Lemon risotto

Well I have been working my way through Giuliano Hazan's risotto recipes. Tonight was lemon risotto, from his How to Cook Italian. It all went to plan, and while not perhaps as mind bending as the classic porcini, or the butternut pumpkin, it was delicious all the same, and each bright, citrusy mouthful appreciated by the grateful diners.

Porcini risotto

Did I tell you that I have absolutely, unconditionally and permanently fallen in love with risotto?

I couldn't even cook it before I started this quest. In fact, I couldn't cook it successfully until Marcella herself told me how to cook it on facebook.

Hazan risotto, on song, is insane. It is magical. It is comforting. Exotic. Familiar at the same time. Moreish. Delightful. Intoxicating.

This is risotto with porcini mushrooms. I didn't really want to make it, as I prefer fresh food to dried. But Marcella has called this dish a classic of monumental statute, so I decided to give it a go.

And give it a go I did. I'm following Giulano Hazan's instructions on risotto from How to Cook Italian, as they are similar to Marcella's modern instructions on facebook, and I like that there is no vegetable oil or tablespoons of anything. Just butter and onion halves.

The only Marcella tip I used on this one was to soak the mushrooms for 30 minutes rather than 15.

Other than that I was away with the now very familar routine of butter, onions (make sure they are cooked properly!), vegetable, rice, broth and more butter and parmesan.

The mushrooms are exotic looking. They smell of the woods - somewhere you can't go. I was a little concerned as I'm sure i've used this in a chicken dish and it didn't work for me. I was worried the flavour would be too strong.

But it came together as I stirred. Creamy from the rice. Mushroomy from the mushroom water. Meat brothy from the meat broth. And the final, magical step with the butter and parmesan that has a long name starting with M that I can't recall. It transformed it into something very special indeed.

We ooed and arred as we ate this one. It was exotic and delicious. Not a grain of rice escaped. We were on a porcini high - we had never tasted anything like it.

I'll certainly be cooking this again.

Risotto

If you couldn't read the prior post, I said:


Dear MarcellaI thought of you watching Top Chef these last couple of weeks. One chef used cream in his risotto, to make it creamy, and clearly that would make any student of yours upset. Then Tom Colicchio said that if a risotto is not runny then it is not risotto. He went to write: "Risotto should be soupy. If you go to Italy, you'll... be served it that way; ditto, a good Italian restaurant here...The starch should go into the stock and the risotto should run on a flat plate and not hold its form at all." My risotto, which I learnt from your writings, holds its form. I'm not sure if it should, according to others, but I like it. Regards David

And Marcella said:


Ciao David,American chefs who go to Italy suffer from a Moses complex, they are always coming down from the mount with a tablet of rules for the unlearned. What he should have said is, "If you go to Venice ...". Yes, our Venetian risotto, w...hile not quite soupy unless it's made with peas, is indeed runny, and of course we love it. But in Bologna and in Piedmont, risotto is firmly clingy and it is not less delicious. As for the chef who adds cream, well, follow my example, pay no attention to chefs.Ciao, ciao. Marcella

Risotto

David DownieMarcella Hazan

Dear Marcella
I thought of you watching Top Chef these last couple of weeks. One chef used cream in his risotto, to make it creamy, and clearly that would make any student of yours upset. Then Tom Colicchio said that if a risotto is not runny then it is not risotto. He went to write: "Risotto should be soupy. If you go to Italy, you'll be served it that way; ditto, a good Italian restaurant here...The starch should go into the stock and the risotto should run on a flat plate and not hold its form at all." My risotto, which I learnt from your writings, holds its form. I'm not sure if it should, according to others, but I like it. Regards David

22 hours ago · · · See Friendship

• • 

    Marcella Hazan

    Ciao David,
    American chefs who go to Italy suffer from a Moses complex, they are always coming down from the mount with a tablet of rules for the unlearned. What he should have said is, "If you go to Venice ...". Yes, our Venetian risotto, while not quite soupy unless it's made with peas, is indeed runny, and of course we love it. But in Bologna and in Piedmont, risotto is firmly clingy and it is not less delicious. As for the chef who adds cream, well, follow my example, pay no attention to chefs.
    Ciao, ciao. Marcella

    about an hour ago ·

Pumpkin risotto

I didn't bother to shop today. Too knackered. It was a case of what's around the house, as we got hungry. An eggplant was spotted and baked for afternoon tea. Risotto was the verdict for dinner.

I had a look at my new crisper to see if the asparagus was still around. It had mysteriously disappeared. I spotted half a pumpkin (butternut squash) left over from Giuliano Hazan's wonderful pumpkin and bacon pasta (30 Minute Pasta) eaten earlier in the week.

I recalled a pumpkin risotto and tracked down the recipe from his Every Night Italian. Thankfully I had some Marcella Says meat broth in the freezer, and before I knew it I was settling into the now familiar risotto routine of cooking the onion well, adding the vegetable and then finishing with the rice stirring (and then really finishing with the butter and parmesan at the end).

It was an absolute cracker. It looked like a painting. It tasted of the most wonderful creamy pumpkin, and was consumed with much life affirming and trouble easing pleasure.

