Buckwheat Risotto

Superfoods --  Generally nutritionally dense edibles (low calorie for food value), often high in anti=-oxidants declared good for our health and well being. Though magazines and advertisers relish the term it is not in common use by scientists or dietitians. In fact it is nothing more than a marketing term popular since 2004.
And still as each new year turns, I haul out the same old "superfood" ingredients -- spinach, kale, sweet potatoes, lentils to name a few, in another valiant effort to make us better than we are. Healthier, stronger, happier.
Tonight's offering . . . buckwheat. An undeniably healthful fruit seed related to rhubarb, tonight I stirred up a risotto of the non grain, grain. After toasting the buckwheat in the pan along with some onions and garlic I deglazed with white wine and then started adding broth by the 1/2 up until the buckwheat was tender, toothsome, and creamy just like risotto. I finished the dish with a pat of butter and a sprinkling of cheese. I hope buckwheat really is superfood enough to counteract those purely tasty but not all that pure additions.

A Quick Trip To Portland

On my way home, strolling through the airport looking for coffee and maybe breakfast, I came across a row of folding tables and a sign: Capers Farm to Table. A local food airport market. I had to at least look.

Walking the length of the offerings was a lot of what you'd expect: popcorn, nuts, trail mix, honey, Oregon wines. But in the middle, nearly hidden was a small area of fresh, locally foraged produce. Fiddlehead ferns and fragrant, earthy morels. I couldn't resist. Sure I already had a beautiful Pendleton wool shirt in my bag for James but this would be a real treat, Besides, although I'd tasted ferns in restaurants I had never cooked them myself. A chef's treat like that I immediately began to picture creamy parmesan risotto topped with sautéed fiddleheads and morels -- the very picture of spring in wetter climes. Very soon I was carrying Pacific Northwest home to California for dinner.

The fiddleheads, I learned, need a quick blanch before using in sautés or salads so I popped them in boiling water and then right into a hot frying pan where the morels were already plumping up in butter, olive oil and fresh thyme. After just a few minutes I piled my precious cargo over oven-baked risotto (onions, sautéed in 2 TB olive oil until soft, garlic and thyme added in for good measure, 1 1/2 cup arborio rice toasted in the oil, 1/2 cup of wine cooked until evaporated, 3 cups of warm chicken broth stirred in then covered and baked for 25 minutes at 400º.  Just before serving I stirred in another cup of warm broth, 2 TB of butter and a handful of parmesan cheese).

I was a little nervous. These were luxury ingredients with a luxurious price tag. I wanted to do them justice and make the effort (and expense) worth it.

I needn't have worried. James sat down intrigued and excited by something totally new. The bright green little curls taste almost like the freshest asparagus ever but better. Sweeter, more vibrant, more special. A fresh bite of wild spring.

Comfort Food: Risotto

Potato risotto. Okay, so I've never seen it on a menu but it seemed comforting and warm -- something James would like.
I started the way I always do with chopped onions and garlic sautéing in olive oil, and because I had some I tossed in diced celery for some crunch and small cubes of potato. I sautéd the vegetables until just soft but not colored and tossed in 1 1/2 cups of arborio rice.
Though I suppose you could make risotto with any kind of rice, short grained arborio has a nice tender texture and plenty of starch that helps to create risotto's signature creamy sauce. After the rice started to seem a bit translucent from being tossed in the hot oil I added in 1/2 cup of Marsala wine -- I used Marsala because I had a bottle near the stove and nothing else open but really any wine --white or red would do nicely here. When the marsala had just about cooked away I started to add warm chicken stock by the 1/2 cup -- allowing each ladle full to nearly cook away before adding the next, stirring regularly but not constantly and seasoning as I cooked. When the rice was tender (I'd added about 4 1/2 cup stock) I stirred in butter, a sprinkle of parmesan and a good sized hunt of brie cheese. Brie is probably pretty unusual in risotto -- then again so are potatoes -- but it combines easily, has lots of interesting flavor, and there is no need to peel the rind -- just cube and stir into the waiting rice and the soft cheese melts right in.
Because the risotto was soft and mildly flavored I wanted something with a little punch to liven up the dish. A quick salad of parsley and radicchio with a pretty forceful anchovy dressing (3 chopped anchovy filets, 2 cloves minced garlic, juice from 1 lemon, splash of sherry vinegar, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1/2 cup olive oil shaken together) was just the thing.

