September’s Recipe Spotlight: Wild Mushroom Risotto
Join Chef Brock for a tantalizing plant-based cooking session featuring Wild Mushroom Risotto, hosted by AARP Alabama!
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Hello everyone and welcome to our new edition of plant-based cooking with Chef Kim. And today, what are we making, Chef Kim? So, we have wild mushroom risoto today. That sounds really good. What kinds of mushrooms uh would you say are wild mushrooms? So any mushrooms that you like would be great in these. The wilder the better. So I really like the shiakei in here. Um you can even do a pchini. I love the chestnut uh mushrooms. We get them uh here local from a local vendor. Um but you can mix that up with some oyure which have a really delicate flavor. some cremeni, just whatever you like that has great texture and can go really well in something like this. I I think a lot of folks probably don’t know that like there are a lot of different types of mushrooms. Yes. And we’ve got uh and I’m sure depending on where you live, you just look it up, uh different mushroom vendors that uh actually forge and go out and get mushrooms that are great or even they they have, you know, some incubator type situation where they grow them hydroponically. So, wow, lots of options out there for that. Wow, that’s great. That’s interesting. Okay. So, do you want me to just go ahead and get started? Yeah, let’s get started. Okay. So, I have gotten started a little bit ahead of time um because it takes risoto a bit of time to cook. So, do what I say, not what I do. So, what we’re going to start out with uh are some onions. I’m going to use some yellow onions as well as the white part of scallions. And this is just going to bring uh some great flavor here instead of just some yellow onions. Green onions have a little bit more punch to them. And it’s more than just mushrooms and rice, but you want to kind of step it up a little bit. So, I’ll be going back and forth over here to get our risoto going. So, we’ve got our green onions chopped up. All right. And I’m going to uh start on our yellow ones. And also, I probably need to pivot a little bit. I’m going to get started on some of our mushrooms because we want to roast these. So, you can put the mushrooms in your risoto, but I always like to build layers of flavor. So, um, we’re going to roast these. that just brings out a really good flavor to them that it gives them a different texture and everything just kind of being mush if you will. Uh so I’ve got some gini here and some shiakei had some um oyure and we’re just going to lightly uh oil these with some avocado oil. our spice blend or just salt and pepper and some uh granulated garlic or onion powder. And um yeah, and just put that in the oven um 4 400 and uh keep an eye on it depending on how uh many mushrooms you have on your sheetpan. and uh roast them for about maybe 15 20 minutes just so they get sort of dried out a little bit, you know, from the they’ll get wet and then they’ll get dried out. So, it’s kind of a little odd. So, just keep that going. I’m going to slice up some of our shiakei. And I was able to get these from some local vendors. Um have really great ones here. Um one that they pretty much specialize in shiakei and uh the other has all different kinds. Like I mentioned earlier, I love chestnut uh mushrooms. They’re different, but they’re nutty and uh they almost kind of melt in your food when you cook with them. up. So, lay a little bit more of this in here. And just what I’m doing is and I I will tell you this. So, I’m cooking the um the risoto and a little hint of what kind of adds up the cook time is um rinsing your rice. Not adds, but it lessens it shortens the cook time. So when you rinse your rice really good till it runs clear, that will also kind of bloom the rice a little bit and get that started for you. So just going to tear these up, put them on there, and um you know, we don’t throw away the stems. I’m keeping them here because we actually have stems that we’re using in our broth. So, uh you want to go ahead and what I’ve done is I’ve done the broth ahead of time. You can get you a really good uh vegan vegetable stock or you can make your own. Um, there are some that are good that help save in time and uh, so you just do what you want to do and have the best time frame for making your dish, but it’s nothing like having things there for your convenience sometimes. All right. But um like I said, if you even if you aren’t cooking your broth or your stock, uh and you do use the bullion or if you’re using a vegetable base to make your stock, if you add the mushrooms stems to your stock, that just bumps it up another level. Even if you weren’t doing something with mushrooms in it, it would just give it that earthy umami uh flavor that you are seeking in whatever dish it is that you’re cooking. Unless you just have a serious mushroom that you don’t like. So, all right. I think we’re good on this. Let’s put a few more because you know