Thanks again to the Hazan family for their risotto technique.

Risotto with Asparagus

I have wanted to continue my risotto quest with a vegetable for a while. I was drawn back to Giuliano Hazan's How to Cook Italian rather than Marcella's Essentials because I like the fact he calls for 1/2 an onion rather than 2 tablespoons. I also suspect that the almost 15 years between the publication of Essentials and his book allowed for greater refinement of the recipe.

That is all speculation however.

I used one of the 6 batches of Marcella Says meat broth I prepared on Sunday. That stuff is gold. The asparagus was simmered as directed. I was concerned it tasted a little gritty after it was tender. I tried to rinse it in the asparagus water as best I could. Next time I will have to remember to rinse it properly before cooking (why didn't I do that anyway? You should always rinse a vegetable before cooking it).

I only had a red onion. I don't think red onion is best. It is difficult to see it become golden, as directed.

Everything went to plan. I don't mind stirring as I tell myself it means I'm working for the dish.

I have noticed I tend to use more broth than the recipe tends to call for. I think that must be because my stove is hotter.

The end result was delicious. It was less buttery and parmesany than the butter and parmesan risotto, but I think that is to be expected. I am not sure that I was able to taste asparagus each bite, but each bite was pretty well perfect.

Marcella suggests testing for salt at the end and I think that's a good idea. I could have seasoned it a little more I think. She also adds pepper, which she also adds to her basic risotto. That might be an idea as well.

She also stirs in a little parsley.

I will definitely be making this again.

A lazy Hazan Saturday

Nothing new here, but I thought I would post about the food I cooked yesterday, pretty much on a whim, drawing on my Hazan training.

I was off in a shopping centre looking for some walking shoes, and thought about buying some lunch. I preferred not to, and instead wandered into the supermarket where I bought a nice looking eggplant, a punnet of blueberries, an onion, a potato and some rosemary. I felt quite virtuous queuing up at the checkout, with my real food, especially looking at some of the processed crap other shoppers had selected for themselves.

Lunch was blueberries followed by baked eggplant slices and a rosemary, onion and potato frittata, cooked carefully with my specially bought non-stick frypan. It is true you only need two tablespoons of oil when you have a non-stick pan. It set more than my prior effort, although it was perhaps not quite as delicious not being as creamy. It was still quickly devoured and appreciated and will be cooked again. It looked more like a frittata should.

I managed to go for a reasonably long walk around the mountain with my new shoes, and as it started getting dark I dreamt of risotto for dinner. Although I had not shopped for any special ingredients I knew I had precious meat broth in the freezer. I started this on my return, and as I was cooking for three I also attempted a pasta sauce. I spotted a red capsicum, which I dutifully peeled and then cooked with onion, garlic, chili flakes, canned tomatoes and, as a last minute addition, olives.

And so dinner was butter and parmesan risotto, which was a triumph, followed by a competent pasta that was made sweet by the capsicum and given some intrigue by the olives and chili.

Not a bad dinner given I had not shopped for it and on first glance there was nothing in the house.

One thing I have noticed about Hazan risotto, when cooked with real parmesan and real meat broth, is that people are absolutely stunned the first time they eat it, as I was. I suspect they have never eaten risotto like it in their lives, and perhaps feel differently about all of the tired, packet stocked, chicken breast ridden travesties they have cooked proudly for themselves following recipes of dubious origins.

I had lunch the other day with a client at what I consider to be the best restaurant in town. He told me he often cooked risotto, and had in fact just cooked it the night before - from a packet. It just had to be heated up.

I told him Marcella would not approve.

Sicilian Orange Tart

I had my parents over for dinner tonight. The meal I cooked was:

- risotto with butter and parmesan, after last week's triumph;

- lamb stew with beans from Essentials; and

- sicilian orange tart from Giuliano Hazan's Every Night Italian.

The risotto was wonderful. I used the rarer rice. I don't think it was any better than the arborio from last week. Everyone lapped it up. I used about a cup and a half. I think 2 would have been better.

I half lost my mind when cooking it. I put the rice in with the butter. I had a laugh about how Marcella would not be happy with me making that mistake, started again, and then put the rice in the butter again.

Not even moderately alert (Marcella's precondition for recipe success in her 1973 Classic which caused me much merriment).

Third time was the charm and I remembered the onion.

I cooked the meat broth for it yesterday. I got about 17 cups of broth out of the batch, and used 6 in the risotto. I use the Marcella Says recipe. It is worth it just for the broth instructions.

The stew, with vinegar from Essentials, was different in that I used proper lamb shoulder, chopped on the bone, as required by the recipe. Interestingly the Classic version says to use boned lamb and keep the lid on. Anyway, it took much longer to cook - at least an hour or more. You definitely have to read the description of when it is done when cooking Marcella recipes, they are very important. Marcella admits that timing bores her and in any event it is impossible to give one time as each bit of meat is different.

It was tasty, and all eaten by the 4 of us, with the sauce mopped up with bread. The meat was fattier than the cuts I used the first two times, and some bits was better than others, and so my search for excellent lamb shoulder on the bone continues.

