Winter Skies, Kitchen Aglow

  I am lame, I know. As soon as we had a coolish evening (75 deg. f./23.9 deg. c.) in Los Angeles, I dove straight for the arborio rice in the cupboard. Ever since owning Nigella Lawson's Nigella Bites, I have been utterly smitten by the Lemon Risotto.

Ms. Lawson whole-heartedly embraces adaptation - in this case, she was inspired by an Anna Del'Conte recipe - and I decided to do the same. Okay, the lying stops here...I didn't have any rosemary, so I used sage. Did it make a difference? Typically I find sage to be quite pungent and sometimes slightly astringent, but the lemon is so over-powering that the sage faded (if you can believe it) nicely into the background. The problem with omitting the rosemary is that there was no nice mellow low note in the flavour package. If you are not a citrus lover, then I suggest you tone it down a little...This easily serves two (it is heavier than it looks!), but it makes for a nice appetizer (as one says in the U.S. - elsewhere: entree, which they consider the "main" in the U.S.!)

Lemon Risotto
(Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Nigella Bites)

2 shallots
1 stick of celery
1/2 stick (60 gms) of butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
10.5 oz (300 gms) arborio rice
4 1/4 cups (1 litre) stock (Nigella recommends vegetable, but I used chicken)
zest and juice of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
5 leaves sage (torn)
1 egg yolk
4 tablespoons (60 ml) grated parmesan
4 tablespoons (60 ml) milk (Nigella suggests double cream - of course)
sea salt
pepper

1) Blitz shallots and celery together in a blender until they are a combined, finely chopped mush.
2) Heat half of the butter, the oil, and the shallot and celery mixture in a wide saucepan or heavy bottomed pot. Cook to soften for five minutes.
3) Add the rice, coating it in the oil and butter (the shallot and celery mix will seem to have all but disappeared by this point).
4) Heat the stock in a saucepan and keep it at a simmering point.
5) Add a ladleful of stock to the stock and stir it until it has been absorbed by the rice. Then add another ladleful...do so until the rice is al dente. (All of the stock might not be used, yet water from a hot kettle may also need to be added to supplement should your stock reserves be depleted.)
6) Mix the lemon zest and the sage into the rice.
7) In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk, lemon juice, parmesan, cream, and pepper.
8) When the rice is ready (no longer chalky), remove it from the heat and add the egg yolk mixture, and the remaining butter and salt to taste. 

Labels: Nigella Lawson, Risotto