Dish of the month (April 2022): risotto

I've been doing more reading up on how-to ... it seems that I did not take into consideration our high altitude!
It'll take longer and more stock, duh :facepalm:never dawned on me.
I promise I'll give it another go.
It is quite surpassing how altitude affect cooking as well as baking.

I did the baked risotto and it turned out really well which left me wondering why when making it on the stove, it needs to be stirred all of the time because it got stirred once when I took it out of the oven.


This is a portion. I followed a recipe that said ½ cup of arborio rice for 2 people. That took 1 L of stock plus a little more afterwards which I never used. It included ½ cup of white wine as well. That quantity is too much for us. A did a double quantity and it has easily made 3 servings each. The portion above was actually too much for me. The chard worked really well. The mushrooms were field mushrooms not cremini because I couldn't source them, but again they worked well.
 
It is quite surpassing how altitude affect cooking as well as baking.

I did the baked risotto and it turned out really well which left me wondering why when making it on the stove, it needs to be stirred all of the time because it got stirred once when I took it out of the oven.

A cheat method for making a dark (chocolate brown) roux for gumbo is to make it in the oven, which requires no stirring, where on the stove it requires constant stirring. Now, oven made roux takes forever, vs 20-30 minutes for stovetop roux. But, no stirring.

CD
 
I did the baked risotto and it turned out really well which left me wondering why when making it on the stove, it needs to be stirred all of the time because it got stirred once when I took it out of the oven.
The first time I made risotto, it came out gummy (I mentioned that before). In reading different articles on making risotto, more than one said, “Don’t follow the old rule that you have to stir constantly when making risotto, as this can lead to gummy risotto.”

This last time, I didn’t stir it nearly as much, and it came out much, much better.
 
“Don’t follow the old rule that you have to stir constantly when making risotto, as this can lead to gummy risotto
I think of stirring as " gently moving the rice & other ingredients around, to ensure the stock is all incorporated", rather than " stir like crazy" or "stir vigorously". My take on "gummy" is that there wasn`t enough liquid/stock being added, but I wasn´t there to watch.:D:D
Who knows? There are so many subjective issues when cooking (type of rice, type of stock, altitude, temperature of stock, temperature of cooker, vegetables used, etc. etc. etc.) that it´s sometimes hard to tell.
 
So there is this Mexican-Italian (and recently added Asian and Carribean) fusion restaurant (and food truck) I have been to a few times that makes risotto balls with chorizo and goat cheese. They are out of this world fabulous. I might try my hand at those sometime in the near future:
Home
Chorizo Funky Balls
2 Deep fried risotto balls filled with chorizo, goat cheese, Chihuahua cheese, topped with poblano sauce, queso fresco, cilantro.

I do like the name, although putting "funky" and "balls" both in the name might be a little off-putting to some without reading the ingredient description first.
 
To get a dark roux, it takes well over two hours in a 350F oven. I did it one time, and never again.

CD
I had never heard of anyone doing it in the oven? That must be the reason why!
 
I jumped in late and skipped all but the latest post. I am confused. I thought the topic was Risotto.
I have not been present for a while. I look in and see Risotto. Tonights dinner was oven roasted Teal (a small wild duck) Celeriac and Apple Slaw and Mushroom and Duck liver, gizzards and heart Risotto. My Dear Husband could not find enough words of praise,

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I jumped in late and skipped all but the latest post. I am confused. I thought the topic was Risotto.

Someone mentioned oven cooking risotto, instead of on the stovetop which requires a lot of attention. I mentioned that there are similar oven methods for making a dark roux, for the same reason. So, it was semi-on-topic.

CD
 
Dear Husband saw something on You Tube about cooking Risotto in an Instant Pot. 6 minutes instead of 20/30 minutes stove top. Nice idea. No mention of time neded to clean the lid, gasket and other parts. I like my Instant Pot. I use it to cook beans, Chili, soup, Sous Vide, slow cook dishes. I can not justify cooking Risotto in my Instant Pot.
The first time I had Risotto was at my Brother's home in Denver, CO. His lovely wife served Risotto. It was love at first bite.
 
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