Mushroom Risotto

I made one of my favorite dishes tonight - risotto. This one was a very simple portabella mushroom risotto that happened to come out extra creamy and delicious. It's very easy to make fantastic risotto; it just takes a bit of time.

Ingredients:
2 cups risotto (arborio rice)
5-6 cups chicken stock
1/2-1 cup white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup butter
6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 large shallot (minced)
1-2 cups portabella mushrooms (sliced)
Parmesan or pecorino romano cheese (grated)
Italian herb mix (oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley)
Salt & pepper to taste


Steps:

1. Sauté the shallots and garlic for a couple minutes in the oil & butter over med high heat.
2. Add the risotto. Stir well to coat all the grains. Cook until each grain has a "pearl" or white center within the translucent outer layer - about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the 'shrooms. Cook for another minute or so to soften.
4. Add the wine and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring well.
5. Add the entirety of the chicken stock and reduce heat to low. Add seasonings. Simmer, stirring occasionally for about 25-30 minutes, or until the risotto has become thick and creamy (should fall off the spoon reluctantly but not stick to it). In the past I have gradually added the stock after bringing the whole thing up to a boil but I think adding all the liquid first and simmering on low heat for the entirety of the cooking resulted in a creamier risotto and better texture (although I also used a new brand of risotto this time. One would think rice is rice but who knows?)
   
6. Make sure to taste after about 20 minutes or if it looks like most of the liquid has been absorbed. The individual grains should have a slight bite to them (al dente) but be surrounded in creamy goodness.
7. Add the bulk of the cheese at this point. This will help with the creaminess.
8. Serve, topping with more grated cheese.

I was lucky enough to use some Dunn Reserve, a high-end white wine; extremely limited vintage; usually only available to personal friends of the vintners.

Normally I use a cheap (e.g. Yellowtail) pinot grigio and it works well.

Note: One problem with risotto is that it's never the same after that first night. It tends to get very sticky and gluey reheated. But I've found that if you save a bit of chicken stock and add that to a bowl of risotto to be microwaved, it vastly improves matters.

A Few Entirely Unimportant Things

-A bottle of Number One, acquired at the Goose last night for $7.99. It's a Tempranillo from Spain (as all good Tempranillos are) and it's remarkably drinkable for its price and bargain bin status.



With wine, as with people, I rarely discriminate. Each has it's downsides (and merits!) but on the whole things work out pretty well.

-Discouraging loss for the Celts last night. Took a 10-point lead into the 4th and pissed it away. They played their A-side game in spurts last night, but again, let the Hawks back in. Now it's anybody's series. Good thing is they're coming home to the Jungle tomorrow night. Bad thing is...they have to come home. But it's time to play, and I'm all up ons this Celtics 2008 Bandwagon, so let's keep on truckin'. I'll be disappointed when there's no more b-ball to watch (never thought I'd write that).

-I had an amazing "European" dinner tonight consisting of daecent wine, freshly baked bread, gouda and brie cheeses, and a salami ensconced in ground pepper. Simple yet amazingly delicious. And it only cost me a quarter of a bajillion dollars at my friendly neighborhood gourmet grocery store!

-The "Rounders" soundtrack is awesome. Christopher Young just killin' it on the smooth jazz. You know the tracks: "Ode to Johnny Chan," "Brass Brazilians," "Worm," "Finger Up Your Spine," "Belly Buster," and everybody's favorite, "Alligator Blood." Or maybe you don't. I'm probably one of 12 people who actually purchased this.

And a happy dozen are we.

On Obama

Obama backs Obama.

CNN calls Wisconsin early for Obama! Cheers.

(Not about Obama, but if you're interested in shockingly cheap, barely palatable wine, the Goose is hocking Crane Lake at 2 for $10. That's almost free in North End dollars!)

Poor Man's Sommelier: MRhé

I will shamelessly admit that an attractive label and a great name have far more influence on my wine-buying than Wine Spectator ratings. That's why I picked up a bottle of Beaulieu's Beauzeaux a week back. It's a blend of eight - yes, eight - different varietals, namely: Zinfandel, Syrah, Charbono, Lagrein, Valdiguie, Grenache, Tempranillo, and Petite Sirah. I don't know what any of that means, but it's a fun wine - dark and fruity, with several complex flavors going on. I thoroughly enjoyed it when I first opened it. However, a day later I found that the flavor had changed drastically and it wasn't very good at all. (And this comes from someone who is accustomed to drinking wine that's been open for a day or two without hesitation or difficulty.) So I recommend trying out Beauzeaux if you get a chance - but finish the bottle that night!

