In the basement, mixing up the medicine

[venta]

I am currently the proud owner of a slow cooker, a Christmas present from my parents. As is the way of these things, every ingredient currently looks to me like something that would benefit from eight hours on a very low heat. One of the exciting uses to which the slow cooker has been put is making stock from the carcass of Sunday's roast chicken.

Armed with yummy chicken stock, some left over chicken, and an accidental excess of arborio rice, I leapt to the logical conclusion and we made risotto (not, you'll be pleased to hear, in the slow cooker).

It came out... ok. But no more than ok. It was suspiciously bland, and clearly needed something.

The trouble is, I'm not sure quite what the risotto needed.

It contained the following, in approximately this order:

Butter, finely chopped garlic, black pepper, arborio rice, white wine, chicken stock, cooked chicken, mushrooms, cream. It had grated cheese on the top (it was Cotherstone cheese, which I'm aware is not a traditional choice, but is what was in the fridge. I don't usually stir in cream, either, but there was some that needed using up).

Now, normally when I make risotto it's entirely vegetarian, and has everything in it. However, having made a rather nice butternut squash risotto a few weeks back (following a recipe, would you believe) I realised that maybe risottos (risotti?) can work in a more minimalist style. The recipe above doesn't even have onions in, and I was barely aware that you could cook a meal without onions.

Risotti I have cooked in the past have always featured onions (or leeks at a bare minimum) and I do actually wonder if that was what this one needed. The rice was nicely cooked, the texture was good, all the omens were propitious... but the taste was bland in the extreme.

I really thought that combination of ingredients ought to work. I was hoping for "delicate". Can any of you competent cooking types spot the obvious flaw in the plan?

Comments

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

I would put in something like lemon or lime juice if onions weren't being used. The list of ingredients you have sounds like it would be ok, if a little on the bland side, but obviously it would depend on how much pepper (and salt - was there salt??). I'd also have gone for a few herbs, I suspect - maybe chives or parsley.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I practically never put salt in cookery unless following a recipe which instructs me to. My mum cooks with practically no added salt, so I guess it's just what I'm used to.

This was being made of things-left-in-the-fridge, so there were no fresh herbs. On reflection, some dried mixed herbs did go in there.

When eating it I did try adding lots more pepper... which made didn't feel like it was the thing that was missing.

When would you put lemon juice in ? In with the stock ?

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

OK - I don't think no-salt is wrong, just that it would have definitely given it a bit more *something*.

Lemon juice I guess would have put in either with the stock or with the chicken, but then I tend to taste risotto as I go and add stuff according to how it tastes at that moment, so it's a bit hard to say exactly. It would depend on how acidic the white wine was, for instance.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yup... I tend to taste as I go, but don't have much concept of how lemon tastes as a replacement for onions! (I do know what lemon tastes like :) Just can't quite entastage[*] it in this context.)

When half your family drops dead in early middle age from heart attacks, you get wary about salt :)

[*] Like envisage...

[lathany.livejournal.com]

I'd be tempted to say "onions" with that list as well. Admittedly, I too don't cook risotti without them, but I think butternut squash has a strong enough flavour to do without. I like both chicken and mushroom, but I could see both being too subtle to work without onion (or an onion substitute).

[ladylizbet.livejournal.com]

I don't know that it would have helped your particular dish, but I find that browning things beore putting them in the slow cooker gives it all a better flavour.

[ulfilias.livejournal.com]

Onions don't add that much flavour, but i always thought it was a sneaksy 1 of your 5 a day. Garlic has a lot of the onion taste anyway.

I'd cook with a teaspoon personaly....Dip it in and taste stuff along the way, that way you can taylor things to your taste.

Salt while a tad bad and i rarely add it, is a flavour enhancer and in a small amount can help. It would be rare for me to add salt to a cooked meal. Ocasionaly a small ammount on chips.

I guess it also depends on what sort of taste your looking for, with cream, white wine (depending on type....i guess it was light and fresh and lost) and butter it should be a rich sauce, but not that flavourful maybe ?

[venta.livejournal.com]

I find tasting a bit difficult with risotto. There's no "sauce" as such to taste, and the only way you can assess the taste is a spoonful of rice. Except that'll taste weird, because it's not cooked yet (if it is, you've finished!)

