Evan Jacobson

Posts Tagged ‘Risotto’

Risotto with Roasted Pepper, Onion, and Corn, By Evan J. wanna be gourmet, January 21, 2010.

Pictured above: A piping hot Risotto suspended midair with a magic hand.

The Staten Island anecdote preceding the recipe…

Risotto is a fairly new concept in my adult life. Growing up in a New York Jewish home lent itself to massive protein consumption: Chicken, Steak, Pork Chops (obviously NOT a Kosher home), Beef, Lamb Chops, etc. Italian dishes, however, were also quite popular: Chicken Parm., Lasagna, Sweet Sausage and Peppers, various Pasta dishes, Spaghetti & Meatballs (my Dad’s favorite), etc. I used to ride my bike to Val’s Pizza in Staten Island and buy Pizza Dough. When I returned home, I made various Calzones. My mother didn’t care what I prepared as long as I cleaned up the mess. Oddly enough, I could have bought a Calzone from Val’s or Rocco’s, another favorite Pizza restaurant. Instead, I deep fried my version at home, an idea that I mimicked from another popular Pizza place, PizzaTown, located in New Dorp, Staten Island. Baked Calzones have a nice taste, but the fried version is so much better, fattening, and about 5 times the calories. New Dorp was about 30 minutes from my house and I was too young to drive. My first cousins used to live near New Dorp before they moved to Eltingville, my stomping grounds. My Uncle Harry used to treat me to PizzaTown when I was in the neighborhood. They had decent Pizza, but I didn’t care about that. Even during my childhood, I was always interested in exploring something different from the norm.
In fact, I cannot honestly think of a Pizza place that deep fried Calzones, save PizzaTown…
Staten Island had a plethora of Pizza places. Here are just a few that stood out: Joe and Pats, Nunzios, Pal Joeys, Brothers Pizza, and Deninos (my absolute favorite). During my Teenage years, my Uncle Harry used to take me to Villa Borghese (spelling might be off) on Bath Avenue in Brooklyn. This was one of my Uncle’s favorite Italian restaurants. The food was incredible and it seemed to contain a higher level of Italian authenticity. Sure, you could get Chicken Marsala, Veal Saltimbocca, or other awesome entrees. However, they had Spiadini Alla Romana (literally Roman style Brochettes). It was prepared with day old bread cut into cubes, and Mozzarella Cheese on a skewer. If memory serves, it was dipped into egg and flour and sautéed in Olive Oil and Butter, until it formed a crusty exterior. Then, some variation of an herb sauce with Anchovies was prepared in the same pan. The skewer was removed and the rich sauce was poured atop the Brochette. Needless to say, it was beyond incredible. I’m 99% sure that this place had Risotto on the menu and it was overlooked. I’ll never know. However, it is safe to suggest that my love for Italian Food would inevitably lead me to the world of Risotto.

DISCLAIMER…
By the way, my parents took great care of me and I was always well fed. My mother is still a great cook. However, it’s not possible for most working moms to delve deeply into a culture’s culinary world and reproduce everything authentically. It takes a chef to do that compounded with many years of experience, trial, and error.
END OF DISCLAIMER! WE RETURN TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING…

Before I present my original version of the Roasted Pepper, Corn, and Onion Risotto dish, I have to tell you that I’m doing something offensive: I’m using it as a side dish. Tom, Padma, Gayle, and Toby from Top Chef would certainly tear me a new one. Sorry guys, but this bodes well as an excellent side dish. I know because I ate it! I wanted rice with some form of vegetables to accompany my Chicken. Somehow, Risotto just popped into my head. It can easily be argued that some of the most unpredictable culinary accidents have turned into enormous successes, i.e. Buffalo Wings, Coca Cola, et al.

COME AND GET IT…
1 cup of Arborio Rice
½ cup diced onion
2 tablespoons of E.V.O.O.
2 tablespoons of Smart Balance OR Butter (Butter is preferred, but I’m trying to watch the LDL issue)
A shy ½ cup of diced Roasted Red Pepper
Around ¼ to ½ cup of canned Corn
24-28 ounces of Vegetable Stock (avoid salty versions)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Optional ½ to ¾ cup of grated cheese—Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, or something along those lines… I added the cheese to my portion and omitted it from my wife’s. Both were delicious. You’ll have to decide…decide….decide…now batting…Manny Mota…Mota…Mota…

Modus Operandi:
Boil the Vegetable Stock in a separate pan and let simmer. In a different pan custom tailored for Risotto, add the E.V.O.O. and Butter. Saute the onions for about 3 minutes. Add the Arborio rice and blend with the onions until it’s very coated. Carefully add about a ladle of stock and stir. This is the part where you must be patient and willing to stir for the next 20+ minutes. When the rice absorbs the stock, add more liquid. When most of the stock has been absorbed several minutes later, add the Roasted Pepper. Keep on stirring… Add the Corn, Salt & Pepper. You have to taste it to adjust the seasoning and to see if you like the consistency of the rice (can we call it Risotto at this point?). We’re trying to achieve a slightly al dente texture before overcooking. Do you really want to be cursed by chefs and Risotto purists worldwide? Let’s avoid that pain by tasting as we cook and stir.

