His and Hers Risotto

While there is an exhaustive list of things Tug and I have in common; we have our differences, too.  One of the areas where that's most prevalent is what we (want to) eat.  We could both be considered picky eaters, but in vastly different ways.  At home, he would be perfectly happy with meat and potatoes every night, with pizza on occasion.  But take him to a restaurant near any coast and the man will eat anything that comes out of the water.  Growing up landlocked, I'm not as adventurous, but I do get a little bored with the meat and potato routine.  I like to try new and different things once in awhile. 

Almost Ciabatta and Experiments in Risotto No. 2

Today was yet another rainy, grey day in Southern Illinois.  It’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow and I am so hoping that will be the case.  But days too hideous to be outside are perfect for being in the kitchen.

Yesterday I had started a poolish to make ciabatta in another attempt at using up the previously noted bag of flour.  (A poolish is similar to a biga and other yeasty bread starters, but contains equal portions of flour and water.)  I was excited about making the ciabatta as it’s one of my favorite breads.  I’ve attempted it in the past with various levels of disappointing results.  Today was no different.



attempting to "fold" the dough



The dough for ciabatta is extremely soft in comparison to most other bread doughs.  Mine was too soft though, it was almost like a batter.  The fact that the humidity was 96% could have contributed, but ciabatta is one of those breads you just have to have a feel for the dough and whether or not it needs more flour.  I’ve not developed that feel yet. 

The loaves also probably should have been baked a few minutes more, but the cornmeal I had sprinkled on the baking sheets was beginning to scorch in the 465° oven and I wasn’t interested in filling my kitchen with the smell of the burnt cornmeal. 

Other than being pale, the crust has a decent crunch.  The interior was disappointing for as soft as the dough was, I was expecting a coarse texture with large holes.  Not so much.  It certainly doesn’t taste bad, but it’s not bread I would readily pay for.  I’ll spare you the recipe on that one until I’ve found one that’s near fool proof.

The second kitchen project was another risotto experiment.  This time instead of savory, I went the sweet route. 



very simple ingredients



Allow me to introduce you to Apple-Cinnamon Risotto.  This isn’t intended to be a side dish or even a dessert.  It is comfort food, plain and simple:  full throttle fat, calories and carbohydrates.  My initial thoughts of this were for something along the lines of a thick, but slightly soupy, rice pudding.  However, the rice just sucked up my last addition of liquid meant to contribute to the soupiness.  If rice pudding is more your style, I think serving it with some warm milk or cream for pouring would be just perfect.

it's quite possible that a spoonful
of mascarpone could make just
about anything better

 

As it turned out, I was perfectly happy with the scoop of mascarpone stirred in at the end.  I do think this risotto would be the perfect canvas for sweet arancini as well.  (Arancini are sort of the Italian version or rice croquettes.)  If I liked deep frying more than I do, I would wrap some of this risotto around a small dollop of caramel, roll them in some sweet bread crumbs and fry until golden and crispy.  And then probably make myself ill eating them.

I have a few more ideas for sweet risotto I hope to realize sooner than later.  Or as soon as I get that bag of flour used.

Apple-Cinnamon Risotto

2 cups unsweetened apple juice (mine was from frozen concentrate)

2 cups milk

2 Tbs unsalted butter

3/4 cup Arborio rice

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon, or to taste

2 Tbs mascarpone

In separate measuring cups, heat the apple juice and milk in the microwave or in small pans on the stove top.  Do not mix them – the acids in the apple juice will curdle the milk.  Keep warm, but do not boil. 

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium – medium low heat.  When the butter is fully melted and just beginning to bubble, add the rice.  Stir the rice to coat it completely in the butter.  Cook and stir until the outside of the rice is almost transparent and the inside still opaque. 

Add the about 1/3 cup of the apple juice, cook and stir until almost completely absorbed.  Add about 1/3 cup more of the apple juice.  Cook and stir the rice until the liquid is nearly absorbed, but don’t let the pan get dry.  Repeat the process until all of the apple juice is used, then begin adding the milk in 1/3 cup increments.  Keep adding liquid until the rice is fully cooked, but still has a slight firmness in bite. 

When the rice is fully cooked, stir in the salt and cinnamon.  Stir in the mascarpone and serve immediately.

Makes about 3 cups of risotto.

Experiments in Risotto No. 1

Within these pages I have already professed an intense fondness for risotto.  Truth be told, I probably spend an abnormal amount of time thinking about risotto and various incarnations of it.  The latest version has been running around in my thoughts for about a week now.  Tug seemed a little tepid about the idea, so I’ve been putting it off, but realization of the idea became necessary. 

Bacon and bleu cheese risotto. 

There.  I said it.  Across the globe, Italian grandmothers are turning over in their graves.

Where the combination of bacon and bleu cheese began is beyond me, but it just seems so American:  hamburgers with bacon and bleu cheese, a tender filet wrapped in bacon and topped with bleu cheese – maybe it’s just the idea of meat and cheese together.  Whatever it is, I wanted to apply it to risotto.

How did it turn out?  I certainly wasn’t mad at it, and Tug gave it a thumbs up, but it didn’t exactly meet my expectations.  The biggest problem is that I really didn’t notice the bleu cheese at all.  For round two, I definitely think the parmesan needs to be reduced and the bleu cheese increased.  Or maybe I just needed a bleu cheese stronger than Gorgonzola (at least I used an Italian bleu).  I also used a domestic parmesan, which seemed more assertive than the Parmigiano Reggiano I ordinarily use.  The recipe is below as I made it.  The stock I used was some of the turkey stock I made and froze after Thanksgiving, but chicken or vegetable stock work equally well.

