They say the quickest way to a person’s heart is through their stomach, and this must be especially true for chefs. In the case of famous celebrity chef pioneer Julia Child and Italian chef Lidia Bastianich, food ignited a lifelong friendship. And the two culinary giants bonded over one dish in particular: mushroom risotto.
On a segment of PBS Food, chef Bastianich recounts how she first met Julia Child when she and James Beard came to Bastianich’s restaurant in the 80s. Child ordered the mushroom risotto and fell in love with it, not only complimenting Chef Bastianich by becoming a repeat customer at the restaurant, but also asking her to teach Child how to make it. This humble moment between a well-established celebrity chef and an up-and-coming chef initiated their friendship and put mushroom risotto on the list of Child’s favorite foods.
Their story doesn’t stop there, either. Julia Child invited Bastianich to cook her beloved mushroom risotto on an episode of Child’s PBS cooking show “Cooking with Master Chefs,” which brought Bastianich into the culinary limelight. Thanks to her appearance on the show and Child’s own encouragement, Bastianich went on to have her own successful career as a cooking show host.
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Tips on mushroom risotto
A creamy risotto is the ultimate comfort food, and mushrooms appear often in our repertoire of risotto recipes. This instant pot mushroom risotto eliminates the laborious stove-top cooking method. But if you want to stick with tradition, try this morel and asparagus risotto or mushroom and roasted garlic risotto. The morel and asparagus risotto not only uses the highly coveted morels in the initial sauté, but also includes porcini mushroom broth to really accentuate the deep, earthy umami flavors that pair so well with the parmesan cheese and creamy rice. The mushroom and roasted garlic risotto calls for using a variety of different types of mushrooms to bring different flavors and textures to the mix.
All three recipes saute the mushrooms before incorporating them into the risotto. According to Julia Child, the best way to sauté mushrooms starts by spreading the mushrooms out in the pan. Mushrooms need plenty of room for their water content to evaporate, so crowding the pan will result in mushy, slimy mushrooms. For that matter, you might want to avoid running mushrooms under water to wash them so that you don’t introduce even more moisture. Instead, you can wipe them with a damp paper towel to remove dirt and debris. You can use the same saute pan you cooked your mushrooms in to toast and cook the arborio rice.
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Read the original article on Tasting Table.
Dining and Cooking