This past week we were in the mood of more warm comfort food, and that was exactly what we got when we made a pot of Mushroom and Sweet Potato Risotto. Once again, Italy’s creme rice dish, showed its muscle and nutty flavors.  We love Risotto, and have no problem enjoying it for days or weeks on end. Once again, I must stress that our way to make the risotto work for a Sabbath meal entails a few extra steps.

Risotto Recipe:
2 tsp of olive oil
3 onions diced
16 oz of sliced mushrooms
2 large sweet potatoes cubed – roasted in the oven
4 or 5 garlic cloves
2 tsp of olive oil
2 cups of Arborio rice
1 cup of white wine
5 cups of chicken/vegetable stock
2 cups of Rice Dream before reheating (if the stock is all used up)

1. Peel, cube, and cook the sweet potato, either by roasting them in an oven at 400 degrees, or by sweating them in a separate pan till they are soft.
2. Saute onions in the risotto pot until they are browned. Then add 1 pound of brown mushrooms and start to sweat them until they start to release their brown juice.
3. Then add the crushed cloves of garlic until they melt and meld into the onions and mushrooms.
4. Then remove the onions and mushrooms and place to the side.
5. Add some more oil to the risotto pot and wait till it heats
6. Add the Arborio rice to the heated oil and wait till you start to smell the rice toast slightly
7. Then starts the dance of hydration to dry to hydration to dry and – well you get the point.
   1. Once the rice is well coated with the oil and just starting to toast, add in the one cup of white wine
   2. Add broth from the pot on the stove, one cup at a time,
   3. Continue to do so until the rice is just starting to get tender, do not go further.
8. Once you turn off the heat, add back in the mushrooms, onions, and sweet potatoes. We do this at the end, to make sure the rice gets all the attention it needs, thereby assuring the fact that the rice, and only the rice, is being targeted by the warm liquid.
9. Let the pots cool and place both the leftover liquid and the risotto in the refrigerator. The next day, when it is time to warm up the risotto, place cups of the liquid, or rice milk if you have no more liquid, until the rice does not accept any more liquid. This works because the pot is cold, and the liquid is simply being absorbed by the starch.
10. Place the closed/sealed risotto pot into the oven, set at 240 degrees, and let it stay there for at least 1 1/2 hour, but not much more.

To go along with the risotto my wife made her fantastic lemon roasted chicken, which we had with some fresh green salad. The combination worked out great, while the wine I chose fine. I wanted to try the Sol Del Chile again, as I had a bottle around, and I wanted to know where the bottle was heading. The bottle is clearly peaking or a bit behind, so drink up! Also, I tried a bit of the 2008 Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc that I thought was bad, but turned out to be a bit better than I first thought, though not that much more improved.

Finally, we had Cholent on Saturday with leftovers of the Sol de Chile and it was OK, but the cholent was better. The wine started off a bit too dirt forward, but like the last time, it got better with more air, so that the fruit could show itself, while melding with the dirt and coffee.

The wine note follows below:

2008 Sol Del Chile Cabernet Sauvignon – Score: B+
The nose on this bright dark ruby colored wine is filled with mounds of loamy dirt, bramble, raspberry, red cherry, currant, light oak, vanilla, and coffee. As it opens the wine shows dark cherry, black currant, and much more loamy dirt. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine has currant, dark cherry, loamy dirt, raspberry, a hint of black berry, along with lovely tannins that create a full and mouth coating mouth. The mid palate is balanced with loamy dirt, nice tannin, oak, and nice acid. The finish is long with dark cherry, dirt, oak, currant, and coffee, with nice tannin, acid, loamy dirt, and dark cherry lingering.