Things I have done today, part 2

[rhythmaning]

The other thing I did today was make rissotto risotto.

This was very much a first for me. Yesterday, for the first time ever, I made stock. This wasn’t quite ordinary stock: I used the carcass of a guinea fowl that we had in place of a chicken on Tuesday night. And what is more, never having made a stock, I actually followed a recipe. I played around with it of course, because that is what recipes are meant for; but I did actually go and buy both a leek and some celery, because Delia said it need to be in there.

I didn’t rate the stock much: it tasted strong and peppery, which I didn’t think bode well; and there was very little fat to skim off it. Which I think is good, but was a bit confusing.

I had intended to use white_hart’s recipe for risotto more or less, but I have neither a computer in the kitchen nor a printer, so instead I used one by Nigel Slater from Real Fast Food. Really just the same – though St Nigel uses butter instead of olive oil. By accident, I stuck to white_hart’s method here – no butter to cook with, so I used olive oil (which I have in abundance). Also, no onion, so I used lots of garlic.

But basically, sauté onion garlic, add the rice, cover in oil, add the wine, start stirring.

There was one mishap when I managed to spill (cold) stock all over the place, but I could cope with that. And then I stirred and stirred. (I can be quite good at stirring.) I was concerned, I must admit: I had no idea how it was going to turn out.

I also sauted mushroom and courgette, and added the remains of the guinea fowl to heat up, all chucked in just before serving. And lots of parmesan.

I was rather pleased. I am not a huge fan of risotto – I think maybe it just isn’t my thing – but I thought it was fine; and my wife – who is a huge fan – thought it was “delicious”, “amazing”, “scrummy” and “wonderful”. (This may have something to do with the three glass of wine I plied her with whilst I was stirring.) It didn’t taste at all how I expected: the stock seemed to have acquired a sweetness and richness (maybe that is down to the parmesan.

So I feel it was a success – and I know have the confidence to try it again; and since I know it works, it won’t be half so stressful.