Risotto

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion
a couple cloves of garlic
½ teaspoon salt (a large pinch)
¼ cup good white wine
1 chicken breast, poached and cubed
1 cup broccoli florettes , raw chopped up small
6 cups chicken stock (I did homemade – makes the house smell sooo good)
1 cup medium grain rice
3 tablespoons butter
about 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated – from Italy – nothing from a green can!
1 or 2 teaspoons while truffle oil (optional, if you can get it)
¼ cup heavy cream (optional)
fresh ground pepper to taste

Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a separate pot, do this before you start anything else. It can heat up while you prep the other ingredients. You’re going to add the stock to the rice during the cooking process, and it needs to be just under boiling.

With the stock heating up, prepare all your other ingredients. Once the cooking starts, you won’t have time for anything else. Chop up a small onion and a couple of cloves of garlic. Next cut up and cook anything that goes in the risotto – I like chicken and broccoli (use anything you like – I like no more than 2 or 3 additions – shrimp and asparagus is classic, as is a mix of mushrooms) I usually poach a chicken breast and cut it up in bite sized chunks and cut up broccoli into small florettes. The broccoli I leave raw, it will cook when you throw it in at the end. Grate a handful of parmesan cheese. Finally, measure out a cup of rice.

There’s a huge debate on what kind of rice. The traditional risotto is made from Arborio rice from Italy. I’ve tried it and I really like the results that I get from calrose rice better. This is a medium grain rice that you can get at Costco for less than a 50 cents per pound. Arborio will set you back $4-$6 per cup in most of the high end grocery stores in the bay area. In Italy you can buy Arborio rice for about 2 euros per kilo - $1.50 a pound – so the local stores are just ripping us off. Tyler Florence had a show on risotto on the food channel where he recommends carnaroli from Italy – I need to try that. You can get that from various places on the internet for about $2 a pound.

Oh, one last thing. Open a good chilled pinot grigio from Italy. Pour yourself a glass and start sipping. Make sure you save a ¼ cup or so to go in the risotto.

Now you’re ready to cook. Turn off the phones, accept no interruptions for next 30 minutes. Need to pee? Do it now – once you start, you can’t stop. I said it was good, I didn’t say it was easy.

First, sweat the onions and garlic in the olive oil and salt until they are soft and translucent. Keep the heat low, or the garlic will burn and get bitter. Here you can add some dry herbage that matches your accompaniments. If you have fresh herbs (and why wouldn’t you) then put them in near the end of the cooking process. Next put in the rice, and up the heat a bit. Stir constantly for about 2 or 3 minutes, until the rice gives off a nutty smell and starts to brown. What you’re trying to do is toast the grains of rice. They should soak up all the olive oil and it should start to get sticky. Next pour in a splash of the wine ¼ to ½ a cup. Stir until it’s absorbed.

Now it gets tedious. Put in ½ a cup or so of the hot stock and stir until it is completely absorbed. Repeat this until the rice is just almost cooked (you need to taste it to see, but it will be at least 20 minutes but not more than 30.) And, yes, you need to stand there and stir it constantly. Don’t stop stirring, even for a minute, not for anything. The rice will burn, cook unevenly, and it won’t come out creamy. The stirring rubs the starch off the rice and that makes the most creamy wonderful sauce.

After the rice is almost cooked (only way to tell is to taste), turn off the heat and throw in your accents. For me, this is poached chicken breast and broccoli. Throw in a knob of butter and put the top on the lid and let it sit for 5 minutes. Now you can throw in any herbs that are fresh, I like thyme. The rice will finish cooking and the residual heat will cook the small bits of broccoli perfectly.

After 5 minutes, add the parmesan cheese (and white truffle oil, if you have it) and stir. If you are feeling really decadent, add a bit of heavy cream – but it doesn’t really need it.

A little cracked pepper and a fresh grating of parmesan cheese is all it needs. Eat and enjoy with a good pinot grigio.

I love this stuff.