Jalapeño and Cheese Risotto

I bought some risotto rice the other day, because I thought "How hard can that be? Risotto. It's just rice, with some stuff in it. Right?" But then it sat in the cupboard, and I made pasta with pesto instead.

Tonight I finally went for it. Found a lot of risotto recipes online... oh boy. And the most convincing was the Jamie Oliver site. Plus I just kind of trust him, for no good reason.

I used the recipe for three cheese risotto, but omitted the cheeses he mentions and added a double glocester (my version of a jack cheddar, here in Scotland) and some jalapeños, straight from the jar. No fresh jalapeños here. We'll only be here another month, otherwise I'd grow some myself. Yum. Off you go!

Serves 2, and risotto just isn't that great the second day so don't over do it.
Total time: give yourself an hour, including chopping all those things (aka prep)

Ingredients:
a dollop of butter and a swig of olive oil
500ml broth (vege or chicken or whatever you pleasure)
200g arborio rice (risotto)
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
1 celery stick, chopped fine
1 glass dry white wine (or two shots of tequila, if you've got that handy)
75g cheese (preferably a monterey jack, but any cheddar will do) roughly chopped
small handful of chopped jalapeño peppers (note: this recipe is for jalapeños from a jar, if you have fresh jalapeños add them to your onions and cook them along)


Get your broth going. If you use broth cubes, put them in water and put them on the stove. Stir them in well (chop up a bit beforehand for ease of dissolving) and get them up to almost a boil. Leave broth on the stove, staying warm but not boiling, you will be ladling this into your risotto and it needs to be hot.

Put about a tablespoon of butter into a large saucepan on medium high heat(this will be the pot you cook the risotto in, so it should be a real pot). When it starts to bubble a little, add some olive oil (just a splash) and then add your onions. After 2 minutes add garlic and celery (and fresh jalapeños, if you're going that route). Cook for about 5 minutes, until soft. Stir often, so the onions don't burn.

Add risotto, stirring for about a minute. The risotto will start to appear translucent around the edges. Now add the glass of wine (or tequila) and keep stirring. Go ahead, watch the pot. And stir. The booze will cook off and the flavor will cook into the rice beautifully. When it gets almost dry, add your first ladle of broth. Lower temperature, the rice shouldn't be boiling, but simmering. Then, as the broth cooks into the rice, keep adding a ladle at a time. This should take 15 to 20 minutes. Test the rice after 15 minutes. Does it seem done? If you run out of broth, add a little water.

When the risotto is done, and you can tell because it'll be able to hold it's shape, take it off the heat and add the cheese and, if you didn't already, jalapeños. Stir in. Then take about 2 tablespoons worth of butter and whip it right in. Let sit for 3 minutes, so it can turn into restaurant grade risotto, and serve.

Garnish? I had some mixed green salad from a bag (yuck, plastic), and I put out some dressing I'd made the day before. See my dressing post below.

Feedback welcome!