Wine Selection

On Wednesday evening I went to my favorite North End restaurant, Giacomo's, with a good friend. If you love seafood and don't feel like paying upwards of $20 an entrée, Giacomo's is the place to go.

I had a ton of leftover calamari and mussels over linguine in their house sauce (a lobster-based red with a touch of cream) - enough for dinner last night. On my way home from work I stopped at the Golden Goose and was poking around in the wine aisle for a fitting companion to my dish.

There was a woman there who - I think - is one of the distributors who comes into the Goose on a weekly basis.

Wine woman: "Can I help you?"
MRhé: "Um, yes, actually. I'm looking for...well...I have some Giacomo's."
WW: "Giacomo's?"
M: "Yes, it's a restaurant..." (I went on to explain the leftovers I had.)
WW: "Oh I have just the thing!"

She asked me my price range and handed me a decent $10 bottle of Italian wine with an unpronounceable label. I will check on it when I get home. It went with the Giacomo's perfectly. The wine was good - drinkable but not transcendent.

Ed: It was a dry red wine - Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, by Umani Ronchi.

I drink, therefore I am...

You Are Chardonnay

Fresh, spirited, and classic - you have many facets to your personality. You can be sweet and light. Or deep and complex. You have a little bit of something to offer everyone... no wonder you're so popular. Approachable and never smug, you are easy to get to know (and love!). Deep down you are: Dependable and modest Your partying style: Understated and polite Your company is enjoyed best with: Cold or wild meat

What Kind of Wine Are You?

Box 2.0

I was in the Golden Goose last night and on a whim decided to try the Black Box Merlot. It's, er, quantity over quality, to be sure. But it's decent for a boxed red, and you can't beat 3 liters of wine for $24.99.

Of a Culinary Nature

Just thought I'd throw up a few comments on some recent cooking and eating - two of my favorite activities.

I made this Irish beef stew for the third time a couple weekends back. It's great cold weather fare, and although it's not technically difficult, it does require a lot of prep work and time. It gets better and better each time I make it, and I added an extra step that, while tacking on yet more prep and overall time, vastly improves the dish.

The linked recipe is more or less accurate, although I used probably more than a cup of wine, a can of Guinness, an entire small can of tomato paste, and somewhere between 2.5-3lbs of stew meat. What I did this time was dredge the meat in seasoned flour (a dash each of salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, paprika mixed in) and brown it in the pan first. This created a tremendous amount of delicious crispy drippings from the fat and flour. I removed the meat and set it aside on a platter. Then I minced a medium shallot, tossed it in there along with the garlic, a little oil and butter, and then deglazed the drippings with the vino. From there I proceeded along the steps in the linked recipe, but the end result was a tremendous improvement. Thick, rich broth, layered with complexity of flavor. Truly incredible.

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Over the past few weekends I've been trying to perfect my glazed bacon. I've tried a few different variations on bacon of differing quality and type. Bottom line is better quality (thinner) bacon works best; baking it on a rack in the oven is key for even cooking, fat-rendering, and glazing; and high sugar content results in a candy-like glaze. Nothing ground-breaking here, folks.

I've mixed orange juice with brown sugar; I've used maple syrup (real and fake - real is far, far better); I've also mixed all three. There's a lot more out there to explore, but just recently I had some apple cider bacon glazed with maple syrup next to its bare counterpart - not only were the glazed strips uber-delicious, but they, er, outstripped their unadorned kin by a significant degree. Then again, it's hard to be objective when dealing with a piece of fatty, salty meat gilded with a solid coating of sweetness, is it not?

Next up: I'd like to use actual apple cider and and glaze some regular, high-quality meat.

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Tonight I made chicken parm using this recipe, with a couple minor changes. I used seasoned bread crumbs, an extra clove of garlic, and Pecorino-Romano cheese instead of Parmesan (defeating the purpose?) I baked 4 chicken breasts sliced lengthwise in half (~2 lbs.) for 10 min, then sprinkled that Sorrento Italian 6-cheese blend on top and popped them back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so.

The breasts came out buttery, crispy and delicious. I made spaghetti to accompany, and simply poured a bit of marinara on the breasts I ate. I've baked them in sauce before, and it comes out good, but not as crispy. A matter of taste. But a great, simple recipe.

Ruffino Chianti served as a nice compliment to the meal.

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On a related note, that Simply Recipes blog looks pretty nice. Check it out. Both the above stew and chicken parm recipes came from it.