We live in a very dry place - 10 inches of rain on average annually. We have been far short of that the last five years as the massive drought affecting the Western US has tightened its grip. We have had no measurable precipitation since Christmas.
Dryness (plus altitude) has odd effects on ones cooking. Like when making risotto for example.
Normally when you read a recipe for risotto (a rice dish that calls for you to add the cooking fluid gradually over the entire cooking process while stirring constantly) the proportions are 2 parts water to one part liquid. I've learned that where we live that doesn't work and you may need 3 or 4 parts water to one part liquid. I've theorized that this is because our dry climate evaporates whatever moisture there might be in the rice but I don't really know.
Last night we had Gaius Derf and Agent W over. Risotto, in my opinion, is best made with people you know well as it requires constant attention and then should be consumed immediately when done. So after our antipasti, we were talking and stirring the risotto. I notice that the 5 cups of broth I had for the 1 cup of rice were gone and the risotto was still way too crunchy. Fortunately I had more canned broth and started to use that. By the time it was to the right consistency, we had put in 10 cups of broth! That's 10 cups of broth for 1 cup of rice. Amazing
The risotto was pretty damn good though :)
1 comment:
I think we have all the rain you guys are missing right here. Just in the next two days we are getting an inch.
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