[ulfilias.livejournal.com]

You can usualy press it down and get the juices....You should be topping up the liquid periodicaly, so after doing that and stiring a bit would be an ideal time. Although you also have to imagine it more concentrated !

[triskellian]

<points to icon>

Also, herbs (thyme is my favourite risotto herb), grated lemon zest in at the beginning as well as lemon juice later (I tend to put the lemon juice in at the same time as the wine). And maybe chopped up bits of bacon, also added at the beginning.

When my risotto comes out bland, it's usually a function of inferior stock, but that doesn't sound like it was your problem!

[secondhand-rick.livejournal.com]

Listen to the triskellian for she is wise about everything she says here. I particularly concur with thyme which is my favourite herb, and which coincidentally goes nicely with chicken.

Also a decent wodge of parsley towards the end, with an indecent know of butter. Salt. Shallots or onions right at the start.

And cream? Heathen!

[skorpionuk.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest bacon, also. My favourite risotto recipe steals bacon from one recipe and wine from another, see?

I discovered a similar thing with minestrone: the recipe I had called for bacon, and it was great, but when I made it veggie, it was bland.

Come to think of it, salt may be part of the answer here, as others have pointed out.

[cuthbertcross.livejournal.com]

I have started every risotto ever with onion....

Apart from that, wot they said.

Parsley can be a good alternative to thyme, and if you're onion-lite you'll get a v similar taste with chives.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

No onion? [grin]

I don't really cook, but I do eat. [grin]

Hmmm, where's cookwitch and valkyriekaren where I need culinary advice.

[cookwitch.livejournal.com]

You called?

If it is made with home made stock, I'd definitely add salt.
Try to get some smoked sea salt if you can as that adds a good tang, or just Plain Maldon Sea Salt. Home made stock can be flavourful, but bland at the same time. No, I don't get it either.

I don't always add onions to my risotto, but if I don't, I add extra salt and parmesan. Or use half stock and half white wine as the cooking liquid.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Or use half stock and half white wine as the cooking liquid.

That's interesting... it has been said before that it's inadvisable to drive after eating a risotto I've cooked. Having recently observed that most risotto recipes say something like "two tablespoons white wine" I've been trying to moderate a little.

Sounds like moderation might have been the wrong course!

Thanks for the advice.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I don't always add onions to my risotto, but if I don't, I add extra salt and parmesan.

IAWTC; this is also my practice. And celery salt is good if you're using a stock that doesn't have celery in it.

[nalsa.livejournal.com]

Onions, celery, and salt. Sorry to continue the theme, but you really do need some salt if the stock didn't come out of a little green tub.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Two likely problems spring to mind:

1) Cream mutes flavours. You should probably skip it here, since you don't have anything strong in your mix at all (unless you used really lots of garlic or black pepper, which I'm guessing you didn't and wouldn't be a great plan anyway).

2) Some things (garlic, pepper, salt) work in cooking primarily as flavour enhancers, but they still need something to enhance. Chicken, particularly stock, can sometimes be a very mild flavour and require quite a lot of coaxing to taste interesting.

(I also agree with both triskellian and cookwitch's tips above.)

Sorry but

[a-llusive.livejournal.com]

I'd just never make risotto in a slow cooker, it needs careful attention during cooking to keep the fluid level up and doesn't need slow cooking. Traditional Italian recipes I want to try use game stock and saffron. Good chicken stock as you used should have been OK, but cream can react badly to slow cooking - when doing a risotto I stick it in shortly before serving and that seems to help. I'd also have added either tons of saffron or some herbs - Summer Savoury or some Italian-themed blend.

Re: Sorry but

[exspelunca.livejournal.com]

Re-read original post - risotto wasn't made in slow cooker.

Re: Sorry but

[(Anonymous)]

Oops - brainskip. Thanks for pointing this out. Point about adding cream later stands - every time I've made risotto with chicken stock and added cream earlier its been not so good.

[exspelunca.livejournal.com]

Come on, come on, you can't start a meal without an onion in your hand! You're not used to salt, for obvious reasons, but doesn't mean you can't try it in your own kitchen (I've had to learn to compensate for its adbsence).