risotto

Brown Rice Risotto (Wild Mushroom version)

Risotto is a favorite rice dish at my house. I generally use arborio rice, short fat white grains. It takes about 18-20 minutes to cook on the stovetop. Someone got me a bag of short grained brown rice. Saturday I tried it out for risotto. And, as it takes longer than white rice, I made it in my Instant Pot pressure cooker; easier, faster and less heat in my kitchen. It was pretty tasty. And super healthy as brown rice is a whole grain. This was a wild mushroom risotto made with chicken of the woods shrooms which I had harvested last fall and frozen partially precooked. Delicious! Baby bella or cremini mushrooms would work well; slice and sauté before adding to the recipe. Or sub in a cup of frozen peas or barely cooked chopped asparagus.

wild mushroom risotto

Yes, those mushrooms are pink! This is a dish of leftover risotto; not as creamy as first cooked was.

Wild Mushroom Brown Rice Risotto

 

Ingredients:

1 cup brown short grain rice

1 Tbsp. olive oil

½ c diced onion

1 garlic clove minced

1/3 c dry white wine

1 2/3 cups chicken broth

1 tsp sea salt

1 cup cooked wild mushrooms; 1 ½ c sliced mushrooms cooked in 2 Tbsp butter 3-6 minutes

1/3-1/2 cup just grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Put IP on sauté feature, let heat then add olive oil. Add finely diced onion, cook 4-5 minutes, stir often. Add rice, stir and cook a minute, add wine, cook a minute, add garlic, stir and cook 30 seconds. Add broth and salt. Put on lid, lock and put on pressure for 35 minutes. While it cooks sauté the shrooms. At end of 35 minutes do a quick release, open, stir and add the mushrooms, stir and add cheese, grind on black pepper.  Stir and serve. Enjoy!

Note, if watery you can put on sauté for 3-5 minutes to dry it out some. Or, if dry add up to a quarter cup more broth.

risotto and firey salmon

Summer supper perfection: dilly cuke salad, corn on cob and firecracker salmon fillets with the risotto.

Shrimp Risotto Made Easy

I love this recipe: fast, easy and delish. We all want easy recipes that taste great, don’t use too many pots/pans and are budget friendly.  I needed something quick that would use my instant pot electric pressure cooker (IP) as my  sisters were down for Easter and we were hoping to make supper in our mom’s assisted living room.

I had some shrimp in the freezer and all the usual ingredients for risotto.  I had read lots of comments on how good IP risotto was but had resisted until I tried this recipe…. being a lover of the traditional endless stirring method.  It still took as long as hand stirred risotto to make but was much easier for a meal made outside my kitchen and it was fresh and ready to enjoy.

Note: I made this again recently using Asiago cheese and was not a real big fan of that flavor; a good quality chunk of Parmesan is what you need for the best result. Other than that it came out with a perfect texture; for that version I put the peas right in the risotto after releasing it; stirred for a minute and it was ready to serve!

shrimp-risotto

IP Shrimp Risotto, serves 4

1 lb large to extra large shrimp; thawed and shelled

4 tbsp. butter divided

1 small yellow or red onion finely chopped

1 ½ cups Arborio rice

2 tbsp. vermouth or dry white wine

4 ½ cups low sodium great quality chicken broth

1 tsp. sea salt

¼-1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

2 minced garlic cloves

Finely grated rind of one small lemon

¼ cup finely chopped fresh herbs like parsley, rosemary, tarragon, thyme or

2 tsp dried herbs (same ones)

1/3 cup freshly grated good quality parmesan cheese

Directions: Heat IP and add 2 tbsp. butter, melt and add onion, cook 4 minutes, add rice and cook 1 minute, add vermouth and cook 30 seconds, add 3 cups room temp chicken broth, salt and pepper and put lid on. Seal it and set for 9 minutes on manual pressure, do a quick release, add the minced garlic and then the shrimp the rest of the broth. Stir well and cook 5 minutes on Sauté.  Stir frequently. Turn it off and then add the zested lemon and the herbs, stir.  Add the cheese, stir and serve.

Notes: I think you might be able to cut ¼ cup broth; mine seemed just a tad too loose/wet. It was not quite as creamy as hand stirred but the process was a lot easier and a quick clean up.  We had a side serving of a salad.  The result was a gourmet meal that could be made anywhere; perfect for our situation. Enjoy!

 

Revised from original post from Spring 2017. No recipe changes.

Mushroom and Corn Risotto

I made this fabulous risotto, perfect in September when there still is fresh local sweet corn and mushrooms like chanterelles are available. You can buy lovely mushrooms at the Hellertown Farmer’s Market on Sunday mornings, or in most grocery stores. I used my mini wok to do most of this recipe.

There is no cheese in this recipe.  I suppose you could add some but it isn’t necessary.  If you used veggie broth this would be vegetarian and if you use Earth Balance instead of butter; vegan.  I just found it to have an amazing depth of flavor.  Worth every bit of effort.

mushroom risotto

Mushroom and Corn Risotto, serves 4-5

3 tbsp. butter divided

1 tsp. olive oil

8 ounces chanterelle mushrooms or other wild mushrooms

1 large shallot; diced small

1 ear of sweet corn

1 medium yellow onion finely chopped

1 cup Arborio rice

½ cup vermouth or dry white wine

3 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

2 minced garlic cloves

1-2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh herbs like parsley, chives, or chervil

Directions: Heat large saucepan (I use my mini wok) and add 2 tbsp. butter and oil, melt butter and add mushrooms which you have chopped, cook 2 minutes; add shallots and cook 2-3 minutes, and turn out into a bowl. Cook one ear sweet corn about 7 minutes; I steamed mine in a frying pan with ¼ inch water in the pan.  Let cool and then chop off all the kernels, add to mushrooms. Heat the chicken broth in a saucepan until hot but not boiling.

To the pan you sautéed mushrooms in: add 1 tbsp. butter and then the chopped onion once the butter melts.  Cook 4 minutes, add garlic and rice and cook 1 minute, add wine and cook 1 minute, add chicken broth one ladle full at a time.  Stir after adding each ladle and stir a couple times as it cooks.  When the broth is mostly absorbed add another ladle. When I add the first ladle I set my timer for 16 minutes. When the 16 minutes have elapsed add the sautéed mushrooms, shallot and corn kernels, also salt and pepper. Stir well and cook 2-3 minutes. Stir frequently and taste it; can cook another minute if necessary (total of 20 minutes for the dish once rice added.) Turn it off and then add the herbs, stir and serve.

Notes: risotto seems like it will be difficult and a bother but you can probably do other things as it cooks; just keep an eye on it and stir the pan whenever you can to redistribute the broth so it soaks into the rice; at least every other minute. The slow absorption of the broth causes the rice to swell and cook perfectly.  You must use Arborio rice for risotto; no other rice will work.  You could use red onions if you like instead of yellow. If you want it creamy you can add ¼ to ½ cup milk when you add the corn into the risotto. Maybe I will do that next time.

You can use any sort of mushrooms you like. I had lovely wild chanterelles and honey mushrooms. The flavor of this risotto was out of this world.  Without the cheese most risotto has it was lighter and seemed to melt in my mouth in a delicate explosion of flavor.  Definitely the best risotto I have ever made and I honestly make risotto regularly as my starch accompaniment to a main protein.

This recipe is from “The Mushroom Lover’s Mushroom Cookbook” by Amy Farges with minor changes.