Black Truffle Sea Salt Mushroom Risotto

Hi everyone! Welcome to my first ever cooking blog entry ! After sh*tloads of encouragement from friends I've decided to finally blog my cooking instead of just posting pictures on my Facebook & getting hunger death threats. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I do because it's my sweat, blood & ... tears... from cutting onions (Eggplant would agree, hes witnessed it too many times)

Alright enough jibber-jabber, I decided to make this dish because my gf Anita bought me a jar of Black Truffle Sea Salt from Dean & Deluca in NYC. I've personally never seen or smelt black truffle...lemme tell you.. this stuff is PUNGENT.....I MEAN REALLY PUNGENT. She shoved it in my face when I was hungover & I nearly barfed in her face. But I've also been told this stuff is amazeballs on risotto and SO I decided to give it a go...

Ze Ingredients...

(Since I'm a noob at blogging, I forgot to put in my bottle of dried thyme in there, but that ingredient is optional)

 First pour your low sodium chicken stock into a pot & set the heat on low to get it to simmer. Forgive my fugly chipped polish.

Once your chicken stock is hot, take your dried porcini mushrooms and soak them in stock., set aside. FYI this sh*t smells fantastic.

Dice up your onions & try not to cry. (like me)

Slice up your shallots (remind me to buy a wooden chopping board, my pics turn out so pasty lookin)

Finely dice up your garlic.

Heat up a skillet to Medium High & drizzle olive oil to coat the pan..add butter.......this combo is friggin amazing.

Spread the melting butter evenly around the pan & wait until the butter makes sweet love to the olive oil to form baby bubbles/foam.

Turn your heat down to Medium & throw in your combo of onion,shallot, & garlic and prepare to die from the jizzmatic aroma that will emerge in a couple minutes.

Saute the mix for about 2-3 mins until the onions start to become translucent.

Add your risotto rice and coat evenly with butter mix, saute for a minute or so but don't let the rice brown.

Add your white wine and shove your face in it and take a big whiff...the smell is godlike. The wine will evaporate quickly so becareful. Once the wine has evaporated, add a ladle of stock and stir continuously.

Repeat the ladle of stock and stir step until you want to pull your hair out.

 After 6-7 ladles of stock, you can take a few grains and try if the risotto is near dondies. Perfectly (or near perfect) cooked risotto should taste al dente like in pasta, with no hardness whatsoever. When it still has a little crunch, prepare your shrooms to be tossed in.

Drain your porcini mushrooms that was soaked earlier BUT SAVE THE STOCK! Its got really OompF mushroom flavor that you can add to your risotto. Slice up both shrooms!

You can use any mushrooms you like with this dish, but its suggested to use portobello, crimini...I wouldn't be fearless &  try enoki... that sh*t belongs in hotpot & hotpot only.

Add your white shrooms to ze rice & add dried thyme. (thyme is optional)

Add your chopped up porcini mushroom and the reserved mushroom broth!

Doesn't this look amajing? & it smells f*ckin awesome too.

Test your risotto again and again until you think it's good to go. When you think it is, stop adding stock so the rice can absorb the leftover broth and add your parmesan cheese! You can add freshly grated or prepared parmesan, its up to you! Stir to coat evenly. Turn off your stove and keep stirring until you get a nice gooey consistency.

 Plate your creation on a dish and sprinkle your black truffle sea salt over the risotto. This part could be optional but let me tell you... it makes a HUGE ASS DIFFERENCE with the salt... I can't explain it...trust me...I was reluctant at first because of the smell it produces... but it was delish!

Garnish your plate/risotto with dried or FRESH parsley (I didn't have any on hand ATM...*sadface*) Top risotto with freshly cracked black pepper.....

And...VOILA!!!!!!!!!!

YES!!!!! You didn't slave over your stove ladling & stirring for 40 mins for nothing!!! This is def worth a try at home and I promise you will not regret it!

I made this recipe with the intention of saving extras for lunch ...... but....me & Eggplant just kept...eating.... DON'T JUDGE US!

RECIPE

Yeilds 2-3 *Depending how hungry you are*

INGREDIENTS

Arborio/Risotto Rice - 1 Cup

Onion - Half

Shallot - 1 Clove

Garlic - 2 Cloves

Butter - 1 Tablespoon

Olive Oil - 2 Tablespoons

Parmesan Cheese - 2 Tablespoons

Dry White Wine - 1/2 Cup

Low Sodium Chicken Stock - 3-5 Cups 

Dried Porcini Mushrooms - 1/2 Cup

White Mushrooms - 5 Pieces

Salt (if you think its not salty enough)

Dried Thyme 1 Teaspoon (optional)

Black Truffle Sea Salt - Dash for finishing

Freshly Grounded Black Pepper - Dash for finishing

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat chicken stock to a simmer and take out dried porcini mushrooms into a small bowl. Pour hot stock into the bowl and let the mushroom soak, set aside. Heat a skillet on medium high and melt butter and olive oil together. When the oil is starting to foam, turn heat to medium and add garlic, shallots, and onion. Saute until onions become translucent, about 2-3 mins. 

Add your arborio rice and coat well and saute for a couple mins but make sure to not brown the rice. Add your wine white and becareful because it will evaporate very quickly. When the liquid is almost gone, add a ladle of hot stock into your risotto and stir continuously, repeat this step until the rice is almost soft. 

Slice up your white mushrooms and drain your soaked porcini mushrooms but reserve the liquid. Add mushrooms, thyme and reserved mushroom stock into you risotto and continue cooking until your risotto has become al dente.

When risotto is al dente, turn off stove and stir in parmesan cheese, add a dash of black pepper and make sure your consistency is gooey but still holds it's shape. Plate your risotto on your desired dish and finish off with a dash of black truffle salt and dried/fresh parsley. Crack some black pepper on top if you desire! Enjoy!