So my Dad called me and told me that salt is salt. His opinion is that salt has the same purpose no matter the application or the desired affect. He related the issue of salt in food and the type of salt used like one would look on the associative property of addition. Or in other words, "...If the boot fits..."
I don't think that is true. Sure as heart attack for a fat man, people will always try to upscale their products and sham whatever laymen with two wits and a dollar to their name. However, this doesn't take away that salt is useful and almost ever form it comes in has a use. I can not stress the use of salt in all your dishes and not to mention that the proper use of salt has made all the difference in the dishes that I served at fine dining restaurants. Yet, each addition of salt requires small bits of common sense and a great sense of taste.
Ice cream. Making ice cream from scratch involves at the least two different types of salt; rock salt for the production portion of the process and a salt to enhance the taste of the custard. For those scratching their heads at this thought, try a deductive reasoned approach. What would ice cream taste like if you replaced the salt with sugar? SWEET. As in all you would really taste would be sweet of the sugar and the full mouth richness of the custard. The flavoring would be a mellow backdrop compared to the sugar. Salt and sugar have developed an opposition to each other in our taste buds. That is pretty awesome considering how many sugars and salts we have!
Salt comes in a variety of styles. In shape alone there are a few dozen that come to mind; iodized, kosher, rock, sea, french, coarse, and even pyramid shaped salts to start. Salts also have a variety of colors stemming for compostion of their elements to flavorings imparted on them by artificial or natural means. (For berry ice cream lovers try adding a little rose water infused pulverized salt to your base.)
To demonstrate this point, I made two dishes that taste like gruel without salt. Curry and Risotto. There was some fusion that went into these dishes but the technique is standard.
Risotto: Basics
Rice (try to use aborrio rice but if push comes to shove use what is on hand)
Salt
Butter
Stock (a flavor of your liking)/flavored water
Beer/Wine/Spirit/Liqour
Bulb vegetables: onion, garlic, scallions, etc...
Herbs (fresh is unbelievable but any herbs will do)
Extra veggies (Mushrooms if you can get them from the farmer, make my day. Oregon Morels. God I miss those.)
Cheese
What I used (slimmed down to a 2 serving batch)
1 cup long grain rice
kosher salt
2 cups homemade chicken stock
Vermouth
1/4 yellow onion [small dice]
1 tablespoon garlic
Majoram
Oregano
Scallions blades cut at a high bias (save the stalks, discard the root)
4-6 oz Montrey Jack
(I encourage you to find your own combinations of ingredients and experiement. Risotto is easy and delicious.)
From a person stand point, I like a little color on my rice. Gently, brown the rice with about 3 tbsp of butter. High heat, hot pan, add butter, melt slightly, add onion and garlic, add rice and reduce heat to medium. STIR CONSTANTLY. You will notice slight browning and some sticking. Continue to stir, add about an ounce and a half of vermouth. STIR. The sticking disappates and the pan becomes clean. This is deglazing. Add about 1/2 of the stock now. STIR. Add in herbs and salt. Salt is always to taste. Start out with about 2 tsp and taste the rice once its cooked more. Reduce heat to medium low. Add stock a half cup at a time as it is absorbed by the rice. Stirring the rice and adding liquid gradually should pull the starches out of the rice and create a shiny sauce that coats the rice. Add the cheese and the scallions as you add the last measure of stock. Taste for flavor and doneness. It takes about 20 minutes. Give or take. ADD SALT IF THE FLAVORS DON'T STICK OUT. Don't let the rice turn to mush. Taste is important. Finish with a last touch of vermouth and some butter. Serve immediately. Risotto was intended to be a stand alone dish but I prefer it with something on the side.
That is a basic risotto. Sorry there aren't any picks. My brothers devoured the dish as I was plating.
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so i've wanted to make risotto for forever, since i love it with all my heart, but it intimidates me. (like red meat. i'm terrified i'll overcook it.)
ReplyDeletecan you really use rice other than arborio? i have almost a whole bag of jasmine rice in my kitchen for no reason...what if i used that and spiced it with curry? would that be ridiculous and not work at all?
I played around with it a few times and yes you can. I would recommend that you add your curry powder to your stock or flavorful liquid and then reduce it down about 1/4-1/3 of what it was. The swtock you get should be REALLY flavorful. Mix the rice with a little curry powder and brown it with some butter and some of your root veggies. When it starts to stick add some white wine, a chardonny, or a light lager (something that isn't too hoppy), like a yueng-ling works. Add your curry stock and continue to stir. Soft goat cheese like chevre will work great with it and those can be added mid way through. Hard goat cheese are added best like five minutes before you are done because they will soak up a little of the wine and stock. Cook to taste and doneness.
ReplyDeleteThis is a marvelous idea Linden and I going to still play around with it. Have fun on vacation, Friend!