Carolina Gold Rice Risotto

Seamus and I started watching a new cooking show last year called "Mind of a Chef" on PBS. One of the seasons focused on chef Sean Brock, a master chef who cooks amazing Southern food with only the best ingredients. One of the ingredients that he talks about regularly on the show is Carolina Gold Rice.

Carolina Gold Rice was nearly impossible to find for many years, but the Anson Mills company has made it their mission to produce and share this product with people all over the world. Seamus and I had to try it ourselves to believe it, so we thought we would make the Anon Mills recipe for risotto in order to truly enjoy the delicate rice that we had been looking forward to trying for so long.


Carolina Gold Rise Risotto
Courtesy of Anson Mills

EQUIPMENT MISE EN PLACE

For this recipe, you will need a small heavy-bottomed saucepan for the broth, a heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan for the rice, a wooden spoon, and a 6- or 8-ounce ladle.

• • 3½
    cups Rich Homemade Chicken Stock or, if you must, one 32-ounce carton low-sodium chicken broth

  • 2
    tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3
    shallots, minced (about ⅓ cup)

  • 7
    ounces (1 cup) Anson Mills Carolina Gold Rice

  • ½
    cup dry white wine or vermouth

  • 1
    tablespoon minced fresh thyme

  • 1
    Turkish bay leaf

  • Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2
    ounces (½ cup) finely grated Parmesan Reggiano

1.   
   Heat the chicken stock in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan until it simmers. Pull the saucepan to the outer periphery of the burner, or, if your range is electric, lower the heat setting and keep the stock just below a simmer throughout cooking.
2.   
   Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan over low heat until it foams. Add the shallots and sauté, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the shallots are translucent and have nearly melted into the butter, about 5 minutes. Add the rice, increase the heat to medium, and sauté, stirring, until the grains are coated with butter and have turned opaque, about 2 minutes.
3.   
   Add the wine, stir, and reduce to a glaze over medium-low heat. Ladle in 1 cup of hot stock and add the thyme, bay leaf, ½ teaspoon salt, and½ teaspoon pepper; stir once to make sure the grains are just covered with liquid. Cook the rice, uncovered, at the barest simmer, until the liquid has nearly evaporated and the rice begins to look dry. Add another ladle of hot stock. Continue to cook the risotto in this fashion, adding stock as needed, until the rice grains have expanded and no longer have a hard starch center, about 20 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan. The risotto should look creamy but not wet. Taste for seasoning and serve immediately.
4.