Risotto di Funghi

Risotto di Funghi Porcini (Porcini Mushroom Risotto)

Time: About an hour (less if you are a quick chopper)

Serves 4

A world of culinary delights exists in a steamy bite of mushroom risotto. The perfect balance between puffy, yet ever-so-slightly crunchy rice kernels covered in a creamy, aromatic and earthy sauce will excite your taste buds, warm your heart and awaken the deepest depths of your soul

Much like the majority of Italian food, Risotto is misunderstood by amateur foodies as a difficult dish to make. From a technical and complexity standpoint, it is in fact, very easy. First and second timers sometimes have trouble with figuring out when the whole thing is done--read down and you will find how simple it really is.

Porcini mushrooms are amongst the most exquisite things in the world. Fresh, these oversized, meaty, and aromatic funghi are often grilled at high temperatures. Sadly, outside of October in Tuscany (amongst other parts of central and northern Italy) the fresh shroom is not readily available. I have seen it at farmers markets in southern california but it is very expensive. Nevertheless, the dried version so well condenses the aroma and flavor that a mixture of dried porcini with fresh and meaty mushrooms makes the whole mess taste like fresh porcinis. If you are able to find fresh porcini, don’t even dare use them in a risotto, call me, and we can emulate perhaps my favorite traditional Italian meal: A good crusty bread, a big old bowl of grilled porcinis, and enough chianti classico to knock out a horse.

Ingredients:

1 good sized onion diced

4 cloves of garlic peeled and coarsely chopped

1 cup arborio rice

at least 4 cups of chicken stock (or a really good veggie-stock if you are of that persuasion)

fresh parmagiano reggiano (or pecorino romano) grated to taste

salt, pepper and olive oil

Mushrooms:

I always use dried porcini mushrooms (a good sized handful) and soak them in hot water for about 30 minutes (save the soaking liquid and add it to the broth later). To prepare porcinis for risotto, soak, drain (saving the liquid of course) try to squeeze most of the liquid out and coarsely chop.

I usually add about another cup or so of chopped fresh mushrooms. I like criminis, shitake, oyster or really any exotic or stronger mushroom…I wouldn't use white button mushrooms, they are not hearty enough.

Making the Risotto:

Making risotto is the simple process of cooking rice (and other stuff, in this case mushrooms and onions), adding broth little by little until the rice is cooked just so. If you follow this recipe, your risotto will be creamy, flavorful, and always consistent.

First, heat the broth to a simmer (add the mushroom liquid if you use porcinis). As you go through the process you may need more broth, do not fret, if you run out of chicken or veggie stock, you can just use hot water at the end. Note: The cooking liquid needs to be hot before it is added the rice mixture, using cold liquid results in slower cooking time.

Preheat a large skillet or pot (heavy duty please, none of that non-stick wooziness), once hot, coat in olive oil. Saute the onions with salt and pepper until soft.

Add the rice, mushrooms and garlic--at this point, you may need to add more olive oil to the mix, if any of the components stick to the bottom of the pan, add more olive oil to keep the rice from burning. Mix constantly while sauteing over medium-high heat for 3 minutes or so.

Once the rice is "toasted," begin adding the broth. Start with a whole cup. Once that liquid is soaked up/evaporated, add broth at half cup intervals. The rice usually takes a half-an-hour of adding liquid at small intervals and stirring pretty often (make sure to kick up the stirring as the rice gets dry to prevent burning).

As the rice puffs up begin tasting the dish. Everybody likes their risotto done at different points,  In Italy (and consequently the way I like it), the rice is puffy, but when eaten there is still the slightest crunch or resistance in the grain. When you feel like your rice is looking done, taste often until it is perfect to you. Because every pot is different and risotto always takes different amounts of liquid and time, you have to learn to trust your senses. I promise, you will know when it is done—when the rice is perfectly cooked and the rest of the ingredients are married together in a creamy and aromatic mess.

Sometimes, when preparing risotto for a dinner party, I will cook it nearly all of the way an hour before serving so that I only have to heat it up and let another half cup of broth cook off before delighting my guests with a steamy bowl of hot risotto.

And, always remember before serving to throw a nice big handful of parmagiano (or sheep milk equivalent for those intolerant of all things lactose) into the rice. [You can also add a couple of tablespoons of butter, but you really don't need to, the dish is probably rich enough without even the cheese].

