Accidental risotto

[sauergeek]

This posting courtesy of desireearmfeldt's memelet: "Post to DW talking about one fun thing you did recently.". I cooked someone else's recipe! (At least sort of.)

coraline recently posted a chicken and rice recipe which looked interesting. However, it called for a pressure cooker, which I don't own. I figured I could make it in a Dutch oven and it would be at least moderately close. I was expecting, given the title, something resembling a porridge, or a stew with rice in it. What I got, after a frantic scraping of the rice off the bottom of the pot and adding triple the liquid for 2/3 the rice, was a chicken risotto.

I made several modifications to the recipe.

• No onions (I regret them deeply when I eat them, even cooked)
  
• Parsnips instead of carrots (I like parsnips, but haven't done enough with them, so this seemed like a fine time to try)
  
• Chicken breast instead of chicken thighs (I had chicken breast on hand)
  
• Adding vastly more liquid than the original called for (the plan was to make it a proper braise, plus giving the rice something to absorb; turns out, that wasn't enough...)
  
• Reducing the rice (white rice absorbs a lot more liquid than brown, and white rice is what I had)
  
• Using chicken broth instead of vegetable broth, and throwing in sherry as part of the cooking liquid (both to give it more flavor, as the original was bland)
  
• Adding savory, mustard, and coriander (also to try to counter the bland)
  
• Adding Romano cheese (nigh unto mandatory for a risotto, once I concluded it was a risotto, and another flavor boost)
  

My modified version of the recipe (which also appears in the comments of the original post):

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 lb parsnips cut into coins (or half-coins for really big ones)
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 12 oz box of mushrooms, sliced
8 small cloves garlic (the end of my bulb), minced
1 large knob ginger, sliced
6 c chicken broth
1 c sherry
1 t dried savory leaves
1 t dried thyme leaves
1 t ground mustard
1 t ground coriander
2 c short-grain rice
2 c water
1/2 t fresh-ground black pepper (estimate)
1/4 c grated Romano cheese (estimate)

Put everything from the chicken to the rice in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, stirring regularly. Turn down to a simmer and cover, stirring occasionally, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pot. The rice will absorb all the liquid; add water as needed.

Once the chicken and the parsnips are cooked through, stir in the black pepper and the Romano cheese.

Comments

[sauergeek]

I think I am underwhelmed by the parsnips in this: they disappear into the rice. I'll use carrots next time. It's also a bit short on salt, but that's fixable at table. Maybe more Romano and more black pepper, too.

I will definitely make this again.