(We learned to make these cherries from Eugenia Bone’s book Well Preserved. You can find the recipe
at various places on the internet, including http://www.denverpost.com/food/ci_12595911. But note that Bone has since revised
this recipe to include 6 cups rather than two quarts of red wine. One of the great things about Bone’s
book is that she guides you toward making preserves with savory uses and helps
you think about how to use them).
To be frank, we thought this was one of the very best things we have ever cooked — which means, we dare add, one of the best things we’ve ever eaten.
To be frank, we thought this was one of the very best things we have ever cooked — which means, we dare add, one of the best things we’ve ever eaten.
Our approach here was conditioned by a variety of recipes
from different books. The
basic technique for making risotto is widely available, so here we’ll primarily
emphasize simply that this dish really depends on a few key ingredients: the shallots you first soften in olive
oil, the rice, the parmigiano reggiano and a pat of butter added at the end —
but above all, the stock in which you cook the rice.
True Italian-style risotto absolutely requires the variety
of rice called “Arborio,” which was named after the town in the Piedmont region
where it was originally grown. At
one time this variety of rice was grown only in Italy, but today it is also
grown in California and elsewhere in the United States. Arborio rice is distinguished by its
high starch content, which produces the creamy texture of the finished dish,
and especially by its ability to absorb large amounts of liquid without
becoming mushy as regular rice would do. Thus, in this dish, the rice is really there as
an edible, chewy container for the stock; and the taste of the risotto depends above
all on the concentrated flavor of all the bounty that went into your stockpot. The texture of the finished dish,
however, depends on the cooking, which has to be done with constant attention
at the last minute, just before serving.
(The whole-grain advocate in the household would like to
point out that you can make a pretty decent farroto, a kind of higher-fiber
risotto, using semi-pearled farro.)

While we have eaten
less meat since moving to California, we’ve had to learn to wrestle more
intimately with that meat. If you
buy a duck at the market, you will need to break it down yourself. Learning to do so has enabled us to buy
whole birds but to make a duck leg ragu one night and seared duck breasts
another.

This dish thus depended on two labor-intensive ingredients
that we had in the pantry. The
cherries in wine allowed us to remember and savor the ghost of the taste of
early summer.
![]() |
The leftovers were equally good. One of us learned in childhood that many leftovers can be
turned into savory cakes with molten centers and golden crispy edges. The risotto was no exception. We rolled the cold risotto into cakes
with oiled hands, dusted them with parmesan, and then let them set in the
refrigerator for a few hours before frying them in a mixture of butter and oil
over medium heat. It’s important
not to worry them if you want a nice crust (and you do). Served with Bledsoe’s Calibrese
sausages (when their chalk board said “limited supply” we immediately bought
them) and the leftover pan sauce, the cakes were less elegant than in their
previous incarnation but just as good, if not better.
No comments:
Post a Comment