There are a few photos missing from my progress.  I was having difficulty cooking, getting photos and keeping Tug out of the bacon.

Bacon & Bleu Cheese Risotto

6 slices bacon, slightly frozen or very cold

1 cup medium diced red onion

2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine* such as Pinot Grigio

4 to 6 cups homemade or low-sodium stock

1-1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese, divided

3/4 cup bleu cheese, crumbled (I used Gorgonzola)

Salt and pepper to taste



Make sure to start the bacon in a
cold pan to render the fat.



Slice the cold bacon crosswise (about ¼-inch strips) and place in a large, high-sided sauté pan.  Set the pan over a cold burner and set the heat to medium-low .  Slowly cook the bacon to render the fat and crisp the bits. 



Perfectly crisped bacon!



When the bacon bits are crisp, remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.  Don’t worry about the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  They’ll come up when you start adding liquid.  Increase the heat to medium.  Add the onion and cook until transparent.  





To see if you're ready to add more
stock, run your spoon down the
middle of the pan.  If it leaves a
trail that liquid doesn't rush into,
you're ready for the next ladleful
of stock.



Add the rice to the pan, stirring so that every grain is coated in the rendered bacon fat.  Take your time – this step is really important.  Cook until the outside of the rice is almost transparent and the inside still opaque.  Add the wine, cook and stir until it's almost completely absorbed.  (*If you’d prefer not to use alcohol, just omit it and use extra stock.)  Add a ladleful (about 1/2 cup) of stock.  Cook and stir the rice until the liquid is nearly absorbed, but don’t let the pan get completely dry.  Add another ladleful of stock and repeat the process until the rice is fully cooked, but still has a slight firmness in bite.  This will take about 20 minutes or so.  Taste the rice after adding about four cups of the stock to check for doneness.





Add one cup of the parmesan and the bleu cheese and stir gently to combine and melt.  Taste the risotto and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Stir in the reserved bacon bits. 

Serve hot garnished with the additional parmesan.



Buon Appetito!



Ugly Good

Anyone who has ever watched The Food Network has heard at least 20 times, "you eat with your eyes first."  There is truth to that.  Several years ago the hubs and I went to dinner at the home of one of his fellow grad students.  I'd not met James' wife before that evening.  When we sat down at the table I looked at what was in the bowl in front of me and said a silent prayer that I would be able to eat it without making faces that would upset Stacy.  "It" turned out to be a hearty and delicious sausage and lentil soup.  So delicious that I asked Stacy for the recipe and have made it several times since.

The concept of "ugly good" was in my head while making dinner last night.  I had taken some steak out of the freezer yesterday morning with absolutely no idea what I was going to do with it at the time.  Later in the afternoon it occurred to me that this was the perfect opportunity to try a risotto recipe that's been lurking around in my head for a couple of years.  If I had everything I needed.

Being a fan of all things carbohydrate, I love risotto.  I've made it in several different manners and have yet to encounter one I don't like.  At some point I had run across a recipe from Williams-Sonoma for Risotto with Red Wine and Beef that I had saved.  That was my starting point.

The WS recipe called for beef sirloin.  I had our inexpensive flat steaks from WalMart.  It called for yellow onion.  I had red.  It called for cardoon.  (Truly I have little idea what that is besides a vegetable as I've never seen cardoon in Carbondale.)  I had carrots.  It called for Chianti or some other full-bodied, dry red wine even suggesting the pricey Barolo.  I had Chambourcin from Owl Creek (courtesy of Norm and Alicia).  It didn't call for cheese.  In my opinion, risotto must have cheese.  I had Grana Padano.

This is what I ended up with:

 

Version 1:  Risotto without cheese

 



Version 2:  Risotto with cheese.
The winner.

The hubs liked it enough to declare he would eat it again although we both agreed on a couple of things:  1) the beef needed to be browned more, which I corrected in my version of the recipe; 2) the addition of some cremini mushrooms would probably be nice.  And while the Chambourcin from Owl Creek worked out very well (also for drinking), it is more medium bodied so I would be interested in trying this again with a full-bodied red.  Overall, ugly, but good.  Even as left-overs for lunch today.



Red Wine Risotto with Beef 

4 to 5 cups low-sodium chicken stock

2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 pound boneless beef sirloin (or cut of your choice), cut into 1-inch cubes

1/4 cup chopped red onion

3/4 cup sliced carrots

3 Tbs unsalted butter, divided

1 cup Arborio or Carnaroli rice

1/2 cup dry red wine at room temperature

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Freshly grated cheese, such as Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano

In a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, bring the stock to a gentle simmer and maintain over low heat.  Heat the oil in a large, heavy sauté pan over medium heat.  Add the beef and cook until browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes.  Add the onion and carrots and sauté another 5 to 7 minutes or until softened.  Transfer the beef mixture to a bowl and set aside.  Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in the same pan.  Add the rice and stir until each grain is well coated and translucent with a white dot in the center, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the wine, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, and stir until it is completely absorbed.

Add the simmering stock a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently after each addition.  Wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed (but the rice is never dry on top) before adding the next ladleful.  Reserve 1/4 cup stock to add at the end.

When the rice is tender to the bite but slightly firm in the center and looks creamy, after about 20 minutes, stir in the beef mixture.  Cook, stirring occasionally, to heat through, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining butter and reserved 1/4 cup stock.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve with freshly grated cheese.

Serves 4 nicely.

Adapted from "The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook" (Free Press, 2008)