The Hirshon Italian Risotto alla Milanese

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Risotto alla Milanese Image Used Under Creative Commons License From worldrecipes.expo2015.org

Citizens, a tragedy of epic proportion has been pointed out to the mighty Generalissimo by Citizen Steve Wilson – TFD has yet to post one of his many risotto recipes!

Citizen Steve – through my eternal beneficence, your wish is hereby happily granted! 🙂

Risotto is a northern Italian rice dish cooked in a broth to a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish, or vegetables. Many types of risotto contain butter, wine, and onion. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy.

Risotto in Italy is normally a primo (first course), served on its own before the main course, but risotto alla milanese is often served together with ossobuco alla milanese.

A high-starch (amylopectin), low-amylose round medium- or short- grain white rice is usually used for making risotto.

Such rices have the ability to absorb liquids and to release starch and so they are stickier than the long grain varieties. The principal varieties used in Italy are Arborio, Baldo, Carnaroli, Maratelli, Padano, Roma, and Vialone Nano.

Carnaroli, Maratelli (historical Italian variety) and Vialone Nano are considered to be the best (and most expensive) varieties, with different users preferring one over another.

They have slightly different properties. For example, Carnaroli is less likely than Vialone Nano to get overcooked, but the latter, being smaller, cooks faster and absorbs condiments better.

For my risotto, TFD prefers the finest Acquerello Carnaroli, aged for 7 long years – NOTHING ELSE!!!

Acquerello Carnaroli rice is grown using a crop rotation system. It is the only rice variety sown on the farm, thus eliminating thr possibility of inadvertent hibridization with other varieties. After the harvest, the unhulled grains of Acquerello Carnaroli are aged for one year in Colombara’s temperature controlled silos. This process renders starch, proteins and vitamins less water-soluble, improving the consistency of the grains and enabling them to absorb more cooking liquid. When cooked, the grains become larger, firmer, do not stick together and taste better.

After the aging process, the rice is refined and “whitened”. For this step in the transformation prosess “the screw” (a machine invented in 1975) is still regarded the best for the job, and is by no means the most economical. In this machine, the rice spirals slowly downwards, gently rubbing grain against grain, maintaining the nutritional values which can be easily lost with other bleaching methods. At the end of the process, Acquerello rice is a perfectly polished honey color.

There is a legend about the creation of this risotto dish. It was 1574 and the Duomo in Milan was being built. A group of Belgian glass makers, under the direction of their master, Valerio of Fianders, were working on the stain-glass windows representing episodes of the life of St. Elena.

One of Valerio’s apprentices was known for his ability to make wonderful colors. His secret? He used to add some saffron to the color mixture creating amazing chromatic effects. On September 8, 1574 the wedding of the daughter of master Valerio was being celebrated.

This apprentice (some say as a joke, some say as a gift to the bride) came up with the idea of adding some saffron to the risotto that was going to be served during the nuptial meal. The result? The yellow risotto was a hit among the guests and this classic of the Milan cuisine was created.

For the classic Risotto alla milanese, it must be made with beef stock, beef bone marrow, lard (instead of butter) and cheese, flavored and colored with saffron.

Needless to say, most recipes on the Web today use shortcuts from the classic canon.

Not TFD!!!

I even go back to the ancient medieval custom of adding a bit of edible gold leaf to each serving, to emphasize the price of this dish with saffron, more previous by weight then gold!

Citizen Steve, thanks again for reminding TFD about this oversight, you are hereby promoted to Citizen First-Class!

I – TFD – HAVE SPOKEN!!!

Battle on – The Generalissimo

The Hirshon Italian Risotto alla Milanese

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• Beef Broth:
• 2 carrots, ends removed, peeled, and halved
• 2 celery stalks, peeled and halved
• 1 onion, ends and skin removed, cut in half
• 5 pounds chuck roast
• ***
• For the risotto:
• 12–14 ounces Acquerello Carnaroli rice
• 1 ounce top-quality pig leaf lard (replace with best-quality butter if you must)
• 1 ounce top-quality butter
• 1 ½ ounces Beef bone marrow
• ½ Onion (finely chopped)
• 6 tablespoons (⅜ cup) White wine
• 4 ¼ cups of hot beef stock + extra
• ¼ teaspoon Saffron powder – TFG strongly recommends the the fair-trade Afghani saffron from Rumi Spice
• 2 ounces grated 3-year old genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• Salt for seasoning
• ***
• Edible Gold leaf for decorating

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Instructions

1. For the broth:
2. Add carrots, celery, and onion to a large pot, which fits at least 6 to 8 quarts of water. Fill ¾ of the way up with water and bring to a boil over high heat.
3. Then add the chuck roast. Return to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, loosely cover, and skim any scum that comes to the surface.
4. Simmer gently for two hours. Then add one tablespoon of salt. Continue to simmer for four hours.
5. Remove the meat and use for another purpose (like sandwiches!), and then strain the stock into a new bowl to remove all the vegetables. Discard the vegetables. Bring stock back to a strong simmer.
6. ***
7. For the risotto:
8. Put the lard in a large pan and melt it, then add the finely chopped onion.
9. Sweat over a medium heat for about 2 minutes.
10. Add the bone marrow and continue cooking for another 3 minutes, breaking it with the spoon while stirring.
11. Once the onion is soft, add the rice and stir until the rice is completely coated with the fat. You can see that the rice will start to become translucent. Keep stirring and sweat the rice for a minute or two.
12. Now, add the white wine, keep stirring and let the wine evaporate.
13. Now, add the stock and turn the heat to medium/low. The stock, which is kept simmering in order to stay hot, should be added at the rate of 1 ladleful at a time and when this is absorbed, add more stock.
14. An ideal implement for risotto stirring is an oddly shaped spatula, with a hole in the middle, called a girariso. As you stir the rice one way, the layer above passes through the hole in the opposite direction, so the implement effectively doubles your stirring power!
15. As stirring helps to release the starch that gives risotto its creamy texture, one of these could be useful – seek one out if you can!
16. Carry on in this way for about 15 minutes. During this stage, do not leave the pan alone and stir regularly (gently).
17. After 15 minutes, you will probably need an extra 3 to 5 minutes to complete the final stage of cooking (this time depends on the type of rice you are using).
18. From now on, taste the rice every minute until the rice is cooked “al dente” (this means that the rice is tender outside, but still slightly firm to the bite in the centre).
19. At the same time, the tasting will tell you if you need to adjust seasoning with salt. Regular but gentle stirring is required for the last minutes in order to avoid the risotto sticking to the bottom of the pan.
20. In these last minutes, if the stock is completely absorbed, you can gradually add a bit more (say a half ladle at a time) because at this final stage you do not want the risotto becoming too watery.
21. Now, at about the 15th minute, put the saffron powder into a glass. Add half a ladle of stock and dissolve the saffron stirring with a small spoon and then add the saffron into the pan.
22. Stir until all the rice is uniformly coloured (golden yellow). Continue cooking and adding stock as required.
23. When the rice is perfectly cooked “al dente”, add the Parmesan cheese and stir for few seconds until the Parmesan has melted.
24. Then, put the cooker off, add all the remaining butter (cut into pieces) and stir vigorously until completely melted.
25. Cover the pan with a lid for about 1 minute and allow the risotto to rest before serving it.
26. Risotto should be served “all’onda” (like a wave). This means that when you serve it onto the plate, it should still flow a little.
27. Spread rice on plates and arrange on each a leaf of edible gold.

• Prep Time: 0 hours
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• Category: Recipes