Friday, March 30, 2007

Friday Recipe Blogging: Wild Mushroom Risotto

Ah, Friday Recipe Blogging , I hardly knew you...Once upon a time, late last summer and into the early fall, I tried to follow Medieval Woman's lead and post a recipe every Friday...then I was sucked into the black hole of my breakup and my teaching insanity.

But Medieval Woman (check out her new place!) asked me a few weeks ago to post my recipe for mushroom risotto, after I mentioned rather immodestly that I had made the best one ever. And I figure I might as well do that, since this constitutes about my favourite meal. Anything with mushrooms, and lots of them, is pretty much it for me.


WILD MUSHROOM RISOTTO

Now, this recipe is from a healthy eating cookbook, A New Way to Cook, by Sally Schneider (which is a really good book). Therefore, it's pretty modest on the old butter and cheese, etc. I am not so modest. I definitely put more butter and olive oil in this than she calls for, and maybe more parmesan. And I used probably 1/4 cup of mascarpone cheese, instead of her 1 1/2 tablespoons of sour cream. Also, more fresh mushrooms. Plus, cause I'm vegetarian, I use veggie broth instead of chicken. Do all of this, and yours too will be the best one ever! Here's the basic recipe, though:

1/2 ounce dried mushrooms, preferably porcini
1 cup boiling water
3 cups unsalted homemade chicken broth or canned low-sodium chicken broth
2 tsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 large shallots, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 fresh sage leaves, chopped, or 1/4 tsp rubbed dried sage
1 cup Carnaroli, Vialone Nano, or Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 pound fresh wild mushrooms
1 1/2 tbsp regular or reduced fat sour cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 to 2 ounces fresh white truffle, or more (optional)

In a small bowl, soak the dried mushrooms in the boiling water for 30 minutes.

Remove the mushrooms with a slotted spoon, reserving the liquid, rinse, and drain well. Coarsely chop the mushrooms. Set aside.

In a saucepan, bring the broth to a boil over high heat; lower the heat and keep at a simmer.

In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter with the olive oil over low heat. Add the shallots, garlic, and sage, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are translucent, about 4 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat to moderate, and cook, stirring, until the shallots are golden. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, until the grains look chalky with a white dot in the centre of each, about 5 minutes (Do not allow the rice to brown.)

Add the wine and cook, stirring constantly, until the wine is absorbed by the rice, about 3 minutes. Stir in the fresh mushrooms, the reserved chopped dried mushrooms, and 1/2 cup of the simmering broth. Pour in the reserved mushroom soaking liquid, taking care to leave any sediment behind. Cook at a gentle simmer, stirring frequently, until almost all the liquid is absorbed, 3 to 5 minutes. Continue adding broth in this fashion, 1/2 cup at a time, until the rice is tender yet still firm in the centre and risotto is creamy but not soupy.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the sour cream, 1/4 cup of the Parmigiano-Reggiano, and pepper to taste [and salt! - ed.]. Serve immediately. Serve with remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano for sprinkling, and shave the white truffle, if using, directly onto the risotto at the table.

8 comments:

Phul Devi said...

Mmmmm, I love risotto and I also am mostly veggie (I eat fish) so this looks really yummy. I'll let you know how it turns out if I try it.

PG said...

Sounds like a good recipe. I might give it a try. I'm not a vegetarian, so I might include chicken...but mushroom risotto sounds really good. Is the white truffle really helpful?

Hilaire said...

Psychgrad - I don't use the white truffle cause I don't usually have truffle just hanging around my house! So no, I don't think it's necessary at all - but would probably make it even more scrumptious...

squadratomagico said...

Actually, I'd like to put in a plug for the truffle, or rather for truffle oil. I try to keep some in my house and I highly recommend using it if you can. Fresh white truffle oil has an amazing, indescribable scent and flavor. The stuff is expensive, but a little bit goes a long way.

The best brand, btw, is Urbino. Some truffle oils only have truffle dust in them, but Urbino has an actual fragment of truffle.

Hilaire said...

Yeah, truffle oil is a very ine thing and would certainly make something that is already good even better. I have had it on hand before, but ran out and haven't replaced it. Thanks for the tip on the brand!

medieval woman said...

Can you get truffle oil at the market or only from a specialty cooking store? This looks LOVELY, Hilaire! I missed recipe blogging yesterday and I'll make up for it next week - may I link to your recipe, though?? ;)

Hilaire said...

Sure you can link to it if you want. ;)

And, I don't know if I've ever seen truffle oil in a regular grocery store. Probably you'd have to go to a gourmet/fine foods store to get it. And I bet they'd have it at some stall at the market in your city!

Phul Devi said...

I either stock up when I'm in Italy, or get it at an Italian specialty shop. You also can find it at yuppie supermarkets like Whole Foods.