when it just like spinach when they go in the oven they wilt down to almost nothing. So, and I like to tear them in this. I know you see me doing this. I just like to keep them sort of organic. Um, and so I just like to tear them. All right. So, I’m going to drizzle some oil. Put our spice blend on here. You want to season it pretty liberally. Mix these in here together. And I’m going to get it in our oven. Okay. I just got this on a little bit of parchment paper. All right, check back on those in a little bit. And I already have some stems in here, so I’m just going to keep these, put them in a ziploc bag for the next time. All right, so we’ve got our mushrooms going. I mean, our risoto going. And um there we go. That’s what I was looking for. And so we’re going to get our onions in here and all of our aromatics. So, typically you would take your pan, you would um put a little oil in there, and then you would take your onions and um crush your garlic. And the oil here And um after you put your garlic in, your minced garlic, then you would put it on and you would get that sweep the vegetables out quite a bit. And add in some bay leaves, some of our seasoning. And I’m just going to put them right in the center in the oil there. Okay? so that they will be able to touch the surface area, they will cook as well. Um, and it won’t be like you’re having two different textures. So, and that’s just for me because I started the risoto first, but you would be starting with a completely empty canvas or blank canvas. Okay. So, we’ve got our onions going. We’re going to season them a little bit. Okay, going nice. Just don’t want them to stick. All right, now I’m going to get some garlic going. Smash that up. Chop it up. Our bay leaf already in here. Keep stirring. Then after you get the vegetables incorporated, what you want to do is add your rice in your oro that I talked about. that’s already been bloomed and rinsed. And uh then you add your white wine in. And you want to make sure you cook off that white wine. So you want to cook that off for about two or three minutes. Just cook that flavor off. And uh Chef Kim, if they wanted to use something other than wine, what could they substitute? Oh, I don’t know that there is a substitute. Um, you know, if you like I’m using a pino grigio here. Uh, you could certainly use like a cherry, like a cooking wine, so it’s maybe isn’t as potent. Um, so I am going to add something in at the end which might sort of replicate that. So I’ll speak to that then. Um, cuz like for instance, I don’t want to say vinegar cuz vinegar it can be strong, but the one that I’m going to use in this dish is not as potent. So, but if you even if you like I only have a/4 cup in here, so it’s not a whole lot, right? And this is really cooking up fast. Even though I got started a little bit ahead of time, um, by rinsing your rice, it really makes a difference. Okay, so just keep stirring it. And I’m stirring it with a wooden spoon. Somehow that’s part of the magic trick as well. And if you want to add some um you know some heat in here, like some fresh heat, I’ve got a Fresno chili here. I’m going to just put a little bit of that in as well as finish it with a little local cayenne. But, uh, yeah, put this in. So, I’m gonna finish chopping this up, the garlic, and put this in so that it can cook along with everything. And this is something that would be nice to go with anything that you’re fixing. It could go with a really nice salad. You could bump it up. happened in the beginning where I added uh the onions solely. You could add um some other vegetables like you could do dice up some carrots pretty small. You could add some zucchini to this. Uh even y’all know how I like to sneak in a little cabbage. Just dice up some cabbage and it pretty much will just melt into everything. So um yeah, you can make it a very hearty dish or something simple. So all right, keep adding our stock. Weed out the the mushroom stems that I’m running into each. We’re really close to being there, guys. I’m going to just keep stirring this. All right, reduce my heat a little. Okay. So, all right. So, what we want to do next is you want to incorporate some herbs. We’ve got our um oregano. This is some local oregano actually from my garden. I say my garden, it’s my sister’s garden. And um I went and picked it this morning. So, but uh uh thyme, fresh thyme is really good in this. Also, um if you did something like a rosemary that was a little more hearty, I would definitely make sure to chop it up as fine as you possibly could. So, it could be a little tooth. I hope you all can hear me well. All right. And then if you want, you can take the thyme and the oregano and chop it up and put it in there. So having both of them is also a nice touch. Nothing like fresh herbs. You know, if you don’t have fresh herbs, you can certainly uh go with your dried herbs, too. All right. Add that right in the middle. Stir that in. I smell them already. Smell them already. All right. And some people, it