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Risotto


Anna Blume

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http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Forelle_Pears_6583.php is a link for information about forelle pears.

Forelle is a small firm pear similar to a seckel. It's a great pear for poaching in spiced red wine syrup. If a forelle were used in risotto, there would probably be recognizable pieces of pear in the final product--not a bad thing at all. But if the pear is meant to dissolve into the risotto, a comice type pear would be the choice to make.

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I hadn't really considered it - I guess I figured I got the answer I was going to get in the email response. I'm not sure I could even make an international call if I wanted to. :P

I was in Rome in early April.

To call Italy from your home phone dial 011 39 0 then the phone number.  I actually don't like e-mail for making a restaurant reservation in Europe or if I have a question.  I know that with a phone call, if it is during business hours, I will probably have someone answer the phone.  Then it is a matter of politely asking if they speak English.  Often it is no but they will find someone who does.  I'll make a reservation on the phone and then confirm with an e-mail.  I have found that if I do not call first I have limited success with e-mail responses.  With the call, my e-mail is always answered.

But...I am also old and don't text.  I also much prefer a human voice.  Even if I have no idea what they are saying!

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When I said can't, I didn't mean I don't know how to dial internationally, I meant literally can't. ;) I don't have a home phone, and am not set up for international calls from my cell phone.

However, I didn't think you could call internationally via Skype without a subscription, but apparently they do have a pay ahead plan so that was a good suggestion. Looks like the minimum credit you can buy to get going is $10 though, don't think it's *that* crucial to me. I will just play around and hope I can get close. My guests won't know the difference anyway. :P

I do appreciate all of the input and ideas. It's certainly helped me to figure out what I should try out. If all goes well with my schedule, I will be recipe testing tomorrow night so I'll report back. Although I'm afraid my ability to acquire anything other than unripe Bosc pears will be limited.

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The comice is my favorite pear, but you're unlikely to find them in June. They don't seem to be available out of season, unlike, say, bartlett or d'anjou, which would probably work okay.

Agreed. It's too early for North American pears, period. Any pear in the markets these days is likely to come from Argentina or Chile. I wouldn't completely rule out finding a comice, but plan to get whatever pear early, so it can be given several days to ripen. I have found the greatest number of pear varieties at the Korean markets like Super H and H Mart. Also Balducci's tends to have out-of-season produce of many kinds.

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Agreed. It's too early for North American pears, period. Any pear in the markets these days is likely to come from Argentina or Chile. I wouldn't completely rule out finding a comice, but plan to get whatever pear early, so it can be given several days to ripen. I have found the greatest number of pear varieties at the Korean markets like Super H and H Mart. Also Balducci's tends to have out-of-season produce of many kinds.

Thanks for this suggestion. I have an asian market nearby that I can check out as I expect Wegman's and Whole Food's won't have much of a selection.

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Experiment completed:

IMAG4624-1.jpg

I had to settle on what I could find in terms of pears at Wegman's, but luckily I was able to find some ripe ones. I picked up a Bosc (I think it was a Bosc, it was green, could have been a Barlett I suppose) and a Red pear. They had both stracchino and tallegio so I was good to go there.

My obbservations in case anyone is curious:

-I diced the pear pretty finely, but it did not really break down. Think I need to add it earlier in the cooking process if I want that to happen.

-The tallegio melted into the risotto much more nicely. The stracchino got stringy and while it did eventually melt, it left the risotto with a thicker consistency.

-I found, somewhat surprisingly that I had a stronger preference for a particular pear than I did a cheese. The red pear was noticeably sweeter than the bosc and I strongly preferred that in the risotto. I initially really preferred the taleggio, but as I kept eating I found they were closer than I thought. Still the taleggio gets the edge, both for consistency and because with the tallegio I can clearly taste both the cheese and the pear. I think the stracchino overpowers the pear a little although with every additional bite of the stracchino version I became less certain.

-I wonder if I shouldn't have used chicken stock. I'm thinking of diluting the stock about 50/50 when I make the real thing. Any thoughts on this? The flavors are pretty delicate so I'm wondering if the pear especially would come through better without as much stock.

-I have no idea if any of these taste like what I had in Rome.

-There is a good possibility I'm going to be sick from eating so much risotto. :P

ETA: I know my risotto is a little stiffer than it should be. I cooked the risotto in one pan, then had to get it in 4 separate dishes to add the pear and cheese and mix them and with the time that took, more liquid got absorbed.  The consistency of the rice was perfect though, I think. I am a fan of carneroli rice.

