Thought for Food

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Creamy Risotto

Rain, rain and more rain is what greeted me this evening when I left the office. I hate rain if I have to go out in it. It's nice to watch a thunderstorm in the desert from the comfort of a lodge or to listen to the raindrops knocking on your window while you're curled up on the sofa, drinking a nice, hot tea and watching a movie. But it is horrible if you are sitting on a bicycle trying to fight your way through Dublin traffic (or any traffic, really). Accordingly, when it is really pouring down like that, I do not want to leave whatever room I'm in. If I'm at work, I forget about the nice comfy sofa waiting for me at home and just want to stay at the office until the sun comes back out - even if this means living there for a week or two. Obviously, this is not possible nor is it really desirable, so I put on my bright yellow waterproof trousers, my reflective vest and my helmet, and head off. I must admit, dressed like this, I closely resemble the Michelin Man on his way to a construction job, but with roads like ours and drivers who have no clue about road safety, looks are definitely the least of my worries.
Despite all this protective gear, I arrived at home looking as if I'd just been rescued from a sinking oil tanker: soaking wet and covered in sticky black goo. I was not a happy bunny and definitely not in the mood for standing in the kitchen for several hours. Dinner therefore needed to be something easy, something that does not need supervising and still won't go wrong - something like risotto. This might sound arrogant now, because risotto has a posh reputation. But if posh means complicated then it is wrongly accused. I used to make risotto quite often because it's cheap, quick, easy to make and great for using up leftovers. The key to a good risotto lies in the rice. If you cut corners here, the result can be disastrous. Outside Italy, risotto is most commonly made with Arborio rice; Italians and professional chefs tend to prefer Carnaroli or Vialone Nano, but these are more difficult to find and tend to be expensive. In any case, in order to go truly creamy, risotto needs to be made using a round grain rice with a high starch content, so stay away from long grain or basmati rice. You could use pudding rice, as I have done in the past when money was a concern, but do so only if you know what you are doing and stay with the dish unless you want to end up with rice soup. Providing you take these tiny warnings into account, here's a foolproof way to the perfect risotto:

½ onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
30 g butter (or olive oil, if you don't eat butter, but bear in mind that the taste will change)
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried oregano
200 g risotto rice (about ¾ cups if you don't have kitchen scales)
75 ml dry white wine
½ litre boiling stock (choose the flavour of the stock to suit the ingredients)
100 g cheese, grated (normally, risotto is made with parmesan (in which case you will need an extra 20 g butter), but I prefer it thick and gooey, so I use a mix of parmesan and mozzarella; whatever you do, make sure it's a cheese that melts well and has a bit of flavour to it (read: forget about cheap cheddar or edam!))
all the things you like in a risotto (I've tried a number of things, including cooked prawns, steamed mussels, smoked salmon, finely shredded chicken, bacon bits, mushrooms, spinach, chopped carrots, blanched broccoli florets and sweetcorn, but the possibilities are endless. Just don't go for very watery things like tomatoes or aubergines (the former are a really nice topping in the summer, though) and those that fall apart easily, such as fish filet.)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and sweat for 5 minutes. Now add the garlic, thyme and oregano and continue cooking for another minute. If you are using hard vegetables (such as carrots or fennel) or mushrooms (including dried ones), now is the time to add them. Continue cooking for a few more minutes until the vegetables are brightly coloured and the mushrooms have released their juices and shrunk down.
Add the rice and fry, stirring constantly, until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and bring to the boil. Pour in the stock and allow to boil for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, cover and allow to simmer gently for another 15 to 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and add more stock if the pan appears dry, but the rice is not cooked through. Make sure not to overdo the liquid though.
Just before the rice is done, add any cooked ingredients or leaves. Heat through. Finally, add the mozzarella (or parmesan and butter), pull the pan off the heat and allow the cheese to melt. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

In theory, the result should be a nicely creamy, but not sticky risotto. My variation on the cheese, however, does cause the dish to assume the consistency of steamed jellyfish congee. This does not affect the flavour though; nor does it cause the rice to disintegrate, so somehow it works. To me it is the ultimate year-round comfort food.
And it is perfect when you've got company. It needs very little preparation, is versatile enough to accommodate even the fussiest of eaters (you can even heat the meat/fish/vegetables separately and add them at the end, which allows you to make different versions with one lot of rice), cooks itself while you attend to your guests. Also, the recipe can be adjusted for any number of people without taking the cook to his/her limits and - Lofty's favourite aspect - it only uses one saucepan. And for the pretentious hosts (such as my mum, who loves risotto) there is the added advantage that, as I said in the beginning, risotto sounds terribly posh and is bound to impress. And for those who want something more substantial for dinner, you could even top the rice with some grilled fish, king prawns or a filet steak. But this might be overkill. These things are better served with such side dishes as potato wedges, freshly prepared tomato salsa and fresh corn on the cob. But you will have to wait for another day to learn more about that. For now, I say good night and get on with dinner.

Christine at 10:09 pm

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1 Comments

at 8:28 pm  Anonymous said...

Time, I thought, for Christine's guinea-pig to make a contribution. Just wanted to say that this photo does not do this dish justice. Trust me folks...... It is very yummy :o) 

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