World Famous Risotto

Just a little skite here, to note that I got featured on the Key Ingredient food website for my Pumpkin and Ham Risotto, and there was a blog post all about it too.

I even get to put a little badge on my page.

That's pretty sweet.

Another Pumpkin Risotto

I've come a long way down the Risotto highway since I first had a crack at making one back in June. Since then I've learned that as long as you have patience, anything goes. Also, once you know the steps in your head, you can prep as you go, so you don't lose all that time getting everything ready beforehand. After all, once you put the rice in, you're pretty much committed for the coming 30 minutes or so anyway.

This one was, by unanimous agreement, my best ever. Better than the Bacon and Leek effort, and even better than the other Pumpkin and Ham one. Isaac wanted more, and more, and more, so it must have been good!

Pumpkin & Ham Risotto (MKII)

(Serves 4)

Finely chop 1 onion and 3 cloves of NZ garlic. Grate up 1/4 of a grey pumpkin. Add the veges to heated oil in a large pan and stir as the moisture evaporates. When the veges become a bit sticky add 3/4 Cup of Arborio Rice. Keep everything moving until the rice starts to turn translucent. Tip in a mixture of 2T Balsamic Vinegar and 1/2C Warm water. Keep stirring.
As the liquid is absorbed, start adding heated chicken or vege stock by the ladel, probably about 2 1/2 Cups in 1/4 Cup increments. Add another ladel of stock as each is absorbed and before the rice starts sticking to the pan.

During this time, chop up a whole tomato, 125g of deli ham, and grate 1/4 Cup of Parmesan cheese.

When the rice is so nearly done you can tell it only needs a couple more minutes, add the tomato and ham and stir through. Check the rice, and when done, remove from the heat and stir through the Parmesan and 3T of cream. Mix in and allow to stand for just a minute before dishing. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, freshly ground pepper and salt, and a wee grating of Parmesan.

What's the best thing about this meal?

Only one dirty pan.

Excellent.

Bacon & Leek Risotto

Where does the time go? Every time I turn around it seems to be a bit later than it was before. Of course, maybe if I just stopped turning around, I'd save a bit of time and not be quite so dizzy.

Yes, Spring is upon us, and there seems to be a million things to do. Suddenly the days have gone by and I haven't posted on my blog since Friday! I can see this is going to become more frequent as the days get longer and the appeal of sitting at the computer is overridden by the desire to sit out on the deck with a glass of wine instead. Everything in moderation, I say. The garden is also going to take up more time now that the Spring growth is getting underway. Ah, how I wish that weeds were a part of my culinary repertoire. Alas, they are not, so I must weed and find things that are edible and beautiful to grow. Keep an eye out here for lovely green pictures of the few wonderful things that are indeed cropping up in pots and piles of compost around our place.

Anyway, I know why you're here. You expect me to get your mouth watering with more delicious recipes and foodie photos. Ah well, I won't disappoint. My topic today: Risotto. Mmmmm.

The risotto I'm going to post today is, IMHO, the best I've ever made. OK, so I've made about 3 (here, here and here), but with this one I really nailed something. It would probably be helpful if I could remember what that something was by the end of the post. I suspect it has something to do with practice, but I'll keep on believing it's a kind of magic.

Other Risotto news:

• I had the Bier Stick Risotto for lunch today, out of the freezer.
• Connie Clarkson on Radio NZ today did a recipe for Asparagus Risotto (Audio link here until approx Oct 1 2008).
• And I had a Risotto Post all lined up ready for the writing and the publishing. Coincidence? Probably.

Hmm, somehow I thought there was more to that. Well, onto the good stuff...

Bacon and Leek Risotto

(Serves 4)

Trim the fat from 4 bacon rashers and put these into a pan. Heat moderately to grease the pan (and keep looking while you're cooking!)

While the fat is crackling, slice up a leek into rings, dice an onion and slice a carrot. Remove the crispy fat from the pan and add the veges. Sweat them in the bacon fat until they just start to soften. (Sounds a bit too healthy, I know, but if you feel you're not getting your share, just have ice cream with extra ice cream afterwards - No, National Heart Foundation, I didn't really say that...). Remove the veges from the pan and add a splash of olive oil to reheat.

