The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 934

To test this, I cooked another batch of risotto, this time first dumping the raw rice into a bowl and pouring my cold broth on top of it I agitated the rice to release all of the starch, then drained it in a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl, reserving the starchy, cloudy broth on the side (It was starchy enough that you could see white starch settling on the bottom.) I toasted my rinsed rice in a mixture of butter and olive oil until it was just beginning to turn golden brown Finally, I added the starchy liquid to the pan, brought it to a simmer, lidded it, and cooked it, stirring once in the middle What I ended up with was pure win: risotto that was both perfectly creamy and nutty All that was left was to finish it with some cream (I like to whip my cream first to introduce a bit of air into the mix for a lighter risotto) and cheese Of course, there are all kinds of flavor variants you can work in here Vegetables, reconstituted dried mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, meats, saffron, other wines, miso paste— whatever You’ve got the foundation, now go build your house (Pro Tip: go high-low and stir in some nacho cheese sauce for an awesome treat.) BASIC ALMOST-NOSTIR RISOTTO NOTE: I prefer Carnaroli rice for its slightly longer grains and firmer texture, but feel free to use any risottostyle rice, like Arborio, Vialone Nano, or even Bomba SERVES 4 TO 6 1½ cups (about 13½ ounces) risotto-style rice (see Note above) 4 cups homemade or low-sodium canned chicken stock 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for finishing if desired 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 medium cloves garlic, minced or grated on a Microplane (about 2 teaspoons) 2 small shallots, finely minced (about 2 tablespoons) 1 cup dry white wine (optionalcan be replaced with extra broth) ắ cup heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks 3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (about 1ẵ cups) Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Chopped fresh herbs or other garnishes as desired (see the variations and recipes below) ... 2 medium cloves garlic, minced or grated on a Microplane (about 2 teaspoons) 2 small shallots, finely minced (about 2 tablespoons) 1 cup dry white wine (optionalcan be replaced with extra broth) ắ cup heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks... 3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (about 1ẵ cups) Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Chopped fresh herbs or other garnishes as desired (see the variations and recipes below) ... grains and firmer texture, but feel free to use any risottostyle rice, like Arborio, Vialone Nano, or even Bomba SERVES 4 TO 6 1½ cups (about 13½ ounces) risotto-style rice (see Note above) 4 cups homemade or low-sodium canned chicken stock 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for finishing if