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Your dedication to this experimental method is impressive. Bosc is perhaps the firmest variety of pear. Unless you use one that is very ripe, it is unlikely to break down. "Red" pears are either bartlett or anjou variety, closer to what you are looking for, but again only when very ripe are they soft enough to melt. It is just about impossible to buy a truly ripe pear in a supermarket--they are picked when still green in order to survive the ordeal of packing, shipping, and displaying. And since pears ripen from the inside out, if you find one in the store that is soft, it will probably be rotten at the core and possibly mealy. The best solution is to buy the pears and put them in a brown paper bag under your kitchen sink and leave them there for a few days--checking frequently to find them at their optimal state--a bartlett will go from green to yellow and have a slight give--and then refrigerate them.

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Thanks! I actually have a banana on my shopping list as well for just that reason, I just had to make do with what I found last night because it was the only day I had time to experiment. I did look at the pear & gorgonzola recipe that Joe posted (I think it was that one) as well as one I found for an apple & taleggio risotto and it looks like my best bet, in addition to trying to find the best pears and get them good and ripe is to add them to the risotto about 5 minutes before I anticipate it being finished.

Who knew I would ever need to know so much about pears. :P

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@ChoirGirl:  As Zora said above your dedication to the experimental effort is impressive.  In fact the entire thread with suggestions, assistance, discussions of various ingredients, breakdowns of different ingredients is simply awesome.   Its been a pleasure to follow.  thanks to all above.

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So I went to Whole Foods at lunch to do the bulk of the remainder of my shopping for Saturday and guess what kind of pears they had?!

Pat, I have to thank you because I didn't even realize they had specified a type of pear in the email because of how Google translated the message so had you not gotten curious, I wouldn't have the correct pears in my possession. ;)

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So I went to Whole Foods at lunch to do the bulk of the remainder of my shopping for Saturday and guess what kind of pears they had?!

Pat, I have to thank you because I didn't even realize they had specified a type of pear in the email because of how Google translated the message so had you not gotten curious, I wouldn't have the correct pears in my possession. ;)

Excellent! That's kind of wild.  It will be interesting to see if they do melt in the risotto the way they're supposed to.  I don't recall ever seeing that kind of pear, but I just I haven't looked closely, or, rather, haven't been looking for them.

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Excellent! That's kind of wild.  It will be interesting to see if they do melt in the risotto the way they're supposed to.  I don't recall ever seeing that kind of pear, but I just I haven't looked closely, or, rather, haven't been looking for them.  

They were labeled as being from somewhere in S.A. I believe. I'm thrilled to have found them, but now of course I'm experimenting again on execution day, which makes me nervous. But no, I am NOT going to make another test batch before then. :P

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They were labeled as being from somewhere in S.A. I believe. I'm thrilled to have found them, but now of course I'm experimenting again on execution day, which makes me nervous. But no, I am NOT going to make another test batch before then. :P

Argentina.  That's where the ones I saw in Old Town were from.  I'm suggestible, so I bought two.  I'm not going to make risotto with them but am trying to figure out the best course of action to utilize their melting quality.

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Risotto made without stock, possibly a revelation...

I picked up squash blossoms at the market yesterday and decided I wanted to do something different with them (rather than stuffing them and baking or frying as I typically do) and thought maybe a risotto would be a nice idea. Only to discover that I had recently used the last of my stock. So I started wondering if I really needed it. Last time when I was playing around with the pear and cheese risotto I pondered at one point whether the stock wasn't overpowering the delicate flavors. So I went to trusty google to see what the internet said and found an article or two advocating using only water.

So, I got a healthy dose of shallots good and caramelized in evoo & butter, then toasted the rice well, put in a hefty helping of white wine, then finished the process with water. About 3 minutes before I was ready to serve, I mixed in the sliced squash blossoms and a little more butter, then served the risotto with a generous spoonful of ricotta that I had seasoned with chopped basil, lemon zest and salt and then mixed it in as I was eating. Damn if it wasn't really good. I will think twice about using stock in the future, or if I do, I may water it down.

Also, to reiterate what I said earlier in my pear/cheese trials, carnaroli rice for the win. Between this rice and having been to Italy to see how it's served, I dare say I can get close to the real thing. Not perfect, but close enough to satisfy me at least.

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