Skip to main content

Budget cooking: shitty chicken and holy shit risotto

 So I've got some chicken wings I want to cook, and I'm thinking, "You know what would be awesome? I can make a batter and bake these. It'll be amazing." I then proceeded to fuck it all up to hell and back. Luckily, I made some kickass risotto to go along with it, and that pretty much saved the meal.

See that shit? That's before it was finished, mind you, but it was already looking spectacular. First, though, let's address the absolute shitshow that was my chicken wings.

I had a little bit of my spicy mayo left, so I was originally going to coat the wings with that, then cover them with bread crumbs seasoned with salt and cayenne. Then I had the bright idea to mix the mayo into the bread crumbs to make a batter.

Unfortunately, that made a thick paste that didn't stick to the chicken and just looked like dog shit smeared on the wings. I said "fuck it" and threw it in the oven at 350 to cook for about 45 minutes.

It essentially ended up as unseasoned chicken with a chunk of overseasoned hushpuppy on top. It was an absolutely abomination and I should be shot. It was, however, still somewhat edible, so at least it didn't go to waste.

But let's get to the rice. Clockwise from the front right, we have diced mushroom, grated onion (about 3tbsp) and garlic (2 cloves), shredded Romano cheese, and minced bell pepper. If you weren't already aware, grating garlic and onion is a cheat code. Do it. You're welcome.

I started up the onion and garlic in some butter and let them get just a touch of color.

Then I dumped a few handfuls of rice on top. You're lucky I had estimates on the measurements for the onion and garlic. I sautéed the rice with the garlic and onion for a little bit, added a little olive oil, and kept it going to puff up the rice and give it some of that onion and garlic flavor.

After a few minutes, I added the bell pepper in, kept cooking for a few minutes, then added the mushroom with a little more oil and a few dashes of salt. 

Once the pepper and mushroom had softened a little bit, I added a bit of water to start simmering everything together. When the water was cooked down about halfway, I poured in maybe a half cup of white wine, kept keeping everything stirred, and waited for it to reduce a bit. I do have a slight confession: I've had a jar of real saffron in my spice cabinet since 2012. It may still be usable, so I dumped some of that in, too.

After a few minutes, the liquid had cooked down a bit more, so I added some cream and, while stirring  continuously with my spatula, dropped in a bit of the Romano to help thicken it up. 

When the rice seemed to be about finished, I dropped in another tablespoon of butter (cut into a few chunks) and kept mixing to get everything right. I finished with a little bit of black pepper and removed the pan from the already low heat.

You can tell the risotto is finished when it's thick enough that it won't immediately fill in when you scrape the fan, but liquid enough to still eventually seep across.

So yeah, I spooned my risotto onto the plate and it was fabulous. Then I stuck a piece of shit excuse for a chicken wing on there, too, and embarrassed myself again. Pro tip: choke the shitty chicken down as quickly as possible, then enjoy the rice. Now, I know real risotto uses broth. I didn't have any. Go fuck yourself.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Restaurant week: My new Mexican restaurant

 As I mentioned the other day, my Mexican restaurant closed down. Luckily, they opened up in a new space a couple of months later. Great new look, new name ("Lopez Grill"), they've got a bar, staff is expanded, and the place is always packed. Business seems to be going great. Now, this isn't just a rehash of my post about the 'Dolo. While the menu is largely the same, there have been a few changes, plus I'm going to share a few things I've learned eating there. On my first visit to the new location (which was opening day, right when the doors opened; yes, I was standing in line outside with the other faithful), Señor Lopez brought me a bowl of their new salsa. He called it "guacamole salsa," but it's a jalapeño-based sauce. It's got an almost creamy texture, but is dairy-free (I asked for my vegan friend). Being a jalapeño salsa, it's got some heat, but not nearly as overbearing as some capsaicin-phobes may fear. It is perfectly bala...

Restaurant week: Polish food truck tasting

Due to a strange combination of circumstances, I recently found myself at a menu tasting for a soon to open Polish food truck called Halinka's Polish Eatery . I'm about 99% sure I was the only person in attendance who wasn't already personally known to the owner/chef, Magda, but it was a good time. Got to meet some nice folks and eat free food, but then I had to give feedback in public in front of other people, so that kind of sucked. Like, really fucking sucked. Pretty sure my face my was red the entire time. This is the price we pay for food sometimes. Our first course was a cabbage and mushroom pierogi with a side of beets. Apparently when the food truck gets going, the pierogis will be steamed, then finished either on a grill or in a skillet with some butter. However, due to facility constraints where we were trying the dishes, Magda had to serve them just steamed. Anyway, to the food: the cabbage and mushroom pierogis were fucking amazing. There was a tremendous depth ...

Stream recap: pseudo-bougie dinner party

 This past Sunday (1/18/2025) was my second cooking stream of the New Generation of ODG Cooking Streams. When I was trying to come up with a "theme" for the afternoon, I was thinking a lot about those fancy-ass restaurants where they serve you three bites of food on a fucking plate five or six times and, even though you're somehow full, it still doesn't seem to quite justify spending five million dollars just to eat there for two hours while everyone around you looks at you condescendingly because you didn't wear a goddamn tie. Fuck those people. Anyway, I decided I wanted to figure out a way to do that kind of fun, small plate, presentation-centric food at the house without having to break the bank. My first course, as a direct theft from The Bear , a show I absolutely love, was the mirepoix broth. I started the stream by starting a light stock, which means you don't roast the bones beforehand, using some pork and beef bones. For the mirepoix broth, I finely ...