Risotto reheat

[krizzle]

I own an Italian restaurant in PA and am considering adding a sausage and wild mushroom risotto as a special. When I have made it fresh, it is fantastic. The question I have concerns reheating to order. Should I make a big batch ahead of time? How long can I keep it in the cooler? When reheating, do I add chicken stock or cream?
My thought is to make a batch of just risotto and then cook the sausage and wild mushroom to order and add risotto.
Any helpful hints?
Thanks

[dpm75]

At the italian place I worked when I first moved to chicago we made the rissotto ahead, but only cooking it 1/2 to 2/3 done. And then we brought everything up (rissotto, meat, veg, herb/seasoning) with some stock, constantly moving and flipping and finished with cheese and/or a touch of cream. All proteins were cooked ahead as were the veg that took more than 4 minutes to finish. Hope that helps!

Darrin

[SmokeyJoe]

We always cooked the rissoto 3/4 done then spread on sheet pan and let cool thoroughly. We would then potion it out ino baggies. For an order microwave bag just to loosen, meanwhile in a saute pan saute some aromatics, your sausage etc add broth bring to simmer add rissoto, let it finish cooking in stock and finish with cream butter and cheese.

[lockport]

cream in risotto?
should be creamy on its own i think

[SmokeyJoe]

you say tomato I say tomato (that doesnt work so well in black and white)

[Yuzu]

Never really tried it but I have heard of boiling the snot out of risotto fro exactly ten minutes. Strain it off and cool it. Then you can season and everything on the reheat. I have talked to plenty of chefs and get different advice every time. Many say that the parmesan will give you the creaminess without having to do the old cup of stock-at-a-time old school technique. I belive the 10 minute boil will get you to a nice al dente. Then take it from there with your seasonings a la minute.

Cheers!

[lobstergun1]

i've never seen risotto done the same anywhere i've been. most recently i've been finishing it with semi whipped cream in addition to the usual garnish like parm and butter. the cream is an old trick i've seen in Ducasse cook books, and never tried until recently. it adds more texture and consistency than butter and cheese.

[bohica]

cream in risotto?
should be creamy on its own i think

It's a personal issue. Some chef's use cream at the end when they are grating in some parm cheese as well.

[krizzle]

Thanks a lot guys, appreciate the advice. I just found this website the other day and it has been really helpful. I will let you know how it turns out.

[SmokeyJoe]

AND its not this website? Very strange.

[chefwarren]

Here is another opinion. Cook it the way you usually do, but do not season it. No garlic, shallots, whatever. At the just a bit of bite stage, lay it out on a sheet tray to cool. Whatever you do, do not cram it into a bucket. Fluff the rice like you would sushi rice and allow to cool. Work it off the sheet tray. You get an order in, warm up some extra virgin and whole butter in a sauteuse, put in the flavoring agents, shallots, garlic, sausage (either blanched or not, depends on the sausage), mushrooms, whatever. Season with s and p. Degalze with white wine, madeira, vermouth, your choice. Add the blanched rice. Toss for a moment to mingle flavors Add the boiling chicken stock. I finish mine, usually with whipped hevay cream (in an ISI), butter, and cheese. Adjust the seasong and serve.
How are things in State College? Is the "Old Oak Tavern" in Pine Grove Mills still open? I re-opened it, with a friend, in 1984. It was a big deal at the time because we served alcohol an a previously dry county. Caused quite a fuss.

[chefwarren]

The boil it up method comes out pretty mediocre. All the starchy-creamy yummyness goes down the drain.

[Blueicus]

The place I work at does the boil it up method, which does suffer from the danger of losing all of its starch after par-cooking (I had the misfortune of cooking with said poorly prepped rice and in the end added cream to save it from being rice soup). But if you are careful with not cooking the rice to a state that is still underdone, let it cool in a sheet pan and refrain from washing the rice you will retain much of the starch and the grains will not have seized together into a block of rice. I admit that doing it the "natural" way would yield an even better product, but in some restaurants you cannot afford to make the customer wait 40 minutes, which is unfortunate and this way the rice keeps for a pretty long time and you'll have risotto in 10 minutes flat.

[Chefduffdotcom]

Heres the deal, cook the risotto standard way ...slow... & cook to about 3/4 finished, sheet tray & chill. for service Start the protein or whatever filling in the pan add the risotto & finish with stock to "Rehydrate", heat Finish the dish with a touch of cream & the cheese plate & serve... DO NOT DO THE BOILUP METHOD you will lose the integrity of the starch & it will "Split"

[Yuzu]

Okay - don't try the boil-the-snot-out-of-it method. SOmething I had heard about glad I never wasted the rice on trying it that way. Could always do like one of the restaurants out here - make fresh risotto every 45 minutes. They have one guy that just makes the risotto all night long. I'm still dying to go and try it.

Does anyone finish with vinegar at the end? Heard that is a very classic way to finish off risotto.