Enjoy, and, as always, let me know how it goes.

“Tamago” style Omelet with Sushi Rice

“Tamago” style Omelet with Sushi Rice

Time: 15 minutes

Serves 2

Sushi Rice: Singular puffy grains that melt on your tongue but have a slight crunch to the tooth....in Japan, some teach children to never waste a single grain-when they are this good, how could they. It is also traditional to not allow the rice to touch anything but wooden utensils and steamers. I wouldn’t recommend doing this, but it is vitally important to appreciate how even making the simple dishes well requires care and respect for the food.

1 cup sushi grade rice (Don’t skimp on the rice, high quality rice is worth the price and effort)

1 cup plus a little filtered water

1 teaspoon rice vinegar (to taste)

2 tablespoon mirin/or 1 tablespoon sugar (to taste)

1 teaspoon salt (to taste)

Sushi rice is really easy, and can be a great alternative to normal long grain rice-it sticks together wonderfully. The only thorny part of the cooking process is washing the rice. You have to rinse the rice about seven times in order to wash off the starch. I place the grains in a bowl and fill it with cold water. I rinse it around for a minute or so and then pour it through a fine mesh colander/sieve into another bowl. Repeat until the rinsing water is clear (usually seven times, sometimes more).

Next bring the water and the rice to a boil in a saucepan. Once it is boiling turn the heat to the lowest possible setting and cover. Steam for 15 minutes and then let stand covered for 10 more.

Mix the remaining ingredients together and toss with the hot rice. Serve either hot or room temperature (I have never really been a fan of cold sushi rice, although some forms of traditional Japanese food call for this kind of treatment).

Tamago Omelet

First off, Tamago means egg, so the name of this recipe is “egg” style omelet....just wanted to get that out there in the open and admit the ridiculousness. In any case, if you’ve ever ordered Tamago at a sushi restaurant, I’m sure your curiosity has been piqued by its sultry texture and deep flavor-I mean it can’t just be a scrambled egg. Well, I did some research, and making real Tamago takes some refined technique, a few obscure ingredients, a Tamago pan, and a ton of time (mostly for resting and refrigerating).

What follows is a recipe that captures the delicate flavor, and if done right, has it’s own delectable texture that melts on the tongue.

This recipe requires a few specialty ingredients. They are all pantry items that pretty much never go bad, and are usable in a plethora of contexts and dishes.

A quick note about eggs: Eggs will go from being undercooked to overcooked very quickly-they also cook considerably after being removed from the heat/pan. I always make sure my eggs still have some moisture to them when I stop cooking, the result is perfectly cooked eggs that are not overdone or stiff. In the case of this recipe, when pressed with the spatula, the omelet should have a pillowy softness, if it gets any harder remove from the pan immediately.

6 eggs, separate the yolks from the whites.

2 tablespoons mirin (japanese cooking rice wine)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

a few dashes chili oil

pinch ginger powder (optional) or 1/8 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger

Vegetable Oil to taste

Wasabi as a garnish (At most markets, they sell these tubes of wasabi that you put in the fridge after opening, they are really quite good and easier to use than the powder. They also last for a while.)

First, take your egg whites, and beat them until they are really foamy and have started to thicken and turn white (about 5-6 minutes by hand, probably 2-3 by machine-but seriously do it by hand, it won’t kill you).

Mix the 3 of the remaining egg yolks (save the yolks for another dish-or if you can’t think of why you would use them, I guess you can throw em out) with the mirin, soy sauce, chili oil, and ginger. Meanwhile preheat a large skillet until it is very hot, pour a liberal amount of oil (you don’t want your eggs to stick) into it. Carefully fold the yolk mixture into the white mixture and pour into the pan, spread it around evenly.

Cook for about 4 minutes on one side (or until you can see it has gotten golden brown. Now flip it over and cook it for another 4-5 minutes (Flipping it in the air can be tricky, if you are gun shy, or just don’t want to risk messing up your counter and ruining the dish, I suggest sliding the omelet onto a plate, carefully placing the pan on top of the plate and flipping the whole apparatus, I however, take the risk-if only to show off).

When finished, both sides should be crunchy and golden brown and the inside should be slightly creamy and velvety.

Serve with warm sushi rice and a wasabi garnish.