Risotto - recipes please!

[catrina]

so many people really do not have the time to make themselves.

20 minutes ? 10 if you're really lazy. (I realise that chicken and beef stock take a full day to make, but veg stock doesn't). Not to mention it freezes very well, so you can make a whole vat on the weekend and have it ready for whenever.

Last time I made risotto I needed fish stock so used Waitrose Cooks' Ingredients - it comes ready made in a vacuum bag. That was OK, it's just very expensive.

 

[tarannau]

The thing about stock is that it's not really that much hassle to make - it's more the belief that it is. It's a case of take whatever veg looks like it's on its way out from the fridge, give it a quick wipe and throw it in a pan with water to cover. Bring to a bubble, skim off the scum, and then leave to simmer. It's the sort of thing that you can do in the background - 3 mins prep and you're back in front of the tv and on the sofa.

OK, there's a little more to it than that, but not much. You can wank on about the right choice of veg for the stock, but carrots, celery and an onion (to clarify the stock) are a good base, along with a bay leaf or two. Add whatever else you fancy - from sprigs of parsley, to those old green beans and mushrooms you found in the fridge. Throw in a chicken carcass or the bones from your roast if you're that way inclined and leave to simmer. I'm a bit less dedicated to stock making than I perhaps was, but there's something almost therapeutic and 'worthy' feeling about making stock.

It freezes well too, so it's not unknown for to me to make up and store a batch after cleaning the fridge out.

Yep, I do use Marigold a fair bit of the time (for gravy at the weekend for example), but something as simple as risotto deserves a decent stock imo.

 

[Ms T]

Porcini mushroom stock cubes (you can buy them in Italian delis) are great for making risotto.

 

[catrina]

Porcini mushroom stock cubes (you can buy them in Italian delis) are great for making risotto.

Now that sounds good!

 

[Orang Utan]

20 minutes ? 10 if you're really lazy. (I realise that chicken and beef stock take a full day to make, but veg stock doesn't). Not to mention it freezes very well, so you can make a whole vat on the weekend and have it ready for whenever.

I take your point, but I never have any 'leftover' veg

 

[Herbsman.]

They make a low salt version now.

aye. I think they have it at my local shop

 

[trashpony]

I am now using Knorr Touch Of Taste concentrated stock which server in lieu of a real stock which so many people really do not have the time to make themselves.

Where do you get that from (ie where is it in the supermarket)?

 

[Orang Utan]

Where do you get that from (ie where is it in the supermarket)?

It's in the stocks and gravy section in my Tesco

 

[trashpony]

It's in the stocks and gravy section in my Tesco

The fresh ones or the powdered stuff?

Ta

 

[Orang Utan]

The fresh ones or the powdered stuff?

Ta

They're all in the same section in my local - next to the cooking oils

 

[catrina]

Is the Knorr stuff a liquid or a powder?

 

[Orang Utan]

A concentrated liquid

 

[tarannau]

They make a low salt version now.

I think I had some of that, albeit it's the Vegan lo-salt Marigold version IIRC

I must admit, I reverted to the ordinary Marigold as soon as it ran low. The other stuff was a little dull

 

[fogbat]

I have high hopes of some Oxo stock in a carton. Please tell me it's not just pre-diluted Oxo cubes?

 

[aqua]

I have a wonderful recipe for oven baken porcini mushroom risotto will dig it out

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Made a nice simple one last night, with mushrooms. Didn't stir as much as is recommended since I was also posting on here...

 

[Dubversion]

i made a risotto i was very pleased with last night - fairly basic mushroom / white wine affair, augmented with preserved red peppers and sundried tomatoes at the close.

Rather better than the dodgy herb-crusted haddock in a soy and mustard vinagriette that accompanied it.

 

[tarannau]

Jesus Christ Dub, that sounds like fusion ponceology of the highest order. You take a knock on the head and temporarily believe that you were Anthony Worral Thompson circa 1986 or something?

Sun dried tomatoes, preserved red peppers and herb-crusted fish all sound fine, but what's with the honey and soy based marinade. All you needed for added overkill was a bit of curry sauce on the preserved red peppers.


Risotto sounded good mind.

 

[Orang Utan]

Translation: ponce

 

[Cloo]

A general tip I'd give is, before adding stock, chuck half a glass of white wine over the rice and let it all get absorbed - gives a lovely base flavour.

Also I think leek makes a good base for it. If you start with leeks and wine, then spinach, asparagus or chestnut mushrooms go brilliantly.

The other day we did made one with mange tout and roasted squash, topped with quite a lot of parmesan - lush!

 

[Dubversion]

Jesus Christ Dub, that sounds like fusion ponceology of the highest order. You take a knock on the head and temporarily believe that you were Anthony Worral Thompson circa 1986 or something?

Sun dried tomatoes, preserved red peppers and herb-crusted fish all sound fine, but what's with the honey and soy based marinade. All you needed for added overkill was a bit of curry sauce on the preserved red peppers.


Risotto sounded good mind.

oh sod off. There was no honey involved - you imagined that bit. And the recipe - not the risotto bit, the fish bit - was for precisely that.

 

[Orang Utan]

I made a risotto last night and after eating one helping, I left it out to cool down before I refrigerated it - I forgot to do so - will it be safe to eat tonight?

 

[wtfftw]

I made a risotto last night and after eating one helping, I left it out to cool down before I refrigerated it - I forgot to do so - will it be safe to eat tonight?

I reckon heat it properly and you'll be fine. I'm always doing rice wrong and I survive.


I'm quite interested in making my own vegetable stock now. What's all this about freezing it? In ice cube trays or something?

 

[tarannau]

I'm quite interested in making my own vegetable stock now. What's all this about freezing it? In ice cube trays or something?

Freezer bags or bits of assorted tupperware are fine. Some folks recommend ice cube trays, but frankly I haven't got enough ice cube trays to begin with. Aside from the odd sauce, you always need more than a cube or two of stock as well.

 

[wtfftw]

Freezer bags or bits of assorted tupperware are fine. Some folks recommend ice cube trays, but frankly I haven't got enough ice cube trays to begin with. Aside from the odd sauce, you always need more than a cube or two of stock as well.

Ah. I could freeze in quantities that I know I will use. cheers.

 

[zora]

I just cooked a yummy Blue Goat's Cheese risotto - inspired by Sunray and the Wobbly Bottom Farm.

Searching for this thread I found all this other stuff about the perils of re-heating rice - I never realised just how dangerous it was and how close I must have been on numerous occassions to growing this enormo-bollock from scratch.

 

[Orang Utan]

I didn't get enormobollockitis zora, I think pogofish's case is an extreme one.