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29-01-2012, 19:57
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AmericanIPA is brilliant with strong cheddar. Risottos are awesome – rich, savoury,filling. Imagine how good a risotto would be if it was made with IPA andcheddar, plus parmesan and a delicious depth of sweet onion, leek and garlic. Ihad to find out.


Thebeer has to be chosen carefully because if it’s too bitter then it ruinseverything and no one wants a bitter risotto. The safety net was the butter andcheese which wrap themselves around any bitterness and smother it. I went withOdell’s IPA (http://odellbrewing.com/beers/classic/ipa) because there’s loads of juicy fruit (mandarin and mango), abackground sweetness and IBUs which don’t overpower (it’s also one of myfavourite beers). And it’s delicious with cheddar and chunks of parmesan.


Thisis a classic risotto recipe, like this one (http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/risotto/basic-risotto-recipe). For one person, I used a largewhite onion, a medium-sized leek, sliced into half-moons, and a big fat clove ofgarlic, all softened in butter and a little oil with a sprinkle of sugar andfresh thyme alongside the salt and pepper. The beer went in during the middleof the cooking; I didn’t add at the beginning like you would with wine becauseI didn’t want to highlight the hop bitterness, instead I poured in about 100mlafter three ladles of stock had been added. At the end, a mix of cheddar andparmesan went in.


AnIPA on the side and it was delicious. The beer adds a lot in the cooking, withthe hint of hop poking the flavours in the onion and cheese in new directions,which is fantastic. The fruit flavour that comes from the beer and cheeses workso well together while the sweetness in the onion, leek and garlic complete thewhole thing. Damn good.


Nowit’s got me thinking about other beery risottos...


Theonly trouble with a risotto is that I always go into it thinking that it’ll bewonderfully soothing and relaxing to make as I stand there and gently stir therice and watch as it softens and soaks up all the stock, but the reality is thatit always stresses me out – the constant stirring frustrates, the adding ofstock annoys me, there’s the hope that the next taste won’t be crunchy (whichalways takes longer than expected) and I just end up getting hot from the hoband angry or drunk while I wait.


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