate after the meat rested for 2 minutes.

I was very impressed with myself!  The risotto turned out to be very creamy.  Tom said the steaks would have been better if they had caramelized onions… I will remember that for next time!

Cooking like this actually makes it difficult to pay for meals when we go out to eat.

Do any of you have secrets for a good risotto?