You keep me rocking all of the time.
So I meant to post about this on Wednesday, but then there was that whole no electricity snafu which just screwed me up for the day. Anyhow.
Amanda Hesser has been one of my favourite food writers. I don't care that a lot of critics dismiss her as being too twee - I was hooked once I read her columns in the NYTimes magazine section about Mr. Latte, and obviously purchased the cookbook composing of all those columns when it came out. (Someday, her first cookbook will be mine too. I just have too many on the list right now.)
Her recipes always work for me. They are moderately decadent, generally incorporate easy-to-find ingredients, and don't require too much in the way of technique. Yet they always come out well, for the most part, brilliant in their simplicity.
This red wine risotto is not in the book, but rather a saved "Pairings" column from the NYTimes's food section, where a wine is paired with a dish. I love risotto and make it often, and I'm always looking for new interesting recipe.
As can be expected, instead of using white wine in this dish, one uses red. But one uses a whole whopping lot of red - 2 cups, instead of the half-to-three-quarters of white that I use. It left the risotto with a very wine-y taste that took awhile to get used to - not entirely unpalatable, but a slight letdown. Perhaps a different kind of red wine might have been better, as she didn't actually specify what kind to use. I used a pinot noir, as that's what I had in my apartment. I did like the touch of thyme - fresh thyme, as I have herbs on my windowsill now! Yay for fresh herbs.
However, the risotto did turn out a very pretty colour. And aren't appearances all that matters? Hee.
(Anyone can guess what the title is referring too, without googling the phrase, wins.)
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