Surviving Risotto

Risotto cheated me. It cheated in the way I expected the whole “cooking thing” would before I started working through the book in November: it took ten times as long to cook- more than ten- than it did to eat.

The main reason for this is that risotto rice should be cooked differently to normal rice. Keda Black's recipe suggested ladelling the stock mixture, one spoonful at a time, into the pan of dry risotto rice. This took, as suggested, about 20 minutes. Additional problems: adding cold water to the stock instead of boiling (I was taking instructions from the book, not the stock packet); also, I don't drink wine so the only thing resembling it in my cupboard was white wine vinegar, which probably left the dish a little sour.

On the first attempt I found that my plastic jug was bending due to the boiling liquid I was measuring in it. Also, I don't own a ladle. I made do with a regular spoon. I then put the rice in a wrong-sized pan and had to switch half way through.

I made a few notes as I was cooking. I described the process, at the time, as “tedious as shit.” I was a little disappointed that there was no protein in risotto. Keda, of course, doesn't indicate whether her recipe is supposed to be part of a meal or all of it.

Having said all that, it was delicious. I bought a Pyrex jug for attempt number 2. Much easier to handle. But still a boring process.

I think this signifies a turning point. When I first attempted to cook from a recipe in November, I was balls-ing it up every time. I didn't have a clue what I was doing. Memory difficulties made this process slow and uneasy- I'd make a mistake and have to carry on knowing I'd done it wrong. You can't go back a step when you're mixing ingredients- but I figured it out eventually, and moved onto the next recipe. Now, I'm following the book fairly well. I'll still crack on through the book, but there's little point blogging it all up now that it's more a process to follow and less a mind-bending challenge.

On a more positive note, it looks like I've officially learned to cook. Sure, there'll be more complex recipes further into the book, but the process of making a list, buying the ingredients, preparing them, serving them and eating a finished meal is now under my belt.