My post-Thanksgiving adrenaline letdown resulted in a subsequent day-after laziness. Not only that, but I had no real drive to cook anything at all for a while nor to eat any of the loads of leftovers that had been filed away in the freezer and back of the fridge. Leftovers in general? Enhh.
However, there are exceptions. This creamy corn risotto is the very first food that comes to mind when I think of something that our family would want to have hanging around for seconds. It’s an incredible meal the first day and transforms into a second equally delicious meal the second day-or third for that matter.
Part One of this recipe, the actual making of the risotto, will not include your mini-chef unless they are of stove age and able to stand there and stir. My own children have years before they will be ready for risotto-making even though, by now, they have quite a lot of risotto-eating under their belts.
What then, you might ask, does corn risotto have to do with Dr. Seuss’s Horton? Well, each time I make a risotto and stand there stirring constantly for the requisite half hour, even though my daughter throws a big tantrum so that I have to stir and tantrum-manage all at once and even though the phone rings in the other room and the person calls back, like, five times leading me to think that something apocalyptic must have happened, a little mantra runs through my head: “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent.” Make this first part by yourself, faithfully stirring, and then tune in Thursday for Part Two, which the Yummies are set to make in class tomorrow.
Corn Risotto
*4 T. unsalted butter
*2 T. olive oil
*1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
*2 small stalks of celery, roughly chopped
*5 corn cobs, knifed off the cob and/or 12 oz. frozen corn
*2 c. Arborio rice
*8-9 c. stock, chicken or veggie
*1 c. Gruyere, Fontina, or a mix of both, grated
*2-3 T. fresh sage, finely chopped
Bring the stock to simmer in a stock pot set over a medium flame.
Puree or grate the onion and the celery. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery puree and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes till the onion barely begins to turn golden. Add the arborio, stirring and coating each grain with onion and oil.
Ladle in about a half cup of the warm stock, and stir the rice with a wooden spoon until the stock has been absorbed. Add more stock, ladleful by ladleful, stirring well and until the stock gets absorbed, until the risotto is al dente.
Stir in the corn, and take the pan off of the heat. Now, stir in the cheese and fold in the fresh sage. Serve immediately.