Asparagus Risotto

Such a happy time of year -- birds nesting and the farmers' markets are stocked with cherries, apricots and bright green asparagus. I get so tired of apples and kale and chard that seeing peas and asparagus return each year is like greeting long lost friends.
Today I took my precious bunches of fresh asparagus and turned them in to a filling risotto for James' dinner.
First I cut the asparagus into 1" pieces and put most of the thicker stems (not the very woody parts I cut those off and threw them in the compost) into a pot barely covered with water and let them come to a boil and bubble away until soft -- about 5 minutes. Meanwhile I finely chopped the white and light green of one young leek, about 1/4 of a small red onion and two cloves of garlic.
I started a skillet with 2 Tb of olive oil and 1 Tb of butter. When the oil was hot and the butter melted I added in the chopped aromatics and let the onion mixture cook for about 3 minutes until just soft and translucent. Next I added in 1 1/2 cups risotto rice (I used arborio but there are several varieties of short grain starchy rices that work well) and let the rice toast in the oils for another 3 minutes or so. When the rice was shiny I added 1/2 cup of champagne. Now usually I would use white wine but we didn't have any handy and I found several bottles of bubbly on the shelf so champagne risotto it is. I let the wine cook down until almost gone and then started to add the chicken stock about 1/2 cup at a time. Each time letting the stock cook down until just about gone and then adding my next ladleful. While the rice was cooking I puréed the cooked asparagus in the blender. After 15 minutes I added in the pieces of asparagus I had not boiled in the saucepan and kept adding stock for about another 7 minutes until the rice was tender and creamy and the asparagus cooked through.
With the risotto off the heat I stirred in about 1/2 cup of the purée from the blender, 2 TB of butter and a healthy handful of grated parmesan. When the butter melted into the creamy rice I served James' dinner topped with piquant shavings of pecorino cheese.
Spring in the kitchen.

Red Wine Cauliflower Risotto

It all started with a recipe I saw from Jamie Oliver where he very cleverly used the chopped cauliflower stalks in the risotto -- sautéing them with the onion and celery. I also liked his crunchy topping of anchovies and breadcrumbs. I borrowed those tricks from the English chef but them made my basic cauliflower risotto -- with red wine instead of white (that accounts for the less that stellar color I suppose) and folding in pre-roasted cauliflower at the end with cheese, butter, and a bit of cream (because we had it in the fridge).

Leftover Duck For Makes A New Dinner

Tonight I raided the freezer and made dinner from Christmas leftovers. I stirred together a quick duck risotto with the stock I made from the bones, the fat I rendered from the skin and chunks of meat I saved for just such an occasion. Planning ahead for a day I didn't plan.

Not So Pretty But Plenty Tasty

I know most people make risotto with white wine and it does preserve the creamy white color . . . but that dash of red wine instead is just so tasty and a great combination with plain shredded parmesan. Since I had homemade chicken broth in the fridge I whipped up a quick red wine risotto and topped the creamy rice with garlic and red pepper sautéed broccoli, just because James loves it. Easy homerun dinner

A New Kind Of Risotto

Though I didn't quite make it her way, dinner tonight was another idea from Martha. The Living version folded sautéed Swiss chard and cooked lentils into a risotto topped with fresh radicchio.. I had just harvested winter's last collard greens from our garden so I substituted that more bitter green and used a convenient package of Trader Joe's precooked black lentils I happened to have in the fridge. Pretty much following Martha's lead I sautéed the greens in olive oil for about 4 minutes and set them aside. In a separate pan I heated more olive oil and added in two halved and thinly sliced leeks, 1 large chopped shallot, and 3 minced cloves of garlic. After about 3 minutes, in went 1 1/4 cup arborio rice and 6 sprigs of fresh thyme. I sautéed the rice until it was a bit translucent and had picked up the oil from the pan and added in about 1/2 cup of white wine. When the wine had cooked off I seasoned the rice and started to add chicken broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring and letting the rice soften as the liquid cooked away. When the rice was nearly cooked through I added in the green and the lentils and the last of the chicken broth (I used about 5 cups total). Just before serving I mixed in -- departing from martha's more streamlined version -- some soft, tangy delicious Delice de Bourgogne washed-rind cheese for a creamy texture and plated James' risotto topped with a shower of fresh radicchio, a drizzle of olive oil, and a dusting of parmesan cheese.