When your significant other isn't looking, eat the bacon crackling and slip little bits to your almost 2-year old, who also really likes it (No, NHF, I didn't really say that either).

Chop the bacon into bite-size pieces and add to the hot oil. Brown the bacon and then add 2T of concentrated tomato paste and mix through well. Turn the heat down a little if it seems that the tomato paste might burn. When the liquid has absorbed (1-2 mins) return the veges to the pan. Mix through thoroughly and allow to sweat for a couple more minutes.

Warm up 1C of vege stock or beef stock.
Add 1 Cup of Aborio rice to the pan and mix well. The rice will crackle, but don't let it burn. This will crisp the rice slightly and get a lot of heat through it before you start to add the liquids.

Add 1/2C of white wine to the pan. Allow the alcohol to burn off and the liquid to be absorbed before starting with the stock. I would make wine recommendations here, but it would be a load of bull. If there's wine in the fridge, it'll get used. Assuming I don't have to moisten my own throat first, because that's important when you have to stand over a hot stove for half an hour cooking dinner.

I don't know who said that Risotto was easy, because it's not. It's one of the most demanding dishes I know how to cook. Give me a roast or a stew any day, thanks. But I digress.

Start adding the stock a ladelful (about 1/4C) at a time, and let it absorb into the rice before adding the next quantity. Continue with this until you have used up all your stock AND the rice is cooked - about 17 minutes. If the rice is not cooked when you run out of stock, just use water. During this time, you MUST keep stirring the pan. This is why it's a pain to make, because you simply cannot walk away from the stove. Not that I'm trying to discourage you from cooking risotto. If it wasn't so darned delicious, I wouldn't keep coming back to it.
Remove the cooked risotto from the heat and add 1/4C grated fresh parmesan and 25g of butter. Stir these through the pan and dish immediately, with more freshly grated parmesan, extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.

Bier Stick Risotto

Time for another crack at risotto. We got some bier sticks as an alternative to chorizo, which was a bit spicy for some of the family, and decided that they'd go nicely with a bit of rice and kumera all simmered up together. I used a packet of pre-made liquid stock, because I have lots of vege and chicken stock now but no beef, and while it smelt a bit strange, it had no numbers in it and the odd aroma didn't affect the taste. Still, I plan on getting some beef bones and boiling up a bit of beef stock for the freezer very soon.

Bier Stick Risotto

Slice up 4 bier sticks and be sure to sample them for quality. Peel a kumera and cut into small cubes. Chop up an onion and about 4 cloves of garlic. Heat up 2 cups of stock and stand by.

In a pan, heat some olive oil, then add the onion to the pan. When it has started to sweat, add the garlic. Soften for about 3 minutes, then add the bier sticks and kumera. Fry gently, to coat with the onion and garlic, for about 3 minutes. Add a cup of rice, either arborio or jasmine. Mix everything together and fry gently for a few more minutes. When the rice starts to go glossy, add in about 60ml of dry white wine. As this boils off and is absorbed by the rice, start adding your stock. Add about 1 ladelful at a time, allowing the liquid to be absorbed before adding the next ladelful. This should be a gentle simmer, hot enough that the rice is cooking through but not so hot that it cooks on the outside but not in the middle. That just takes practice, and getting to know your cooking tools. If you get to the end of your stock and the rice isn't done yet, just add a bit of hot water.
When the rice is done, remove the pan from the heat and stir through about 40g of butter and a good little pile of parmesan, also about 40g. Stir until melted through. Dish and garnish with a bit more grated parmesan and some chopped capsicum.

Pumpkin and Ham Risotto

Back to the quick and easy. My journey into RisottoLand is branching out gradually, and this is a minor variation on the Ham and Tomato Risotto I posted a couple of weeks ago. The thing about Risottos is that they're a great way to use up food that really needs to be finished off, and you can throw almost anything in them. I had a pumpkin turning a bit ripe in the cupboard, so into the Risotto it goes. I also blanched a handful of the usual greens - carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower - in the water that I used to boil the pumpkin, and added them in just at the end.

Pumpkin and Ham Risotto


Cut up 1/4 of a big grey pumpkin. Slice off the skin and cube into 1cm pieces. Boil in salted water until tender but not quite cooked and put aside in a colander. Reserve the cooking water.

