I’ve not always had great luck with risotto… when I was first married, we had my VERY gorgeous friend who is a SUPER accomplished home cook and hostess over for supper while her fella was on an adventure to the other side of the world. She was (and still is) one of the coolest, prettiest, nicest, funnest people I know in real life. So, you know– I wanted to bring my A-game.
In an effort to impress her with my own cooking skills (insert eye roll here) I tried to make a bacon, lemon, English pea risotto and ACK! It was awful. So bad. Too much bacon, too much lemon, hardly any peas. And the RICE! Oh, it tasted like grains of sand were lodged in the middle of each piece.
Flash forward to a couple of years ago: Rice pudding & Risotto were two recipes I decided I wanted to perfect since Rice is a major, MAJOR Mississippi crop. I’m still working on the rice pudding (but I’ve got a lead!) but the risotto has come a LONG way since that first big huge failure and is something I’m finally willing share. Then, of course, when you combine Mississippi grown Delta Blues Rice (Rice GRITS, no less!) and Jones County golden chanterelles from Wild Woods Cuisine, well, how can it be bad?
The truth is, it COULD have been bad if I hadn’t paid super close attention to the texture of the rice and the flavors that blend well with the earthy mushrooms. But, Lemon, white wine, parsley, and parmesean really lend themselves beautifully here, and I wasn’t in a hurry (This is KEY when it comes to risotto, y’all. PLAN at least 1.5 hours. It may go faster, but really, why risk making bad food with suck beautiful ingredients?)
- 2 Cups of Chanterelles, ends cut off, cleaned thoroughly, and dried off
- 2 garlic cloves
- 5 stalks fresh oregano and 5 thyme
- ¼ Cup chopped parsley
- 1¼ Cup Aborrio Rice or Delta Blues Rice Grits
- 7 Cups Chicken stock
- 2 Cups white wine (divided)
- Juice of ¼ Lemon
- ¼ Cup Parmesean cheese
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- Using the olive oil, sautee' the mushrooms and garlic in a skillet until the mushrooms have released some of their juice and are a very deep brown. Add in ½ cup of the white wine to the pan and cook until it reduces by ¼.
- Add the lemon juice, the oregano, and thyme. Set the mushrooms aside.
- Heat 3 Tablespoons of the butter in a large, flat bottomed skillet or pan. Heat it until it shimmers.
- Pour the rice in, and toast it until golden brown, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn. (I've included a photo below so you can see what regular, untoasted rice looks like and you'll know when your rice has turned the right color.)
- At the same time, pour the chicken stock into a pot and heat until it's boiling. Once it boils, reduce to a simmer. You'll want it to be hot-hot and ready for when you pour it, cup by cup, into the skillet.
- Once the rice is toasted (between 5-10 minutes later), Turn the skill heat down to medium. You'll want to add in 1 cup of the broth. Keep stirting this until it's totally absorbed. (Yes, this is labor intensive. It's time consuming. Watch netflix on your ipad or have a glass of wine and invite people to come hang out in the kitchen. TOTALLY worth it)
- Continue to do this ¾ Cup-to-1 Cup at a time, until all the broth has been absorbed and the rice is entirely cooked through. After adding in 3 CUPS of the broth, Add in 1 Cup the wine, and then last ½ Cup of wine again at the end.
- ** NOTE: if you find that your risotto is already cooked ALL the way through before this point, you don't have to add in all of the broth. But don't rush this.. patience is key! Also, if it's still NOT finished after using all this liquid, add in a cup of water and continue to stir.
- Add in the mushrooms and juices, parsley, the parmesean cheese, and serve. Pass with additional cheese if you want to!
Leave a Reply