Sweet Potato Risotto

I don't remember ever seeing a sweet potato in Italy --pumpkin and squash yes but never a sweet potato that I recall. None the less I had a bowl full of sweets and needed a dinner idea. Tomorrow is my farmer's market day so the cupboard was a little bare. I spied arborio rice, cheese, butter and wine -- tonight's sweet potato risotto was born. I roasted the un-peeled potatoes in the oven for about an hour until the orange flesh was soft and tender. Then I started my usual risotto. In a pan with a mix of olive oil and butter went one chopped onion, 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic, a pinch of dried chiles, and some rubbed sage (I didn't have any fresh on hand). I stirred those around for 5 minutes or so and added in 1 1/2 cups of rice. When the rice was all coated with the butter and oil I added in about 1/2 cup of white wine. Then I started adding the simmering chicken broth in 1/2 cup ladles -- stirring after each addition and cooking until the liquid was nearly gone before adding the next. I kept that up for not quite 20 minutes until the rice was creamy and still a bit al dente. To finish I stirred in the flesh of two sweet potatoes, a bit more butter, a handful of grated parmesan, and some chopped parsley and cooked for another minute until the rice was tender.

American risotto.

Butternut Squash Risotto

I still had some butternut squash left in the fridge that I didn't use for Thanksgiving and figured I should use that up, and that I could make a fairly quick tasty dish with out too much effort by starting with a great ingredient and two appliances. I tossed the cubes of squash in olive oil, salt and pepper and popped them in a 400º oven to roast. Meanwhile I started a risotto on the stove with pancetta, onions, fresh sage, and garlic using the remainder of my turkey stock as the liquid. I stirred and poured, stirred and poured until the rice was just about fully tender and then added the roasted squash, a handful of parmesan cheese, a knob of butter and a drizzle of heavy cream.

Not bad for a weeknight.

Vacation Dinner

Miles away from home on the first day of our vacation.
Nothing to think about but the wind and the water and what to have for dinner.
Just off the ferry we popped into the grocery store on our beloved Island and came up with fresh dungeness crab plucked from the still icy Puget Sound waters, With onion, garlic, locally made butter, and plenty of broth that quickly became a "luxurious" (that's what James called it), easy crab meat risotto.
For a little peppery crunch I topped the rice with a salad of upland cress (watercress' dry land cousin -- quite a surprise to find in the store), Parmesan cheese (no apologies to supposed Italian purists) and tangy balsamic vinaigrette.
That's our kind of island style.

Spring Risotto

Spring is finally here and the farmer's market is offering crisp stone fruits, fat purple asparagus and the season's first corn.

Somehow when I looked into our fridge tonight I swear I heard it whisper risotto. Seemed like a perfect way to showcase the season's finest -- and it couldn't be more simple.

I finely chopped half an onion and started two TBs of olive oil and two TBs of butter to warm in a frying pan. When the butter was melted and had just started to foam I added the onion along with S&P and two sliced garlic cloves and let the vegetables soften over medium heat.

Meanwhile I brought a pan of water to a boil and added in the asparagus to blanch for about three minutes (these were pretty large asparagus). I set the cooked asparagus aside and saved the cooking water to use as liquid in the risotto along with a bit of chicken broth I had in the fridge.

Back to the frying pan, in went 1 1/2 cups of arborio rice which I stirred around and let absorb some of the hot oil. We didn't have any wine open so I added about 1/4 cup of marsala to the pan and cooked it down before starting to add the liquid -- about a 1/2 cup at a time. After every addition I gave the mixture a couple stirs and let the pan bubble gently over med low heat, tasting for doneness and for seasoning along the way. When the rice was just about tender, I added kernels I cut off two ears of corn, along with the last of the broth.

Just before serving I stirred in a couple more TBs of butter, S&P, the asparagus, and a good sized handful of both parmesan and gruyere cheese.

Spring on a plate.

Crock Pot Risotto

Here's one I never would have thought of. I found a recipe for a vegetarian risotto on the internet and figured I could make that a little more tasty -- in case the risotto-ness didn't quite sell -- with, you guessed it -- bacon. I quickly sautéed lardons of slab bacon, a diced onion and a clove of garlic in olive oil until the bacon was just crisping at the edges and the onion was soft. Then I added 1 1/4 cup of arborio rice and stirred over medium heat until every grain was coated and shiny. I put the mixture from the frying pan, along with 1/2 cup white wine. 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, S&P, a knob of butter, and and one bunch of roughly chopped Swiss chard, into the ceramic crock pot dish, covered and turned the heat to high. About two hours later, sprinkled with shredded Parmesan -- we had a pretty respectable, ready for dinner no-stir risotto.