Heat some olive oil in a large pan, and add 1 chopped onion and 3 finely sliced or crushed cloves of garlic. When the onion starts to go translucent, add about 200g of chopped ham and allow to brown lightly. Mix in 1 cup of Arborio Rice. This will snap and crackle a bit, so keep it all moving to prevent it from burning to the bottom of the pan. Give it about 3 minutes, then add 1/4 of a cup of Vegetable Stock. If this is prewarmed, it will speed the cooking process. As the rice starts to absorb the liquid, add the pumpkin and mix in gently. The pumpkin will give the Risotto a lovely orange colour and a slightly gooey texture.

Blanch a small colander of fresh veges in the pumpkin water and stand aside.

Continue to add the stock in 1/4 Cups, letting it cook the rice gently, and add a bit of the pumpkin water if you run out of stock (allow 1 - 1 1/2 Cups). When the rice is nearly done, add the veges to the pan and mix through. When the rice is cooked, mix through 1/4 cup of sour cream and heat for a couple of minutes longer.

Serve with a scoop of sour cream, freshly ground pepper, and a drizzle of EV Olive Oil.


Our other exciting news on the food front is that, after several weeks of watching the mailer advertising for bargains and specials, we picked up a Slow Cooker for a mere $50.00. Our first foray into the Slow Cooking world was a Whole Chicken, which I'll post soon. Divine! Right at this minute we have Lamb Chops simmering away too. Watch this space for more!

A recipe for Risotto what I stoleded...

I discovered two new things last week: Risotto, and deseeding tomatoes.

The Risotto I will cover in detail just below. The concept of removing most of what makes the tomato a tomato struck me as strange, even slightly blasphemous, but I gave it a go anyway. I have resolved to try it in other things in the future, as it worked quite well in this particular instance. For the risotto, it added some flavour, colour and body to the dish without introducing a sudden excess of moisture that then would have had to be cooked off, and the acidity may have thoroughly altered the dynamic of the meal. For the record, I tried it in my stuffed sausages tonight, and it left them too dry, so its not for every meal. On the matter of "why-would-you-waste-so-much-of-the-tomato?", I figure the seeds just go into the compost, which goes into the garden eventually, and then up pop lovely wild tomatoes. Its like a storage vault, much like the flash one they just built in Norway, only closer and warmer.

It must be easy to make risotto if I can manage a reasonably passable one on my first try. I was surprised. When we were growing up, the only risottos I knew were those weird packet microwave ones, that are all dry and tasted like numbers. I couldn't fathom why anyone would want to willingly cook up something like that.

Then as time went by I kept seeing cooking shows where cooks were whipping up moist, delicious looking risottos that didn't take long and, it seems, were as flexible as your imagination. And I wondered, maybe there was something in it. Like rice, for example.

More time went by.

Then it happened. By the magic of the preplanned menu, we decided to make a risotto. Here's the trick: I used a recipe (!!) There's a prize for anyone who can identify the origin of this recipe, which I have modified slightly so as not to infringe any copyrights. I'll give you one clue: it's a New Zealand Chef.

Ham & Tomato Risotto

Heat 2T of olive oil in a large pan, preferably a cast iron one. Chop up an onion and a few cloves of garlic and soften this in the oil. Chop up 250g Ham and add this to the pan. Brown this lightly, before adding 1C of Arborio rice.

Cook this all together for about 3 minutes. Pour in 1/2C of Vegetable stock and simmer until absorbed. Add another 1/2C and repeat, until you have added 2 - 2 1/2C of stock to the pan. If you have homemade vege stock on hand, use this. If not, you can get some quite good real stocks from the supermarket, which is what we used this time.

Deseed and dice 3 tomatoes and grate 1/4C of Parmesan.

When the liquid has reduced down and the rice is cooked, add the tomatoes, parmesan, 1/4C of sour cream, and 1/4C of chopped fresh herbs (basil or similar - use less for stronger herbs like sage). Combine and season with freshly ground salt and pepper. Heat through and serve with freshly grated parmesan and a little drizzle of EV Olive Oil, plus freshly ground pepper if you like.


Just like that.

BTW, there's not really a prize, but have a guess anyway.