Beet, Dried Cherry, and Red Wine Risotto

The following risotto recipe is from Risotto: 40 Exquisite Classic and Contemporary Risotto Dishes by Clive Tring.

- 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- Generous 1-3/8 cups dried sour cherries or dried cranberries
- 1 cup fruity red wine, such as Valpolicella
- 3 TB olive oil
- 1 large red onion finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- Generous 1-5/8 cups risotto rice
- 4 cooked fresh beets, diced
- 2 TB chopped fresh dill
- 2 TB snipped fresh chives
- Salt and Pepper
- Generous 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve (optional)

• Bring the stock to a boil in a pan.  Then reduce the heat and keep simmering gently over low heat while you are cooking the risotto.
• Place the sour cherries in a pan with the wine and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly reduced.  Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottom pan over medium heat.  Add the onion, celery, and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes, or until just starting to soften.  Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
• Reduce the heat, add the rice and mix to coat in oil.  Cook, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes, or until the grains are translucent.
• Gradually add the hot stock, a ladleful at a time.  Stir constantly and add more liquid as the rice absorbs each addition.  Increase the heat to medium so that the liquid bubbles.  Cook for 20 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is creamy.
• Halfway through the risotto cooking time, remove the cherries from the wine with a slotted spoon and add to the risotto with the beet and half the wine.  Continue adding the stock and the remaining wine.
• Stir in the dill and chives and season, if necessary.  Serve with the Parmesan, if you like.

Serves 4 to 6

The result is delicious!  

Because a bottle of Valpolicella couldn't be found (I'll admit, I didn't look too hard), a bottle of Saserello was used to make this risotto.  Additionally, since the recipe doesn't specify a method for cooking the beets -and for goodness sake don't use canned beets!- I took the liberty of sautéing the diced beets in 2 TB of butter, a splash of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and 2 tsp of dried thyme.  Stir to evenly coat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, just until the beets are easily pierced with a fork.  This took about five minutes.  Once done, remove from the pot and set aside.  Note: The beets were cooked in the same pot that I ultimately cooked the risotto in.  No reason to have all the beety goodness clinging to the pot go to waste.

Also, when it came time to add the wine, I added it all at once.  The cherries were pressed against a strainer to get all the wine out of them as well.  Save those boozy cherries, too!  They were splendid over vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Garlic Scapes

Garlic Scape Butter

2 sticks of salted butter, softened to room temperature
10 - 12 garlic scapes, coarsely chopped
1/8 tsp of freshly ground black pepper

Add chopped garlic scapes to a food processor or herb mill and grind well.  The end result should be nearly a paste.  If you have a large mortar and pestle, or molcajete, finely grind the scapes with it.

Add the ground scapes and black pepper to a bowl with the two sticks of softened butter.  Mix well.  Then, place the bowl in the freezer to help firm the butter so it can be more easily formed.  After approximately 15-20 minutes remove the bowl from the freezer and scoop the butter into the center of a sheet of wax paper.  Bring the bottom portion of the wax paper up and over the butter and use it to help shape the butter into a log or puck shape.

Wrap the butter completely in the wax paper, seal it in a freezer bag, and then return it to the freezer to use at your leisure.  If you plan to use the butter immediately, omit the freezer bad and store it in the refrigerator.

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Salad dressing is another excellent way to use garlic scapes.

Garlic Scape Dressing
4 garlic scapes, coarsely chopped
2 green onions, coarsely chopped
1 small shallot, finely minced
2 tsp honey
2 tsp Dijon mustard
4 TB red wine vinegar
2 TB fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients BUT olive oil in a blender and blend until smooth.  Then, with blender on low, slowly add the olive oil until well incorporated.  Pour into a pint-sized mason jar (or other glass vessel with a tight fitting lid) and store in refrigerator.  This recipe makes one cup.

This recipe is a modified version of Diana Rattray's recipe found at About.com.


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