But on to the tart. I think it was Jamie Oliver who said he loved a flexible tart, and who am I to argue? I have never cooked one before. I used my new food processor to prepare the dough, as instructed. I was skeptical about the amount of water to be used. One tablespoon was not enough, but I did as I was told and added an extra teaspoon. That caused it to bind quite dramatically.

I think I made a mistake by adding an extra egg, both to the bottom and the filling. I did this because Giuliano said to use extra large eggs, which I did not have. I think this made the tart too eggy.

I also made a mistake by putting in the juice before I mixed the filling.

I may have also made a third mistake by not rolling the bottom thinly enough. I didn't have a false bottom or anything so I had to roll it and then put it in. I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing, but I think the bottom was too thick - in some parts thicker than the filling. Should it be, I wonder?

The forth mistake may have been to have an oven that was too hot. I took the tart out about 10 minutes early because it looked done.

Anyway, we enjoyed it. We ate it with a bit of cream which improved things. I am going to make it again as I am fond of the orange flavour. It also looked appealing. It was a little eggy.

Again, it is hard for me to say it was a good tart or not as I've not really eaten tart before. I think it has potential and I want to give it another crack without mistakes.

It would be nice with a little ice cream.

I sent the left over tart home with my 65 year old dad, who was quite pleased about that. He fixed my cupboard and had a left over screw, which when combined with the tart sent them off laughing as well as being satisfied which can only be a good thing.

Risotto with Parmesan Cheese

This dish is insane! I am on such a high. Who would have thought that half an onion, a cup of rice, some butter, some meat broth, and some cheese would produce such a dish, a dish that fired off (almost) every pleasure receptor in my brain, in a way I haven't ever managed to produce on my stove before, in 30 minutes of enjoyable cooking.

Wow.

I had never produced a successful risotto. They were all duds. Every one of them. Failures. Unpleasant to eat. Deeply unsatisfying. Conflict inducing. Marcella, who is wonderfully warm and generous with her time, was aghast, again, with the difficulty I was having, although I had never tried to cook a risotto out of her book. She kindly posted a comment to me on Facebook, which I will reproduce here as it has not come from her book and I do not think she would mind (although I will check):

"Use a true Italian rice variety, carnaroli is the best, but arborio and vialone nano are also good. Do not wash the rice. Chop half a medium onion fine. Saute the onion with lots of butter until it becomes colored a deep gold, even faintly browned. While the onion is cooking, bring a saucepan of broth or water to a simmer alongside the burner where you have the onion. Add the rice - 1 cup makes a very generous portion for two - and stir it thoroughly coating every kernel with butter and onion. Add three or four ladlefuls of broth or water. Stir well. Adjust the heat to medium high. Keep stirring. When the liquid you have added has been absorbed and/or evaporated, add another two or three ladlefuls, and as always keep stirring. As you stir, make sure the rice comes free of the sides and bottom of the pan. Repeat the procedure as frequently as necessary, but do not EVER stop stirring. After 20 minutes, add some salt and ground black pepper. Taste to see if there is enough salt. I hope your broth isn't salty. Cook for another 5 to 8 minutes. The rice should have absorbed all liquid, but its consistency should be runny. Take pan off heat and briskly stir in a nugget of butter, then a handful of parmesan. Serve it alone, Italian style. It should be delicious. When you have mastered that, you can play with adding other ingredients to the sauteed onion before you put in the rice. "

It was these instructions I followed. I had precious "Marcella Says" meat broth in the freezer (and let me tell you, this stuff will change your cooking forever), I brought it to the simmer while I diced my onion using the technique Marcella's son, Giuliano Hazan, posted on youtube (thanks!). In went the onion with a couple of knobs of butter, the onion went golden, almost brown, and in went the rice, followed by marvelous broth. I followed the recipe, feeling all in charge, enjoying the stirring. I couldn't imagine not stirring - the rice would stick and burn pretty quickly, at least at the heat I had it at. I started running out of broth, so I just topped up the simmering pot with some hot water.

After 20 minutes, I added my salt and pepper, and it was tasting good. After 25 minutes (the time Marcella says it takes her to cook her risotto), the heat was turned off, and my parmeson and a little knob of butter was swirled in.

It rested a little and we were into it. I really went crazy for it, as did my dining companion. It was just the right texture, for me - not hard, and not mushy. Some resistance, just the right texture for pleasurable eating. It was creamy and rich, but not sickening (at all!). I do find obviously rich dishes - such as Marcella's famous butter and tomato sauce - a little too rich. But not this. It was 100% pleasure.

I went back to the pot, which I had thought was empty, to spoon out the rice grains that had mistakenly assumed they had survived the ladle.

I think I am now a risotto addict. I'm going to cook it every week. Looks like I'm going to be getting into a routine for the meat broth to ensure I always have a steady supply.

Next up, risotto with asparagus I think.

As for rice, I used arborio - I'll be searching for Marcella's suggested carnaroli, that's for sure.

What is interesting is that Essentials suggests putting in the butter and parmesan on the heat, whereas Marcella above suggests it be done off the heat. I suspect either way would work.

This dish ranks as one of my life's cooking highs.