In the basement, mixing up the medicine
Jan. 8th, 2010 05:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ventaI 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?
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?
no subject
Date: 2010-01-08 06:20 pm (UTC)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!
no subject
Date: 2010-01-08 07:00 pm (UTC)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!
no subject
Date: 2010-01-08 07:18 pm (UTC)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.