Mother's Day

This Mother's Day, I decided that instead of pouring my all my earnings into some store-bought trinket or essentially useless artifact, I would attempt to give her a gift that could rival the finger-painted pictures and popsicle-stick boxes that melted her heart when in my childhood. I wanted to express my gratitude by cooking her a meal worth remembrance.
My only question was: which dish would make her meal truly unforgettable? Although my mom isn't an especially difficult diner to please, she's not very easily impressed, either. I knew that in order to make this meal special for her, I'd have to give her a multi-sensory experience. I wanted to serve her a dish that would take her back to a moment of unparalleled contentment.

After some consideration, I remembered an exceptional meal that my family shared at a corner cafe during New Year's Eve in Paris a few years ago. My mother and I both ordered a mushroom risotto which we raved about for months afterward. It was the perfect risotto: simple and elegant, yet rich and complex.

I decided that I'd attempt to create a culinary experience that could parallel the one we shared in Paris; one that would leave her reminiscing about her dream vacation and all of the blissful moments she had in the city of love.

I'd never attempted to make risotto before, so I began by referencing several simple risotto recipes in order to understand the basic steps involved in making a risotto. It's a surprisingly simple recipe, which essentially requires you to cook rice and cover it in mascarpone cheese.

 However, I wanted to create a dish that would suit her tastes. My mom has always made a point of serving at least one green vegetable with every meal she cooks, so instead of simply recreating the mushroom risotto we'd eaten on New Year's Eve, I made a risotto with several green vegetables as a tribute to her culinary traditions, which she lovingly passed down to me.

Spring Vegetable Risotto
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         1 ½    cups of Arborio rice

        4-5      cups of chicken stock, simmering on the side
  
         1 ½    tbsp. of robust olive oil

         2        tbsp. of unsalted butter

         3        cups of leeks, chopped

         2          lemons

         1 ½    cups of peas

         10-20  asparagus spears, cut 2 inches from the tip

         ½     cup of white cooking wine

         ½     cup of good mascarpone cheese

         ½    cup of grated parmesan

         a few tablespoons of chopped chives

Heat olive oil and butter in a large saucepan until butter is melted. Add chopped leeks and sautee until tender. Add rice and stir for several minutes, thouroughly coating it in oil (this will prevent your risotto from clumping). Add white wine and stir until it has been absorbed into the rice. Add the chicken stock, one or two ladles at a time, to the rice. Allow the rice to absorb the stock before adding more.

While rice is cooking, blanch the asparagus spears in boiling water for 4-5 minutes, until slightly tender. Drain the asparagus and set it aside. Once you've absorbed about 3 cups of stock into the rice, add the asparagus and peas (if using frozen peas, make sure they've had a few minutes to thaw) to the mixture. Squeeze the lemons, and set the juice aside, then add about 2 tbsp. of lemon zest to the rice mixture, along with salt and pepper, to taste. Continue adding stock and cook the rice until it is "al dente."

While the rice finishes, mix the mascarpone and lemon juice. When the rice is done, remove it from heat and add the mascarpone mixture, parmesan, and chives. Stir the risotto until the cheese is mixed evenly throughout. Garnish with parmesan and chives, and serve!
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Once you've learned the basics of cooking risotto, it's very easy to customize the recipe in any way you like. Try this recipe, and then see if you can craft your own ultimate risotto.