I made and tasted risotto for the first time yesterday! I know the picture is bad, but I was trying to get a close up of the creaminess of it. Hey Holli, can you explain what is so cool about risotto? It just seemed like creamy rice. It was very good, but I've made stuff like that before just by making regular rice and putting lots of cheese and cream in it. But anyway, I'm not complaining at all. This dinner totally rocked. I made some chicken francese tenderloins to go along with it. The reason it's recipe #312-316 was because she had five different variations on risotto. I didn't like the sound of any of them, so I made my own. I used your standard arborio rice that you use for making this kind of thing. And I added lots of parmesan cheese, half-n-half, stock, peas, ham, parsley and some other stuff I can't remember. But don't forget when you make risotto you need to saute the onions and garlic before you add the rice. It was cups and cups of liquid this rice just sucked it all up and you have to stir it almost constantly because the rice is so starchy, it absorbs lots of liquid and fast, and to get that creamy texture you have to keep stirring it, to release the starch. So, I can't even tell you how much liquid to plan for, but thank goodness water is free! Also, it took me almost 45 minutes to make the dang stuff. It took forver to cook. But I couldn't cover it and let it do it's thing, because if you leave it for over a minute it's sticks and then it wouldv'e burned. We had my sister-in-law and her sweet kiddies over for dinner so that made for a fun night. Thanks guys!
I also made recipe #310 almost a week ago, which was Rachael Ray's version of tacos, but there was totally nothing special about it. And I kinda ended up doing my own thing with that dinner too, so I didn't even bother to post, but I did take a picture that looks like butt, so enjoy!
What IS so cool about risotto? I think the main idea is just that it soaks up a lot of flavor as it cooks. I've made it a few times before. I like it. But unless I have something else I'm making that requires me to be at the stove for long periods of time, I don't usually make it. Although I do think we tend to want cooking to always be fast and I think it's good to once in awhile slow down and let flavor infuse what we are eating. So that's risotto. My favorite that I have made it a butternut squash risotto. Mmm. And I just bought a butternut squash. Maybe I'll make it this week. :)
ReplyDeleteWe love risotto in our house. We eat a bacon/leek (with a little cooking wine) version a couple times a month. It's a true comfort food in our family.
ReplyDelete