Mushroom Risotto and Sea Scallops

Melissa and I got up early last Saturday morning and accomplished a lot before noon. We cut and sanded seven trophy bases for Melissa's upcoming Boston Massacre Diplomacy Tournament, and while she stained them I worked on some repairs to our outdoor dining table and a rickety old garden table. Then an early afternoon idea to try out a risotto dish turned into a great Saturday dinner with friends.



Amanda, Evan and Jason joined us for a dinner of mushroom and truffle risotto with pan-seared sea scallops. A combination of Shiitake, baby bello and small white mushrooms sauteed in butter and olive oil formed the base for the risotto, which was further flavored with a nice oaky chardonnay and truffle oil after cooking. The scallops were seared in a non-stick pan with sea salt, fresh ground pepper, butter and olive oil. Served on a bed of risotto and garnished with arugula leaves and enoki mushrooms, the little jewels were just begging to be eaten.

We were lucky to get Jason here on Saturday, since he was working feverishly on a talk for his upcoming interview for a faculty position at Rockefeller University in NYC. I figured he needed a break anyway, but a Saturday night dinner at our place can sometimes be bad news for someone trying to get back home at a certain hour (or stay sober)...

With dinner we had two California chardonnays: a bottle of 2006 Bogle, which was also in the risotto, and a bottle of 2006 Pietra Santa. Both were nice wines, but the Bogle was better hands down. There was a time not too long ago that I wouldn't have liked this wine, but it has everything good about California chardonnay without the things that turn many people off so easily. It's not light on the oak, but it comes across with great vanilla and toffee flavors and still leaves room for the fruit. The finish is long and creamy -- I really like this wine, and we usually get it for about $10. Other wines* we enjoyed as the night wore on were Avondale Pinotage (2006, South Africa), Stoneleigh Pinot Noir (2006, Marlborough, NZ), and Dona Paula Los Cardos Sauvignon Blanc (2007, Mendoza, Argentina). Well -- there were five of us...

For dessert we had a really special wine. When Ramon and Gijsje arrived in Auckland, New Zealand for our wedding back in March 2007, we took them directly to the Villa Maria Winery just a few minutes drive from the airport. We had a fantastic tasting out on their patio, and Ramon and Gijsje got to unwind in the best way possible after the long flight. They bought us a bottle of Villa Maria's 2004 Reserve Noble Riesling Botrytis Selection desert wine that we have been saving for a worthy meal. All I really need to say about this wine is that the winemaker's notes include the word "hedonistic." The raisin, apricot and nutty goodness in this wine perfectly complemented Melissa's selection of aged cheeses, ripe pear and candied walnuts (that was an afterthought that Melissa put together on the spot). The cheeses (all from Whole Foods) were Uniekaas Reserve Aged Gouda, Saint Agur French Blue, and cave aged Brillat Savarin, the latter of which we were introduced to last weekend at polo. That little red dollop at 5 o'clock on the cheese plate is a spoonful of fig jam, which really complements ripe cheeses beautifully.

What a rich finish...

*Disclaimers: (1) Wine list for the night not necessarily in chronological order. (2) Wine list not necessarily complete.

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Melissa's Recipes and Notes

I’ve been a fan of Mushroom/Truffle risotto since we were given a gift voucher to a North End restaurant (Marco’s) by Matt's brother Brian and his wife Casey for Christmas a few years back, where we had a delicious rendition of this dish. Since then I’ve recreated it from time to time. I think the most important part of risotto is the type of rice you buy and the method to cook it. The basic idea is to lightly toast the rice in a pan with oil, and then gradually add a broth till the rice becomes tender. If you get the right type of rice it releases starches to thicken the liquid and become quite creamy with continuous stirring, but retains its shape to provide a wonderful texture. Using this method the rice becomes a blank canvas to which one can add any manner of flavour. I had a hankering for mushroom risotto, but for a main course I felt like it needed something else… and it wasn’t an instant Kiwi ticket. (You might have needed to grow up in NZ to get that reference…*wink*). I did a Google search and found a few references adding scallops to mushroom risotto. A perfect pairing, both go so well with a buttery, oaky chardonnay, so surely they’d go well together!

I sent Matt on a mission to buy a selection of mushrooms and scallops from Wholefoods. Chantrelles are the quintessential mushroom for risotto (for me anyway), but I’ve yet to find them readily available fresh in my local supermarket, so it was no surprise when Matt came home with regular crimini (small white button) and baby portobello mushrooms along with two types of mushrooms that are typically used in Asian Cuisine. The Shiitake mushrooms hold their form well to cooking and the regular button and baby bella mushrooms soak up all the flavours they encounter, so nevertheless they’re well suited to the dish for which they were destined. He also had some beautiful juicy scallops sans yellow/orange roe -- for some reason they throw that part away in America, but the scallops are yummy nonetheless.

Mushroom and Truffle Risotto with Pan-fried Scallops

Ingredients:

Shiitake Mushrooms
Crimini Mushrooms
Baby Bello Mushrooms
Enoki Mushrooms
2 cups of Risotto Rice (Arborio)
Chicken Broth
Wine - Chardonnay
Butter
Parmesan Cheese
White truffle oil
Arugula

Slice up the Shiitake, Crimini and baby bello mushrooms and sautee them in butter. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and add olive oil and rice to lightly toast. Start adding a chicken broth/wine (50:50) mixture ladle by ladle to cook the rice. Add one ladle of liquid and wait till it is mostly absorbed before adding more. After around 20 minutes the rice should be cooked al dente – soft, but still separate with a little firmness in the center of each rice granule. Add back mushrooms and add parmesan cheese to taste, arugula and white truffle flavoured olive oil. I’ve had my truffle-flavoured olive oil for more than a year now, and quite frankly it’s too old. A lot of the flavour has been lost over time. I think a good rule of thumb would be to use the oil up within about 3 months if you’re a big fan of the pungent truffle flavour you can’t get anywhere else.

Once the risotto is made, simply cover and heat another pan with lavish amounts of olive oil until a fairly high temperature is reached (not yet smoking). Season scallops with salt and pepper and place into the pan. Cook for around 1-3 minutes on each side, depending on thickness. Scallops should go golden brown, but still remain squishy when you poke them and not shrink too much.

Spoon risotto on dish and arrange scallops with fresh arugula as garnish.

Candied Walnuts

Ingredients:

½ cup of white sugar
Walnuts
1 tsp salt

Heat oven up to 350oF. Put walnuts on a metal tray and lightly toast in oven for 6 minutes. In small sauce pan place sugar and salt on high heat. Watch carefully while tossing sugar till sugar evenly melts. Sugar should be golden brown rather than deep brown if you move the sugar round enough. Take toasted walnuts and toss into the melted sugar. Pour coated walnuts out on greased tray and separate with fork. The sugar should harden with a few minutes, and be cool enough to touch within around 15-20 minutes.