I had the day off and was eager to hit the small market shops in Findlay Market and Hyde Park Fish Market. The Bride requested a familiar dish and a risotto for the side. Risottos are great because you can add just about anything to them to for a change of pace. I even recall looking at a risotto cookbook a few years ago that contained over 150 diferent recipes. However, I knew that The Guide had a risotto so it was an easy decision to make. I shopped for the materials necessary for the Summer Vegetable Risotto on page 341.
A special thank you is in order to Matt (former guest chef) for sharing a recent allotment of vegetables. I only had to pick up a few more vegetables from the market to complete the requirements. My basil plant is starting to look a little picked over now, but I know that in a week or two it will all have grown back. The directions in the recipe were to begin by soaking the ears of corn, husk and all. So I filled a bowl and set them in.
I noticed a small problem...they floated. So I improvised and filled a second bowl of water and set that on top.
This kept the ears of corn completely submerged. While they were soaking, I prepped the remaining vegetables.
While they were grilling, the corn was ready for prep. I had to pull back the husks while still keeping them attached. This revealed the silk strands underneath.
They had to go.
The husks needed to be returned and tied up. The soaked leaves would prevent the kernels from burning during the long grill time required to properly cook the corn.
The other vegetables were ready, so I took them off and replaced them with the corn.
After about twenty-five minutes, the ears of corn came off and smelled sweet and delicious.
I removed the husks and, sure enough, the kernels underneath were perfectly cooked and well preserved.
The best technique I have for removing the kernels is to stand them on end and use your chef's knife to scrape them off. Be careful to not get too concerned with removing the entire kernel as you might get some of the cob during the cut.
I cut up the other vegetables, mixed everything together, and my grilled vegetables for my risotto were ready.
It was now time to clean up the kitchen and prepare my mise en place.
Along with the mise en place is another hint for making risotto: use a second pot to make sure that before you begin that your liquid is hot, just below the boiling point. Doing so will keep your cooking temperature from dropping as you add the liquid to the risotto.
I added the liquid in one-half cup increments, stirred constantly until the liquid was absorbed, and repeated. Had my cooking liquid not been preheated, I would have had to have waited for the pot to heat up the liquid first, lenthening my cooking time dramatically. Instead, this only took about twenty minutes. I plated and informed The Bride that we were ready for dinner.
Look kids! It's the Oak Grilled Salmon again! What can I say, The Bride LOVES that recipe. This time, to keep things interesting, I ponied up for the Sockeye Salmon. Sure, it's a few extra bucks per pound, but dear sweet Jesus does it make a difference.
As for the risotto, it was spot-on. It reminded me a lot of the ratatouille recipe, which if you recall I was a tremendous fan of. A risotto is a small commitment of time that rewards the cook with something FAR more interesting than rice. I love its flexibility and adaptability. A word of warning with this recipe: add the vegetables a small amount at a time. Just dumping all of them in at once might tip your vegetable to risotto ratio unfavorably. Just add a small bit, stir, and then decide whether or not to add more. Make this to your liking! Also, if you are cooking for just two, cut this recipe in half. The Bride and I have leftover risotto for the week.
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