risotto cures all ills
Today was the coldest day of the year thus far. To celebrate, or perhaps to get into the spirit of the penguin mania which seems to be sweeping the nation, we spent the morning ice carving. Outside. In the wind. I love culinary school. And we get to do it again tomorrow.
Not my favorite thing I've ever done. Tomorrow I plan to wear 2 pairs of pants, several sweaters, and knee-high boots. I wore 3 pairs of gloves today (not kidding) so I don't think I could really layer any more in that area. I may take a cue from a fellow student who wore his motorcycle helmet the whole time. It conveniently has an eye guard, which is not a bad thing when you're standing on slippery ice and using a chainsaw. Maybe with my many many layers of clothing tomorrow I'll get more done than just the heart on the classic "heart riding a wave" design we all have to carve. Or at least I won't have to spend the rest of the day shivering, drinking hot lemon-water, and feeling like I have the flu. Which is, of course, what I've done today.
To compensate for my horrid morning I made acorn squash risotto for dinner. I roasted an acorn squash on a bed of mirepoix (that's onions, carrots, and celery to you civilians) and 1 slice of bacon. Then I pureed all of that with some chicken stock. I'm crazy about straining, so I then pushed the puree through a sieve. This is a little trick I picked up a while ago, and it's one of those little things that can really take your cooking to the next level. Any time you puree anything, ever, always strain it through a chinoise or sieve or tamis, or whatever you have handy. Thomas Keller says to do it, so I do it. Anyway, then I got some arborio rice and cooked it with chicken stock, adding the stock in increments and stirring, and cooking until the rice is gooey but still al dente. Added the acorn squash puree (not all of it), seasoned of course ( I love salt!!) and it was pretty great. I made a simple roast chicken and a salad with pears and gorgonzola to go with. Not a bad way to spend a rather fluey evening.
Not my favorite thing I've ever done. Tomorrow I plan to wear 2 pairs of pants, several sweaters, and knee-high boots. I wore 3 pairs of gloves today (not kidding) so I don't think I could really layer any more in that area. I may take a cue from a fellow student who wore his motorcycle helmet the whole time. It conveniently has an eye guard, which is not a bad thing when you're standing on slippery ice and using a chainsaw. Maybe with my many many layers of clothing tomorrow I'll get more done than just the heart on the classic "heart riding a wave" design we all have to carve. Or at least I won't have to spend the rest of the day shivering, drinking hot lemon-water, and feeling like I have the flu. Which is, of course, what I've done today.
To compensate for my horrid morning I made acorn squash risotto for dinner. I roasted an acorn squash on a bed of mirepoix (that's onions, carrots, and celery to you civilians) and 1 slice of bacon. Then I pureed all of that with some chicken stock. I'm crazy about straining, so I then pushed the puree through a sieve. This is a little trick I picked up a while ago, and it's one of those little things that can really take your cooking to the next level. Any time you puree anything, ever, always strain it through a chinoise or sieve or tamis, or whatever you have handy. Thomas Keller says to do it, so I do it. Anyway, then I got some arborio rice and cooked it with chicken stock, adding the stock in increments and stirring, and cooking until the rice is gooey but still al dente. Added the acorn squash puree (not all of it), seasoned of course ( I love salt!!) and it was pretty great. I made a simple roast chicken and a salad with pears and gorgonzola to go with. Not a bad way to spend a rather fluey evening.
posted by J at 3:02 PM
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