Seafood Risotto Smackdown: Scallops vs. Oysters

This should really be two posts, as I've lately been playing with both Scallop Risotto and Oyster Risotto. Which works best? Find out below.

My seafood risotto recipe is very similar to the Sausage and Mushroom risottos I've done before with a few key differences, namely the complete lack of sausage and mushrooms. Also, I use seafood.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
32 ounces seafood stock
1 cup Arborio rice
Bay scallops or shucked oysters (usually a half pound)
1 T shredded parmesan cheese
1 T butter (if you're using the scallops)

If using scallops, pan fry scallops in butter for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Then set aside.

If using oysters, broil until edges start to curl. Most online recipes say for one minute, but my toaster oven broiler needed 5-10 minutes. Set aside, while saving the extra liquid.

Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about five minutes. Add the rice to the pan and cook for about a minute. Gradually start adding seafood stock and stir over high heat for 20 minutes. Once the rice is cooked add in the seafood for the final minute or two. (Here, if you’re using oysters, also add in the liquid from the oysters. Mmmn, oyster juice!) Finally, add in the Parmesan cheese to bind it all together.

2 servings

As for the battle between the oysters and scallops, in a bit of an upset, the scallops win handily. In general, I've always preferred oysters to scallops, but I think scallops just work better for risotto. Tonight was the first time I used oysters, while I've had the scallop risotto two or three times before. The oyster risotto was very good, but the scallop risotto was amazing.

Sometime, if the planets align correctly, I also hope to try this recipe with lobster. I'm thinking that will be pretty good too.

Battling Risottos

Joe's becoming the Master of All Things Risotto so I'm taking a stab at retaining my risotto "cred" with this PLUS... I finally got to cook with saffron which has been on my Hundred List for ages. This was loosely taken from the Epicure Bella Cucina cookbook.

5 1/2 c vegetable stock (or a lighter chicken stock as I used)
3-4 threads saffron (YIPPEE)
2 T butter
1 1/2 c arborio rice
2 t VE Toasted Onion (or the 3-Onion crack)
1/3 c dry white wine (okay, the cookbook lists this as optional but in my world, wine is not optional when it comes to risotto, it is a hard fast rule. The other hard fast risotto/wine rule is that you are not limited to "dry white wine", you can of course use the last half cup of the wine left over from dinner the night before)
1/2 c frozen peas, thawed
Bunch of cooked shrimp
Good sized handful of pecorino cheese (the shrimp and cheese are just me, the cookbook stops at peas but along with the risotto/wine rule, there is also a risotto/cheese rule that I won't go into here today)

Heat the stock and saffron up to a gentle simmer and reduce temperature to keep hot.

Melt butter into a pan, add the rice and onion and cook for about 2 minutes or until the rice begins to turn translucent. Add the "optional" wine and stir until the wine has been absorbed by the rice. Then comes the fun part...

Step One: Add a ladle full of the stock to the rice in the pan. Stir until the stock is absorbed.
Step Two: Repeat step one.

Continue until you've run out of stock and/or the rice is al dente. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese then stir in the peas and shrimp. Cover for about 5 minutes, give it a stir and serve it.

I think the only thing that I would really change would be to take the tails off of the shrimp, I didn't mind so much but I don't think that Meag really got into it like that.

Oh yeah, and the saffron? I must sheepishly admit that I'm not sure I could taste it. I would have to make the whole thing again without the saffron and see if I could taste a difference. What I do know is that it was mighty tasty. K,J

Chicken-y Mushroom Risotto

On Friday, I tried cooking real risotto for the first time (not the quick 'N easy version I did earlier). While there are a few things I'll change next time, it turned out quite nicely.

2 cups Arborio rice
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
Some mushrooms
Some olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
4 cans of Campbell's condensed chicken broth.
Shredded Parmesan cheese (I'm not sure how much; I just used up the cheese that I had -- probably 3/4 of a cup or so.)

1. Cook the chopped onion and mushrooms in some olive oil, until caramelized.
2. Heat chicken broth until warm, while completely not realizing that you are supposed to dilute condensed chicken broth with an equal amount of water.
3. Remove onion and mushroom and set aside.
4. Cook rice in the leftover olive oil over medium heat, for about 20 minutes.
5. First, add wine and then gradually add chicken broth about a cup at a time, while stirring.
6. Add mushroom and onion and stir at the very end.
7. Turn off the heat and add the Parmesan Cheese.
8. Sit risotto aside for five minutes. After all the stirring, you can sit aside for five minutes too, if you'd like.

It was very good, though I wondered why I couldn't taste the wine. That's probably because the undiluted chicken broth completely overwhelmed the wine. The chicken flavor was a bit strong, but I didn't really mind. Next time, I'll add water to the broth.

Also, my mushroom-rice ratio was a bit low. I used only about half a container, not realizing that the rice would expand when cooked. Next time, more mushrooms and possibly even some chicken sausage.

Strangely, my back was actually a little sore after cooking this. It was hard work stirring for twenty minutes. Apparently, my stirring muscles are just a little out of practice. My eating muscles are doing just fine, though.

Quick 'N Easy Risotto

Well, since I'm a member of this here blog, and since I cooked something I've never cooked before, I figured I would post something. I've never made risotto before, and I think it turned out all right. I got the recipe off the lid of a Parmesan cheese container, which really is one step above using a recipe off the back of a Ritz cracker box. Admittedly, it was slightly bland. I had hoped the wine would give it more of a kick, but I still enjoyed it.

Here's the recipe, not so much because you'll want to try it, but this way I can throw out the lid.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped mushroom
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 cup long-grain rice, uncooked
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk

Heat oil on medium heat. Add mushrooms and onion. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Stir in rice, water, and wine. Bring to boil, cover. Reduce heat to low. Simmer 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in 1/2 cup of cheese and milk. Serve with remaining cheese.

Makes 4 to 6 servings, though I pretty much ate half of it tonight. I'm not sure if you're supposed to have risotto as the main course, but that's how things turned out tonight.