Risotto: Lobster Broth Goodness

One of the main reasons why I wanted to pick risotto for this P-off C-off is the fact that it is one of those foods I have always assumed was outside of my skill level in the kitchen, and we here at P-off C-off are all about pushing ourselves, right? The other, far more important reason is that fact that I currently have a freezer full of lobster broth and was searching for a good reason to use it. Rumor has it that risotto is all about the broth.

At first I looked for a good seafood risotto recipe, but didn’t find any that sounded exciting. Then I turned to my new cookbook The Art of Simple Food, which had a recipe for Asparagus and Lemon Risotto--a perfect complement for lobster broth. The book also included a whole section on tips for making risotto, which was very, very helpful.

The recipe called for:
1 lb asparagus, sliced into ¼” pieces
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 T butter
1 small onion, diced fine
1 ½ cups Arborio rice
5 cups broth
½ cup dry white wine

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

First you melt 2T of the butter in a heavy bottomed pot and sauté the onions until soft and translucent. Then you add the rice, stirring occasionally until translucent. Meanwhile you bring your broth to a boil and then turn off. Add the wine and lemon zest to the rice and cook until the wine is absorbed.

Now comes the fun part—lots of broth and stirring. Starting with one cup, add the broth to the rice, stirring occasionally, until the rice thickens. Never letting the rice get dry, you then keep adding the broth ½ cup at a time. Keep stirring.

The recipe called for salting the risotto when you add the second cup of broth, to let it sink in, but since my lobster broth was pretty salty, I uncharacteristically skipped that step.

About 12 minutes in, add the asparagus to the rice. Having never made risotto, this step made me nervous, because all of the asparagus made it harder to keep an eye on the consistency of the rice. It might be easier to learn how to make risotto on a plain version.

Keep adding broth until the rice is tender but has a firm core—about 30 minutes in total. Then add ½ of the lemon juice and parmesan and stir like it is going out of style to whip up that last bit of creaminess in the rice.

Mmmm. The lobster broth made for some amazingly rich risotto. I highly recommend it. I served it by itself, but it was so rich it probably would be better as a side dish. No matter what, I learned that risotto is easier than I thought and that it really is all about the broth.

Weird science: Risotto

I have wanted to learn to make risotto since I first found out that it doesn't have any cream in it. A creamy-tasting food with no cream--amazing! Actually making it made me even more impressed with the bizarreness that is risotto. How did anyone ever figure out that instead of boiling rice in liquid, you could cook it and then add liquid later, and that it would turn out totally different and awesome?

I compared a bunch of recipes and ended up using the one for Parmesan Risotto from the New Best Recipe cookbook. Generally I find that cookbook is way too complicated, but since I was in awe of this foodstuff, I wanted lots of detail so I'd make sure I did it right. Here's the recipe:

3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 cups water
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced fine
salt
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
2 onces Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (1 cup)
Ground black pepper

You bring the broth and water to simmer in one pot and then turn down the heat to just keep it warm. Then separately you cook the onion in butter for ~10 minutes, until the onions are soft and see-through.

Next, in the step that seems very counterintuitive, you add the rice to the onions and cook it for about 4 minutes ("until the edges of the grains are transparent," according to the cookbook, but I could not discern that change.) At this step you could sort of start to tell that the starchiness of the rice was making it all goopy, which I guess is what leads to the mysterious creaminess.

After that you start adding liquids: first the wine, cook for 2 minutes stirring frequently, then 3 cups of the water/broth mixture. This turns the whole operation into a soupy mess. But after you cook it for about 10 minutes, stirring infrequently, the rice absorbs the liquid. You then keep adding the broth mixture 1/2 cup at a time, and stirring every 3-4 minutes so it doesn't stick to the bottom, until it tastes done.


Lastly you add in the cheese, salt, and pepper, and eat! Pardon the blurriness of my plate picture and the big pork chop in front (Mr. Jenny made that part of the meal, which was also quite good). I was very happy with my risotto--it was a whole lotta creamy deliciousness. I will definitely make it again, and maybe experiment with adding other stuff, like mushrooms and saffron. Mmm, science.