remember the
bacon risotto i made this fall? i was watching something or read something that mentioned using beer in risotto, which sounds delicious b/c hooray beer. i got to thinking about revisiting this bacon risotto recipe and using
matilda beer bacon instead of regular bacon, and, of course, using goose island matilda to replace some of the chicken broth used in the recipe.
today's bacon (and beer) risotto has 1/2 a pack of matilda beer bacon, which i think was about 5-6 slices. i doubled the garlic to 4 cloves, and used 2 cups of matilda beer and 2 cups of chicken broth. i cooked the bacon first and then let it drain on paper towels while the onion and garlic cooked. still not enough grease to drain off, so everything went into the slow cooker as it was. i set the time for 90 minutes on high so i could check consistency/doneness before dumping in the cheese. the rice was still a bit on the crunchy side after 90 minutes, so i let it cook for another 12 minutes on high before adding the parmesan cheese and turning the slow cooker off.
i can't believe i'm saying/typing this, but i think i'd use less beer the next time i make this. i know, i know...such sacrilege on a sunday, but while the risotto was delicious and definitely better than the 1st time i made it, holy fucking shit does it taste like beer. this is not necessarily a bad thing, so i'm thinking i'd use 1.5 cups of beer to 2.5 cups of stock/broth next time. or maybe i'd keep the proportions of beer/stock the same and not use beer bacon. obviously this is going to need further research. y'know, for science. :-)
you might also remember that i recommended serving some sort of vegetable along with the risotto. while i was looking for my printed copy of the bacon risotto recipe, i found one for sautéed spinach from this
craft beer cookbook i read last year. i knew i'd still have some beer left b/c i'm not going to finish the bottle until i actually eat today, so this sounded like a great idea. here's the recipe as it's listed in the cookbook:
Sautéed Spinach
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large shallot, finely diced
1/4 cup Belgian white beer
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 ounces fresh spinach, washed and stemmed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the garlic and shallots and sauté for 1 minute. Add the beer and chicken stock and cook until the liquid is reduced by half.
Add the butter, spinach, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach is just barely wilted, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and toss well. Serve hot.
i forgot to buy shallots when i went grocery shopping the other day, so i improvised with a little bit of red onion that was in the fridge - maybe about 1/3 cup diced? those fresh express bags o'salad were on sale, so i bought 2 6oz bags of spinach and arugula mix and used those instead of regular spinach. 4 cloves of garlic instead of three.
if/when i make this again, which i probably will the next time i make this risotto, i'd let the liquid reduce by two-thirds instead by half, b/c there was still a fair amount of liquid left by the time the spinach/arugula had wilted down. still nom, though.
and now my full stomach and i are on the couch with the remains of this 765ml bottle of matilda in easy reach, b/c of course i can't let the rest of this beer go to waste, right? right.
