Chocolate Risotto
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Chocolate risotto or is it rice pudding..? It is risotto because it is made…well, like risotto, but there’s nothing stopping you from using pudding rice (is there much of a difference between the two, I wonder?). Regardless of the ins and outs, it is as good as you hope it will be.
Conflict and drama the world over could be resolved with a bowl of this and some sensible conversation.
This is another brainwave as a result of a reduced bottle of Gold Top (again). We eat mushroom risotto a lot and I have been having a terrible yearning for a chocolate version (without mushrooms at all, in case you just had a panic). I have made chocolate rice pudding before, but a risotto version seemed like a more interesting option, especially when the liquid is the divine Gold Top.
I must issue a disclaimer. Risotto takes a long time to cook, and it seemed to take longer using milk than stock.
But you know, it was a dire morning here. The rain is still lashing down – enough to half drown Alex and me on the way to school; no exaggeration – I had to come home and wring out my jacket – and the wind is howling.
So, with some music in the background (I’m getting to that) a stormy, dark kitchen and a wooden spoon, stirring a vat of sweet risotto was an absolute pleasure. Practically a meditation.
You’re wondering about the music, I know you are.
I was quite happy with the radio on, although I was useless at Ken Bruce’s Popmaster today. But if you’re really lucky, your husband will actively search for lots of 70s and 80s bands performing on youtube, whilst you are stirring.
Boston and Journey have a way of making the time pass. Especially when they’re played loudly enough that the cat adjourns to the living room.
I had a whole string of thought about big hair and moustaches whilst I stirred. Did they not have hair conditioner in the 70s? Maybe it was illegal? Or maybe there were a lot of electrical storms that decade. Someone explain the endemic frizziness to me, please, because there was nothing natural about all that facial and head hair.
About 10 mins in, he found a Christmas album from Richie Blackmore and promptly purchased it from Amazon. It was astonishingly good – very folky and traditional. If the female singer had been stirring the risotto instead of me, she would have gone up in flames instantly. Never has so much sheer fabric adorned one human arm. Alex is a fan of Fireman Sam and I found myself saying the words ‘Water on, Penny! Water on, Sam!’ to myself. That girl needed a portable smoke alarm.
I was still stirring. Richie and the blond bint were singing their hearts out. I’m ready for Christmas right NOW. It’s OK though – I can hang on for it. I have a lot cooking to do for Christmas. Help.
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