Buen Provecho (it’s Spanish, but dig in and enjoy anyway!)

Evan J. wanna be gourmet, January 21, 2010

Pictured above:  Evan J’s first successful Risotto!

For years, I’ve been watching various food shows: Anything on Food Network, Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, Hell’s Kitchen, etc.
Giada, the Italian Goddess, is very knowledgeable about most facets of Italian cooking. I don’t understand how she can cook the most fattening, scrumptious food, and still be a supermodel. She must have great jeans (pun intended). That will be a blog for another day… It appears that she makes several different types of Risotto to serve as a main course.  I don’t purport to be an expert on Risotto. But since I just made one, and my wife raved about it, I can share my 2 cents.

Risotto is not a rice; it’s a style of cooking.  It’s usually a featured entree at many Italian Restaurants.  They can be Vegetarian, or made with Meat or Seafood.  There is an argument in the culinary community insisting that it is never to be a side dish or a garnish.  Personally, I cannot comment on that because I’m not involved in those heated battles amongst the “chefs.”  I am a Chef “wanna be.”  My wife thinks that I should try out for a cooking reality show, but I’m apprehensive and not sure how I would handle neither the abuse, nor the competition.  I’ve worked for some seriously arrogant and disturbed chefs in my food service days and I’m very aware of the egocentric nature that accompanies the culinary industry.  I’ve also worked with some great chefs too… The one’s that put love into their food and treat people well usually inspire the masses.

In any case, Arborio Rice is most frequently used, and there are so many variations which go way beyond the scope of this blog… I purchased a Risotto book from Costco a few months ago out of pure curiosity combined with many hours of Food TV (mentioned earlier).  I saw Giada make a Mushroom Risotto a while back… If you notice, I really enjoy abusing ellipsis… Mario Batalli has made several Risotto permutations as well and then he garnished it with a load of Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese (the expensive stuff). Many of the chefs on Top Chef have made Risottos too. I guess the inspiration for this impromptu blog came from several episodes of Hell’s Kitchen combined with my first successful Risotto–Am I bragging?  Yes!  As far as Hell’s Kitchen is concerned, a Risotto dish is made practically every week, and they seem to execute it in 5 minutes or less. Naturally, that is the power of television. After just cooking my first Chicken, Mushroom, and Cashew Risotto, I realized that there was more to it–about 30 minutes more. Gordon Ramsey flipped out several weeks back because someone in the kitchen overcooked the rice. The Risottos just kept on coming back and Gordon was running out of walls to use as a target for the rejected dishes:   “They’re a pile of mush… They’re under-seasoned… THEY’RE RAW…” Duck or else you’ll get hit with the saute pan. Apparently, they had to parboil or partially cook the Arborio Rice because it really does take a solid 20 minutes to absorb the liquid to become edible. It has to be Al Dente, but not too hard; it cannot have a mushy consistency either. No wonder those entrees just kept on coming back. Plus, one must keep stirring it and readjust the seasoning by tasting it. Polenta and roux’s can also become nightmarish if not constantly stirred.  In short, the dish requires time, patience, love, and several fresh ingredients.

I spent about 30 minutes perusing the Risotto book, and I decided that I was going to combine 2 different Risottos and put them together.  I understood the basics:  Use Butter!  Ok, there’s more to it.  Use Butter and Olive oil, saute a diced onion, add the RAW Arborio Rice, then add the stock and stir until it’s done.  Before serving, season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the expensive cheese at the end… I made a Chicken, Mushroom, and Cashew Risotto, but added a few of my own things. Generally speaking, I usually follow 95% of a recipe, but always find something else to add out of instinct, not rebellion.  For example, I added some freshly diced Red Pepper, Smart Balance (instead of Butter–please forgive me), seasoned RAW Chicken with Adobo, a Pear Infused White Wine instead of a dry version, a few drops of truffle oil near the end, Crimini and regular Mushrooms, toasted Pine Nuts, Asiago, and a grated cheese mixture.  It worked!  Most recipes are a basic guide–a framework/shell.  My wife is still drooling over the leftovers and I’m glad that I had some time today to unleash the mystery of Risotto.  My next Risotto will either consist of Lemon and Rosemary, an Artichoke and Roasted Garlic variation, or a seafood inspired version.

I always ask people to send thoughts, reactions, and recipes to my blog.  The bottom line is this:  I am connected and will feed friends and colleagues for many years.  PLEASE leave a reaction or email me with YOUR ideas.

Again, I don’t have a sign off and still working on it.  I’ll gladly accept suggestions for that as well. Peace and good eats… Evan J. wanna be Gourmet!