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A special hello to visiting Iron Chef America fans! Thanks for the RT, ICA!

Like most people, I believed that risotto was one of those foods that was just too much of a pain in the ass to make at home. It was “restaurant food”, a step above the general repertoire of the average amateur gourmet chef. Then one night while watching Bobby Flay beat some dude on Iron Chef America I started thinking:

“If they can make something that’s supposedly so complicated and hard on ICA in the midst of everything else they’re doing, it can’t be that hard.”

So. Resolute, I did a quick search on http://www.allrecipes.com which revealed that there are literally endless variations on risotto. Plain risotto is a “base food” like rice (actually, it’s made with arborio rice) or mashed potatoes or chicken. You can put anything in it. I saw recipes for everything from subtle mushroom risotto to a dessert risotto with strawberries and chantilly cream. Which looked revolting but still.

The first time I made risotto, it turned out pretty good. I’ve made it quite a few times since then, and refined my techniques a bit. Having said that, I really believe that risotto is one of those things that is impossible to make badly as long as you follow a few basic rules. The caveat, of course, is that I have no idea whether I’m making risotto correctly, only that the end result is delicious.If you’re a pro chef or already know how to make risotto “the right way”, this post might make you cringe. Whatever.

This is how I do it, for two.

If you’re going to put anything in the risotto - sauteed mushrooms, shrimp, chicken, veggies, bacon - you want to prepare those first and then leave them on the back burner till the risotto is cooked. Besides your add-ins, you’ll need:

Beef stock or broth - about three cups-ish or one of those nifty boxes you can pour from
Olive oil
Butter - don’t use margarine for god’s sake
Arborio rice
Dry white wine - I use Two Buck Chuck Sauvignon Blanc. Yes, really.
One or two cloves of garlic, minced
About a quarter of an onion, diced

Make whatever you’re going to add to the risotto. Warm the beef stock in a sauce pan and leave the heat on low so it stays warm. Have a ladle handy for adding the stock to the risotto.

Pour yourself a glass of wine since you aren’t going to use the whole bottle anyway. Make a roux by adding equal parts olive oil and butter (just eyeball it) to a large skillet. Sauté the onion and garlic till the onion just starts to turn translucent. Add enough arborio to cover the pan in a single layer over the onion. You won’t believe how much this stuff will expand by the time you’re done. Sauté the arborio till each grain is semi-translucent with an opaque white center - should only take a minute.

Pour about half a glass of wine into the pan and start stirring. You don’t have to stir constantly but you do want to keep the arborio moving most of the time. Don’t stir too fast and don’t swirl the pan. Stirring is what gives the risotto its characteristic creamyness. After a minute, you’ll notice that the wine is being absorbed. Wait till the arborio won’t come together any more when you stir through it. Now, add a ladle of stock. Stir that till it won’t come together anymore and then add another ladle. Getting the picture? Keep doing that till you’re almost out of stock.

Now, taste the risotto. It should be creamy with a slight bite to it, not soft like regular rice or really crunchy. The consistency of the sauce should be close to good mac and cheese. At this point, you can add in whatever you have ready. I like to throw in a small hand full of shaved Parmesan as well, just to up the flavor and creamyness.

That’s pretty much it. It’s not hard at all and as long as you stir it pretty much the whole time and add enough stock you really can’t mess it up. This stuff sticks to your ribs too…it’s absolutley amazing winter food but good pretty much any time. I like to serve it with a simple salad and whatever wine you cooked it with.

One other thing that makes risotto really awesome is what you can do with the leftovers: Take the cold risotto from the fridge and roll it into little balls. Roll those in breadcrumbs (the Italian ones are good) and then fry them till they’re golden brown. Some people say the little fried risotto balls are even better than the original risotto.

Looking for something different? Purple Haze is a fresh goat cheese flavored with lavender and fennel pollen. I eat a lot of cheese - A LOT - and it was unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before.Very smooth, creamy and with lots of savory flavor. It was so incredible I wanted to cry when I realized I had eaten it all.

Purple Haze is made by Cypress Grove in Arcata, California from milk from their own special, free-range goats. Try it with some rustic bread and your favorite zin, or like I had it in a salad with walnuts and baby spinach.

Cypress Grove Chevre