Risotto

     Happy Thursday everyone! I hope that I am not the only one, but when I get past the halfway point of my week I feel the need for a reward. Last night my reward came in a bowl full of carbohydrates and bacon. That's right folks, risotto! I must confessed that I am a little obsessed with risotto. It can be served as an appetizer, entree, or even (gasp!) dessert. It is a magnificent canvas to display the most beautiful produce anytime of year. It knows no seasons. It can be asparagus in April, corn in July, figs in September, or pumpkin in October. It can be paired with a protein, it can be vegetarian, or (another gasp!) vegan.
     Another thing I love about risotto is that it is a great base for whatever you happen to have in the house. Last night that meant bacon and peas. That was alright with me! Here is how I made it;

First, I gathered all my ingredients. The french term for everything you need for a dish is 'mise en place' - just in case you want to sound fancy.

In order of appearance:

5 slices of Bacon, chopped
2 cloves of Garlic, chopped small*
1 cup of Arborio Rice
1/4 cup of White Wine (Tip: Choose a wine you are in the mood to drink with your dinner.)
3 cups of Chicken Stock, heated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup Peas

*I used garlic because that's what I had, but anything from the onion family works just as well. Use an entire shallot or half of a yellow onion if that is what YOU have around. (More about onions and their regional identification to come at a later date.)

This is a large batch. It served the two of us with no accompanying dish. But you could also use this recipe as an appetizer for four people.

Let's get cooking!

Start the bacon in a COLD pan. The cold pan allows for more of the fat to be rendered out, giving you a crisper end product.

You may be thinking that it looks like a lot of bacon, but it will shrink down to about half. Plus, if you are anything like me you will make half of it your snack while you are cooking the rest of the dish. Here's what it should look like in the end:

Mmmm! The brown color on the bottom of the pan is called fond; it's the natural sugars in the bacon caramelizing and it is basically pure flavor. This will come into play in just a bit. Now there is a very fine line between crispy bacon and burnt bacon, so you will want to take the pan off the heat as you remove the bacon with a slotted spoon. Place the bacon (drained of as much grease as possible) on a plate covered with a paper towel.  Pour (very carefully) all but 1 TBSP of the grease in a jar and let it cool. *If you have southern blood coursing through your veins, you can keep this in the refrigerator for future cooking endeavors. Otherwise, it is just a clean and safe way to dispose of the grease. *

Now, if you are looking for a vegetarian or vegan option, this is the point at which you will begin. Instead of the bacon drippings, you will add butter or olive oil (vegan) to the hot pan.

Add garlic or onion. Cook until you can smell it from about a foot away - this is what it means to cook something until it becomes aromatic. Pour in the rice and stir until the majority of the rice is coated in the cooking fat. Now it's time to break out the wine. Pour the wine over the rice to deglaze the pan - which is what draws the fond from the bottom of the pan into the rice. When the wine is almost completely evaporated, add 1 cup of the chicken stock. (If you are going the vegan route, use vegetable stock instead.)

It should look like this:

For the next 10  to 15 minutes, depending on your stove, you are going to stir it gently every minute or so to A.) keep the rice from sticking to the pan and B.) to release the starch from the rice, which is what gives risotto it's signature creamy texture.  While you are stirring, add stock as necessary to keep the liquid level just above the rice (see above).

Once those 10-15 minutes are up the rice should be just a little more than al dente. Add what's left of the stock, then add the peas. I used frozen peas but if you have fresh, use 'em!

Let it cook (still stirring) until the liquid level is just BELOW the top of the rice. Remove the pan from the heat and add the parmesan. Stir gently until the cheese is melted. If cooking vegan, leave out the cheese and cook until the liquid is almost entirely evaporated.

Pour into two shallow bowls. The risotto should spread but not be soupy. If that is NOT how yours looks, it still tastes good so eat it anyway!

Top with a pinch of parmesan and the bacon.

Now sit back, pour yourself a glass of that wine, and congratulate yourself on creating a dish that scares  many a chef.

Be on the lookout for more risotto recipes as we get into my favorite time of year - pumpkin season!

What I Learned From My Parents

      My upbringing is not what most would call conventional. I grew up on a 7 acre farm (a hobby farm, but still a farm). I was home schooled with 3 brothers and a sister. I spent summer days in the garden, weeding, watering, and harvesting. I HATED it! Whenever my mom would mention that the green beans were almost ready for picking, I faked every viable option for illness. My mom still likes to tell the story of how I would "accidentally" pull entire green bean plants out while I was weeding so that I would have one less instrument of torture awaiting me in mid-July. I was only slightly less opposed to the hours of washing, freezing, and canning our produce. I thought that I would forever cringe at the word 'shucking'. While most kids were at the pools swimming, I was swimming in homemade salsa up to my elbows. I milked goats, fed pigs, sheared sheep, spread manure, gathered eggs, fought off roosters, and extracted honey. All the while, I was sure my parents were just lying in bed at night conjuring up new ways to make me sweat. But I found that what they really conjured up was my passion for food. At some point the chores made me curious, curiosity turned into knowledge, and the knowledge quickly became passion. My love for food literally grew from the soil in my parents yard. I saw how differences in the weather changes the taste of certain vegetables. I tasted how the seasons affected the sweetness of honey. I saw how the happiness and well-being of a hen changed the size and flavor of an egg. In the same way, I also saw how good food changed the entire atmosphere of the house. As soon as my mom would begin preparing dinner, all seven members of the family would gather in the kitchen and listen to music and laugh and talk. I witnessed first-hand how the dinner table became a sanctuary when the whole family was excited to sit down and eat. During the day the table was a school desk, a lecture hall, and a podium. But come dinner time, a different and more important kind of learning took place. We learned how to communicate, how to properly crack a joke, and how to eat well.
     As much as I loved gardening, cooking, and eating growing up, I was under the impression that unless I was planning on living in a little house on the prairie, I was going to have to come up with a more viable career option. I went to a vocational high school where I studied engineering and drafting. I took a semester of teaching courses my first year in college. I then took only general education classes, thinking that something would pique my interest. During my first quarter of Spanish at Ohio State, my professor announced that he would be teaching a Hispanic Gastronomy honors course. I thought it would look good on my transcript and it would be a nice break from the mundane classroom routine. It did accomplish those things, but what I gained most from it was the knowledge that people actually did make money from cooking! Each night, a professional chef would bring us a dish and explain the importance of the it and how it impacted their career choice. After that quarter, I transferred to Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, NC. There, I was able to learn the more technical side of cooking. That technical experience was the last block needed in building my love for food.
     I learned that cooking is an art as well as a science, and when both sides are applied, food can be something that is appreciated by all people. Which brings me to this particular point in my life. I want to share how, although culinary school was an important piece of my love of food, what I learned from my parents and the home they built pushes me to be the best chef I can be. Although the technicality is what separates a chef from a cook, the passion is what translates food into all languages, races, and classes. It is my hope that my experience on the farm and at the table can bring the best of my family into the lives of people around the world.