…and so begins our weekly recipe.

I’ll go first.

-

crab risotto

-fresh crab. no fake crab – real crab. if you can buy freshly picked crab, mix two parts white meat with one part dark meat. don’t overdo it on the dark meat, less it take over the rest of the flavors. you can, however, mix this a day before and use the left-over dark meat for the stock – which we’ll get into in a second.

- a dry white wine [sauvignon blanc, if you can - and remember the rule: if it's not good enough to drink, it's certainly not good enough to cook with]

- rice [they suggest risotto rice, but whatever, really]

- half an onion, finely chopped

- 4 spring onions, finely chopped

- stock. I’m going to write it again. stock. good stock. good stock as in – have been boiling the remains of the crab for 12 hours stock. this is what makes or breaks this dish. no cubed stuff.

… okay, it’s pretty basic. fry both onions in oil and garlic for a few minutes until they start to sweat. drop the stove to a low heat, [but not too low] throw in as much rice as you need, throw in a bit of stock and start folding it over-and-over. ‘you should never be able to see the bottom of the pan’ is one of the best tips I’ve heard for risotto. keep folding/stirring the rice over the stock until it’s absorbed and then start with the wine. if you run out of stock/wine before the rice reaches it’s al dente consistency, throw in more wine. and never stop stirring. this is the beauty of risotto, you’re forced to hover over a stove with lots of wine in reach. I’ve never soberly finished this dish – thus the memories of it always coming out amazing. who cares, really – you disappear for 45 minutes, ain’t no one gonna blame you for coming back out legless. back to the risotto – once you have the consistency where you want it, turn the heat off and then throw in the crab. fold this into the rice creation for a few minutes. serve with freshly grated parmesan, zest of lemon and a pinch of parsley.

it’s not an easy thing at first, risotto, but this might be the best dish I know how to make.

lemme know how it goes.

-a