just really kind of depends on the person, I guess, may like their risoto on a little drier side. Um, so you just cook it to where you like it to be. All right, I’m going to taste this a little bit. Check it for seasoning. Make sure that we have enough of our spices in there. And if you feel like you just need salt, then just add salt. Or you need heat, just add heat. You know, you feel like it’s got enough of an onion flavor to it. See where our kernels are. The flavor is good. It’s almost done. Not quite there, but real close. Got really good flavor, y’all. So, I’m going to chop up some green onions to go on the top and just kind of work on the garnishes at this point. So, if you want, you can take um all different kinds of things. Uh, like you could take the shiakei mushrooms that we had and slice them into like little almost like little ribbons. I’ll see if I’ve got a big one left. Not really, but you just take the stem off and then just slice it into like little slices. Almost look like almond slices. And then you can fry this up just right in the oil. And it tastes like mushroom bacon. It’s really good. You’ll be really surprised. But some of that and just put that over the top at the end. Just sprinkle a little bit on top. Will give it another depth of flavor. So, I’m going to check on our mushrooms. They are the star of the show. I think they’re probably really close to being ready. Yes, you’re right. So, I’ll try to do a little bit of a closeup for you all, but here you got some that have really dried out here. Some of the moisture has gotten in there, but you’ve just got a really nice mix of of mushrooms to go in this. It’s delicious. All right, I’m going take this. If our kernels are where we want them to be, then I am going to finish this up with everything. Give it a little bit more of taste. Good. I’m going to add a little bit of heat to this. [Music] [Music] I got guests in the kitchen with me today, so I’m not going to burn them out of here. So that’s that on that. And then I’m going to add some vegan parmesan here. There’s some great vegan parmesan cheeses or just vegan cheeses out there now. So definitely explore and find a brand that you like. They have come a long way. Put it like that. All right. Got that all in. And I’m gonna need to take out this bay leaf here. There’s another one in here somewhere. Trying to get it out before I add the mushrooms in. Maybe I got it out already. I don’t remember doing that, but I’ll run into it. But you want to take out before you serve up everything. Okay. Get our mushrooms. I’m going to just take them a whole piece of parchment and just drop them into the risoto like so. Lose any. Okay. Delicious. And then just stir them in. And then we’re about ready to plate up, folks. Now, I mentioned to you earlier about what you could add to just sort of give it some acid if you didn’t use the wine. Um, and that’s the ume plum vinegar, which you all have seen me add to different things. But it really goes well with some mushrooms and with pisto. I’m going to start with a teaspoon of that. [Music] Try not to let this stick and then stir it up and add more if we think it needs more. A little bit of this goes a very long way. So, just want to add a little bit of of it at a time. So, and it’s fermented plums, um plums. So, and I’m actually going to do 34 of a teaspoon and just add this in. So, if you didn’t have ume plum vinegar and um you want to just still impart that flavor, you could take some olives, like some brined olives, and uh you know, use them, chop them up really fine. Um they can be a really good garnish. So, yeah, many many things. So, we’re going to plate up now. We are done. And you guys let me know in the comments if you would prefer to see everything online. Like would you like a longer video or do you like them short? Just what what do you would you prefer? So, I’ll go in with our mushroom risoto. Couple spoonfuls of that. Okay. All right. And then I’m going to dice up some of our scallions on top. Little more palm. Just a little. And I think I might put a little little herb on here. And there you have it everyone. This is our wow mushroom risoto. That looks fantastic. Chef very easy, simple. Well, I would say it was easy on, but it’s not very complicated. Nothing that you should be afraid of. It looks It looks amazing. Thank you. It smells great, too. I’ll bet. All right. Thank you, Chef Kim, for that yummy recipe. And thank you as always for sharing so much interesting information with us about mushrooms and cooking risoto and how to make this recipe your own. Really, you can kind of tweak it to your own uh desires and that’s always a great thing. Absolutely. All right. Thanks everybody for joining us today and be sure to tune in and you can always rewatch these shows as you uh find the time. You can do it on Facebook, you can do it on our YouTube channel. It’s there for you at your convenience. So, thanks again everybody and join us again next time for plant-based cooking.
Dining and Cooking