01 June, 2010

Risotto with Tomatoes (pg.86)

Like the last one, this could probably have done with a few more minutes in the pan, with another ladle of stock. I had about a ladle-and-a-half of stock left over - for the fridge. This recepie didn't use copious volumes of butter like the others. Dried oregano with chopped onions in olive oil to start (this recipe doesn't state the onion ingedient, so I go with previous), then 3/4 of the de-seeded (and diced, although Valentina doesn't state what should be done to the tomatoes). Warmed until the tomatoes break apart, then the stock mixing.

I only timed it on my stop-watch when I was getting onto the 1-1/2 ladle stage, so by then was probably 5 mins cooking. That's why, when I tasted it, it was only 9 minutes in! But it was al-dente, maybe a little early, but I'm scared of overdoing it. Best firm than porrige! We got a block of Kirkland parmisan - grating your own block tastes so much better! - added that when heat was off and let sit covered with a bit of pepper and the rest of the tomatoes.

I didn't season with salt, as the home-made stock was already salty with the addition of a Knorr vegetable stock, as the ingredients ask for "intensely-flavoured" veg. stock.

In summary, slightly firm, but delicious!
Note: Although this recipe did not have any wine in it, we served it with 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from the ever reliable Chilean Casillero del Diablo as it's all we had. But it didn't match.

Welcome and purpose

Welcome! We have long been fans of risottos, but can't say we've ever mastered the dish. So on one fateful journey to the Fine Food Festival in London, we were intrigued by the book behind the demo chef pavillion was and how it would be good to get. One polite enquirey later and we were the proud owners of a persnally autographed and dedicated copy of the exhuberant Valentina Harris' "100 Great Risottos"!

So here we are: We live in appartment 34B in England and, in the inspired style of the Julia & Juliette movie, we will work our way through all hundred recipies - though not in some specific timescale. We will review and post photos to give you a sense of what we produced and hopefully we can get some advice from readers as to how to improve!