Julia Child’s Favorite Mushroom Risotto

- Buongiorno, benvenuti to my kitchen, and today we're gonna make risotto, mushroom risotto, risotto we made often at home.

But in America, in the eighties, I really sort of got into risotto when I opened Felidia, and there was a big request on how do you make risotto.

So here it is.

And you start with a nice wide pan because there's a lot of mixing going on.

The stock, the wine all have to evaporate.

So let's start with some oil, some shallots.

Now you could use onions if you'd like, but shallots I like because they give a lot of flavor.

And here we have leeks.

Let's put some salt, just a little bit of salt.

Rice.

To make a good risotto, you need a short-grain rice.

I remember as a kid, my job was you put the rice like that on the table, and you look through it, and we used to remove pieces of rocks or something, and we would clean.

So it was our duty as children to clean those rices and get them ready for the risotto.

Let's put the rice in and toast the rice.

Brown rice is where the bran is still on it, but regular white rice is where the bran is milled.

You have the heart of the rice, which is about 95% starch.

We toast the rice, and we make the little capsule so that we can control the release of the starches from the rice itself.

Next we add white wine, a good white wine.

(pan sizzling) You have to put the wine when it's dry.

You notice dry; now the rice is taking in the wine.

So what we want from the wine, we want the acidity and the flavor, and the alcohol is dissipating.

Now let's get the mushrooms.

The more you have mushrooms, the better the risotto.

Here we have chanterelles, nice chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, the light yellow ones, the gray ones, delicious.

Here we have the crimini, the shiitake, and the hen-of-the-woods.

Beautiful mushroom, just like a bouquet of flowers.

Just cut them in slices, just like that.

In cooking, what's important is, you know, you see what you're doing, but also the sound.

I'm hearing that the rice is kind of beginning to stick to the pan.

(pan sizzling lightly) So I'm gonna add the hot stock, but just a little bit of hot stock.

The rules of making risotto: One cup of rice with three cups of liquid added to it will yield two cups of risotto.

So it's a 1-2-3 situation.

I opened my first restaurant in '71.

Yeah, that was in Queens.

And then we came to Manhattan.

In '81, we opened Felidia.

And there, you know, because I was rather young, I became the chef, this young Italian woman chef.

You know, everybody was young.

Woman, Italian chef in the kitchen of a restaurant, and one day who comes in but Julia Child and James Beard, both of them.

You know, big towering figures came in, and she wanted to taste my risotto, and it was mushroom risotto, just like this.

And she loved it.

She called me over and I went, of course, and we discussed it.

She came the second time, and ultimately she wanted me to teach her how to make risotto.

So you can imagine me teaching Julia Child.

So we did, and we remained friends ever since.

So here are the mushrooms, the rice.

I'm gonna add mushrooms right in there.

And I'm gonna add all of it because mushrooms, they are delicious, but they do shrink.

(gentle music) And you have to add a little bit of stock, just enough to cover and to continue the cooking process.

And if you add too much liquid, then the rice would open up.

I'm sure you had that experience.

Sometimes you tried to make the risotto, and the rice was all opened up, and the inside, it was still raw.

Well it's this process of adding slowly the stock, mixing, it's part of the, especially when you get towards the end.

You know, the starches are out.

They could stick; they could scorch a little bit.

So you wanna be there.

I think food, food that you cook at home, is a great thing to pass on to the next generation, to your children, to your grandchildren.

I'm on my grandchildren now, so I love cooking with them.

And you taste as you go along.

Tasting is very important, especially risotto.

You know, it's the right texture.

You want a little bite to the risotto.

And at this point, I'm going to close the heat at all.

No more cooking.

The last step is mantecare.

So we're gonna take the butter, and we're gonna take the cheese and the parsley.

The butter, you cut it in pieces like this small, and you let it come to room temperature.

Now you know, you're gonna say, "Oh, Lidia, that's a lot of butter."

But you know, we didn't add a lot of oil, just the oil in the beginning, and now we're on the butter.

Hold on, and just whisk it in.

This is mantecare, and you want the butter to melt in, and you want to add the butter and the cheese at the last minute, just before serving it, because that's how you get the maximum flavor.

So here we go.

Let's add the grated grana here, just like that.

Let me put a little bit of parsley, too.

I like my parsley.

Hold onto the pan and whip it in.

You wanna serve this risotto just like that (spoon bangs on pan) when it is ready.

Let's get the dishes.

(dishes clinking) I like to serve my risotto in a fondina.

You can serve it in a flat plate, but I like the fondina, and I always use my little plate, so I don't...

There we go.

One ladle, I think, is enough if you serve risotto as a primo, and then you'll serve something else.

Or if you want a main course, then you do two ladles, just like that.

(gentle music) Now you could grate some cheese before serving it, or you can put your grater and your cheese at the table and let your guest help themselves.

Since there's parsley in there, a little bouquet.

So here we are, a nice risotto.

Bring it to the table, just like that.

(gentle music) Mm, delicious.

Simple.

It's not that complicated.

It's in the technique.

You have to follow the steps.

You have to stand by.

It needs a little attention, but it is delicious.

Mm, mm.

So did you get it?

You got the technique?

You got the recipe?

So make sure you make some for your family, for your friends, and enjoy yourself when you're doing it.

(gentle music) Immigrants like me have added to America's rich and diverse tapestry of culture, religion, and food.

- It's a pleasure to have you here.

- In my upcoming "Lidia Celebrates America" special, I set out to meet some of our nation's more recent arrivals.

What motivated their journey here?

What challenges have they faced?

And what does being an American mean to them?

(gentle music)