Leek & Smoked Haddock Risotto

[mangobreeder]

You will need?

2 Shallots
2 Leeks
1 Fillet of Smoked haddock
150g Risotto Rice
Splash of White Wine
1 1/2 Pints Stock (hot)
Salt and pepper to taste

Slice thinly the leeks and shallots.

cover the haddock in milk and poach in the oven Gas mark 5

Sweat down the leeks and shallots in a good glug of olive oil for 10 mins

After 10 mins, add the rice, and stir to coat them in the hot oil, and add the plash of wine.

Add some of the stock, a ladle full at a time, letting it be absorbed before adding more, always stirring

By now the fish will be ready

Just before the the risotto is ready, add a ladle full of the milk you used to poach the smoked haddock. and let that be absorbed.

Flake in the smoked haddock and serve immediately, and try not to eat it all before the wife gets home

 

[mangobreeder]

I know, people don't get how awesome and versatile risotto is.

I always keep a bag of Risotto Rice and dried Porcini Mushrooms in the pantry, that way i can always cook an impressive meal

thanks for the thumbs up on the photos, i try to look at Raymond Lin for how to take food pics properly.

 

[mangobreeder]

Leeks are a godlike food.

Q T F, thats why i planted 145 leek on my allotment

 

[mangobreeder]

I'm the sameI don't think there's any way around it. That said tasting your food whilst cooking isn't a bad thing ! /pro-mode

Indeed! Just make sure you cook them out enough otherwise they sure as hell repeat on you!

Another tip is to cook your risotto in a saucepan, I usually use our big Le Creuset casserole pan. The deep sides stop the stock evaporating as much and seems to help make it creamier. On that note, letting it sit for 5mins with a lid on at the end is essential. It makes a world of difference!

another tip, is to keep the stock hot, so i tend to make a bit extra, and keep the stock on a gentle simmer as the risotto is cooking. otherwise it cools and brings down the temp of the risotto when you add your next ladle full.

im glad you all liked it, next time i'm going to show how to make Breton Chicken

 

[mangobreeder]

Sounds really good

Out of interest, why do you poach the fish in the oven rather than on the hob?

using the hob would have meant having 3 rings on the go, rather than 2. so i chose to do it in the oven and free up some space.

 

[mangobreeder]

I made this* tonight. It was very tasty thanks for the recipe

* couple of substitutions, namely onions for shallots, cod instead of haddock and I didn't have any wine

this makes me so happy

Right up my street that is and I've been meaning to start making risotto again!

What stock did you use?

Nice one Mango

i used Knorr vegtable stock cubes, oxo seem too dry

 

[mangobreeder]

It was very tasty so I'm happy too My girlfriend "gorged on it and has consequently become obese" her words.

You have good taste in stock cubes too

p.s. we finished it off with some finely grated cheddar on top. Yum!

p.p.s. we added a bay leaf and some pepper corns to the poaching milk for extra tasty-ness

sounds good will give the bay leave a try

 

[mangobreeder]

How long do you leave the fish in the oven for?

It looks like 15-20 minutes?

Going to give it a bash tonight

spot on 15 - 20, until its just done

 

[mangobreeder]

Looks good, will be making this soon. Please do share the recipe, or even better next time you make it do a thread

ill do a mushroom risotto thread next week breaks down like this

Ingredients

1 packet of dried porcini mushrooms
risotto rice
onion
1 pint Vegtable stock
wine

Soak the Porcini mushroomes in got water for half an hour, then drain keeping the liquid

Fry the onion until soft in olive oil

add the risotto rice, and a splash of wine
fry for 2 mins

add a ladle of the stock, wait until absorbed.
stir like mad, and add another ladle, stir until absorbed, repeat until all stock has gone

at the end, add a ladle of the mushroom liquid and add the reconsitiuted mushrooms.

stick in a large know of butter, and leave for 3min.

voilà.

ill post a proper thread next week

 

[mangobreeder]

A drizzle of white truffle oil is essential on a wild mushroom risotto and I use the mushroom stock instead of normal stock for the first couple of ladles.
.

Disagree with you on this one, White Truffle is such a gorgeous delicate flavour, it can be overpowered by the Poricini mushroomes.


If you have white Truffle oil then a truffle risotto is a thing of beauty in its self, i actually had it yesterday at jamies Italian in Canary wharf and it was very nice.