Risotto Experiment

A couple of you might remember, though I'm not sure why you would, that a few weeks ago I tried a risotto experiment. When I accidentally made risotto for 8 instead of for 4 (that's me, James and lunch the next day) I took half of the half-cooked recipe out of the pan, cooled it on a baking tray, and tossed it in the freezer.

After I gave the rice time to thaw I popped it in a frying pan with about 1/2 a cup of hot broth and I just picked up where I left off. Stirring and adding more broth until the rice was cooked. In a separate pan I sautéed loads of garlic, red onions in olive oil, and added in chopped kale just until wilted. And, when the rice was tender stirred the vegetable mix along with some shredded Romano cheese and a little knob of butter -- risotto experiment one, finished.

Next time I think I will store the rice when it is a little less cooked (in truth it was more than half way) but this isn't a bad plan for a busy night -- 10 minute risotto.

Creamy Asparagus Risotto

This is a monumental dinner. A recipe form a magazine so good I followed it as written. Okay so I didn't chop the shallots all that fine and my risotto took more than 15 minutes to be tender and 3 1/2 cups of rice is more than a pound in my book . . . but for me, that's strict adherence.

Try this one at home -- it's Lori De Mori's Creamy Asparagus Risotto from Food and Wine.

First I cut the tips off 2 bunches of fresh asparagus and cooked them in salted boiling water. After 2 minutes I removed the tips and shocked them in ice water, then drained and set aside on a paper towel. Next I trimmed the hard ends off the stalks and cooked the tender remainder in the same salted boiling water for 10 minutes. When those were tender-soft I puréed them in the blender (okay another variation, I didn't use a food processor and I didn't strain this purée because I have a super powered Vita-Mix and it pulverizes everything smoothly). then it was a normal risotto procedure. I sautéed 3 minced (sort of) shallots in 1/4 cup olive oil for about 4 minutes and added 3 chopped cloves of garlic and cooked until the shallots were starting to brown. I added the rice (the recipe said 3 1/2 cups and defined it as 1 pound -- that's way more than a pound to me so I split the difference here) and cooked and stirred until the rice was coated with the oil. Meanwhile I heated about 6 cups of broth (the recipe said 8 but I had used less rice -- and, because I couldn't throw it away, instead of just broth I mixed in the water left over from cooking the asparagus). When the rice was coated I added 3/4 cup of white wine and let it cook, stirring here and there, until evaporated. It was risotto as usual, adding stock about a cup at a time, stirring and adding more broth until the rice was just about tender. I stirred in the puréed asparagus stalks (not all quantity explanation below), and stirred and cooked about 4 minutes more. Next I added in the asparagus tips, cooked for 1 minute, stirred in 1 TB of butter, S&P, and 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese -- let sit for two minutes and served. It might be the best risotto I ever made, I am going to try this puréed vegetable method with other flavors -- mmmm, sweet corn risotto.

One problem. In my slavish recipe following I failed to notice this was a recipe for 8 servings -- way more than my traditional lunch for tomorrow left overs. As I stirred I debated . . . extra risotto for asparagus flavored arancini? I decided to try a risotto experiment. When the rice was about half-cooked I poured about half out onto a sheet pan to cool. I'm going to try and store it and pick up a similar recipe where I left off some time down the road. Details to follow. But for now, try this recipe -- quick, while asparagus is still in season.

Broccoli Rabe Risotto

His Highness loves broccoli rabe. I've steamed it, baked it, grilled it, tossed it in pasta, sautéed it with sausage, stir-fried it with oyster sauce, scrambled it with eggs -- and still I keep buying it.

I'm not sure if any Italian every cooked broccoli rabe into a risotto -- or if they even have quite the taste for bitter greens James does, but I figured it was worth a try. I cut the florets and tender leaves and cooked them in simmering chicken broth (mixed with water), a little lemon juice and lemon zest until tender. Then I cooked the stems -- finely cut -- and puréed them in the blender for extra broccoli flavor and proceeded with risotto as usual.

Sauté onion and garlic and olive oil, add the rice and give it a good toast, stir in the purée (that's where I would normally add the wine) mix through and keep adding simmering broth and stirring now and again until the rice is plump and fully cooked. For a touch of richness mix in some butter and a dash of heavy cream (if I had mascarpone or fresh ricotta I might have used that instead). To finish stir in the cooked broccoli florets and parmesan (as Mario Batali would say -- "the undisputed king of cheese") and dinner is served.