 

[mangobreeder]

Fresh truffle risotto is gorgeous! If I'm near Harrods I sometimes pick up the jarred ones if I feel like a treat, though they are quite expensive.

you cant put a price on quality

 

[mangobreeder]

Went ok

Took ages for the rice to cook through though, that's why I stopped making them in the first place!

Was nice in the end though but damn my impatience !!

lol, patience is a virtue

 

[mangobreeder]

That's pretty much what I ended up doing, ladle at a time was taking forever, my fish would have been overcooked!

amateur!

it does get more creamy if you do it a ladle full at a time, remember a risotto should take about 40 mins to cook properly.,

 

[mangobreeder]

Yeah I put my fish in too early in hindsight, I've only ever done sea food risotto with prawns :/

It was still bloody nice though and I'll be trying some cod when I can get some at a decent price.

its best with this recipe if the fish is a touch under done when if comes out of the oven, as the heat form the risotto will finish it off.

 

[mangobreeder]

Only if you're doing something a bit wrong. 150g of rice should absorb about 1l of stock (give or take) and take between 20 and 30 minutes to cook.

Jamie Oliver disagrees with you

 

[mangobreeder]

Does he?

His basic risotto recipe states 15 minutes of 'cooking' time once the stock has started to be added, so let's be generous and say that can stretch to 20 minutes.

So I'm obviously missing something, as the only Jamie Oliver risotto recipe I can find that he thinks takes longer than 20 minutes to cook once the stock has been added is his grilled mushroom risotto.

I don't see where the doubling of time comes from, especially given his recipes mainly revolve around 400g of rice. Sure, he talks about using 2 pints of stock, but that's a moveable feast as far as I'm concerned - stock cubes always need more liquid, fresh stock needs less.

Where did you find this recipe that takes 40 minutes? In one of his books?

book, ill post a screeny tonight.

i agree 400g of risotto rice is an obscene amount of rice enough for about 5 people. i usually use 75g per person

 

[mangobreeder]

Oh, thanks for doing that - I'm really intrigued about this 40-minute recipe!

How are you getting on with the Carnaroli? I find the quality of Waitrose's Cooks Ingredients stuff really varies - sometimes it's great and sometimes it's really, really poor. I've gone back to having the bog-standard Arborio in the cupboard in case of emergencies.

Have you tried the Vialone Nano? Works really well with seafood

I can't say i've every had an issue with the waitrose stuff, and i shop there every week.

Tesco Risotto Rice I cant stand, i'm sure they just put american long grain in there once.

Vialone Nano yeah i've used it, but I find its not as creamy as the Carnaroil, but still very nice.

 

[mangobreeder]

Does he?

His basic risotto recipe states 15 minutes of 'cooking' time once the stock has started to be added, so let's be generous and say that can stretch to 20 minutes.

So I'm obviously missing something, as the only Jamie Oliver risotto recipe I can find that he thinks takes longer than 20 minutes to cook once the stock has been added is his grilled mushroom risotto.

I don't see where the doubling of time comes from, especially given his recipes mainly revolve around 400g of rice. Sure, he talks about using 2 pints of stock, but that's a moveable feast as far as I'm concerned - stock cubes always need more liquid, fresh stock needs less.

Where did you find this recipe that takes 40 minutes? In one of his books?

as requested

 

[mangobreeder]

Yes, but that's not a recipe. It's a little editorial piece about how risotto takes a long time to cook, how restaurants manage to pre-cook it and how you can do this at home too.

Flick over the page and you'll see his basic risotto recipe which he says takes around 15 minutes to cook once the alcohol is in. Flick through the other recipes and I'm pretty sure you'll find they're all based around the basic recipe, with the mushroom one taking the longest.

But we'll agree to disagree. You're repeating what Jamie Oliver has told you and I'm going on experience. That's not to say you don't have equal or greater experience, but I feel a risotto recipe revolves around the time taken once the first liquid is added and that's never 40 minutes.

if you actually read that first part properly it states

"This should take about 15-20 mins and give you that is still beginning to soften but still a little al dente

Stage 4
Tip the PART COOKED rice..........."

so its 15 mins until it is part cooked, then you used this to make the other recipes.

lets agree to disagree

I'm not simply repeating what Jamie Oliver has said, i happen to agree wit him that a good risotto takes a good 40 mins simply to cook, never mind prep

 

[mangobreeder]

looks very nice, i would like mine a bit creamier, but i wouldn't turn my nose up it. nicely done.