#10: wine x food pair | XINOMAVRO X UMAMILICIOUS LEFTOVER TURKEY RISOTTO 🍚
This is a perfect one to use up any leftover roast meats that are knocking about, and a beaut of a pair with a (somewhat) exotic Greek wine. Grab it while it's cheap, and before the price rocks up 📈
I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!
I’ve been busy building this new branch to Dosage, which I hope you like. This was meant to go live in the new year, but I HAD to bring it up first since we’re in the festive season. If you’ve had any roast poultry over the holidays and are done with curries, pies or sandwiches - I bring you this little number that’s not too much of a faff to whip up, but will impress!
The wine 🍷
I’ve gone a little off the beaten track to introduce you to something new over these lazy few months. We’re going to Greece, where if you’ve been lucky enough to holiday you’ve had the joy of their exotic, vibrant wines. I’ve only dabbled in a few over the last year, but all of them have been jazzy, fun and memorable.
Xinomavro is an indigenous grape to Greece, that’s generally grown in the Macedonia region of Greece (not to be mixed up with the country). North of the country, it’s toasty and by the mediterranean here so you’ll expect to get some very ripe, vibrant fruits without it being too tannic.
Greece is getting more of a reputation for high quality, unique wines for a steal of the price that you’d expect in a French or Italian equivalent. You’re welcome for the cost savings!
My pick: Thymiopolous Xinomavro, Majestic Wines, £12.
The grub 🍟
As I’m back in Dublin for Christmas, this came born out of wanting to use up everything in the fridge and not wanting to put my nose outside the door on a frightfully cold day. It’s a basic mushroom risotto with a few twists and turns, which turned out to be really comforting, rich and tasty. Cooked mushrooms are oozing with those savoury umami flavours, but really ramp up with a splash of miso and soy sauce in as well. I was using up leftover chicken for this recipe, but it’s perfect to use up anything pre-roast from Christmas if you’re looking for newer ideas!
Risotto is one of those foods that appears to be so overcomplicated and left for a restaurant to be eaten. But once you’ve learnt how to cook it properly, like for me - I was enchanted by how logical and foolproof it can be. Also, risotto does have some basic rules - but feel free to break them to try out different flavours and ingredients. I’ve written up what I’ve done which is by NO MEANS how they like it served above Milan, but trust your creativity!
Why they go well together 🧪
Wine pairings are by no means definitive or scientific, which makes them a challenge to combine with the right food. I personally love the challenge, and love flicking through recipe books thinking of what white or red will go with which. But a few pointers on why I’ve gone for this combination in particular.
Risotto leads to a creamy, silky texture when it’s cooked correctly which needs something not too heavy to mask over that flavour. This particular dish is quite rich in umami and saltiness, so it’s going to need a wine that isn’t too sharp to make sure that it balances things well. With poultry, you haven’t got a huge amount of fat to try and soften with a wine as well - so something like a Cabernet Sauvignon would be quite a lot (not to judge that this is something that CAN’T work, everyone’s taste buds and preferences are different!)
Risotto comes from North Italy, where the likes of a Barolo would go beautifully and fit in with the local combos. But Barolo is generally quite expensive and can be fiery, so I’ve tried to jump to something with a similar complexity - but at a lower price point, and a little more youthful and fruity. I hope you enjoy!
This recipe does call for white wine, which you can of course enjoy this with - a full bodied Chardonnay from the Macon or a Chenin Blanc would go well here, or grab any small bottle/can of wine you can to chuck in and allow to simmer down. Making a risotto without white wine can be quite a sad experience which I don’t particularly recommend - the flavours are never quite the same. The other alternative to cooking with wine comes from Queen Nigella, who recommends putting in a shot or two of vermouth in lieu of a glass of wine. Which has always worked really well when I’ve tried it out myself!
The Recipe 👨🍳
Sadly I forgot to take a picture of this recipe, but expect ones for the rest! I know following a recipe without pics isn’t the most enticing, but trust me and suspend disbelief please. This serves about 2 with an extra leftover serving, and should take about an hour end to end without needing to rush it. And only two pots! One that’s fairly large bordering on your biggest, and the second that’s enough to cook pasta in comfortably (not that you are, but to hold stock).
What you’ll need:
250g risotto rice (use whatever you can grab or is in your cubby)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, or a 25 g stick of butter (if you’re feeling luxe, add the two!)
Enough stock to make 1.2 litres (Chicken or veg in any form is fine)
150g mushrooms (thereabouts, you can add a few different types in here), chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
250 mL white wine - any you have on the go, or a can/small bottle will do
A few sprigs of thyme (you could also use dried, or oregano instead here) - and keep a bit for garnish.
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
Half a teaspoon of miso paste
Leftover or cooked poultry (I fried up a chicken breast for this recipe, but it can be in any form you need really)
25g good quality parmesan cheese, freshly grated.
What you gotta do:
In the larger pan, heat up the butter/oil/hybrid over a medium heat and when it’s up to temperature, add the onion. They should be gently sizzling, and you should be stirring regularly until they become glossy and transparent. While you’re at it, get your stock ready in the other pot on a low simmer.
Add in the mushrooms, and allow them to seal in the oil and let them shrink down just a tiny bit - maybe a minute or two, as we don’t want them too overcooked. Then, add in your garlic, herbs, miso and soy sauce. This should be smelling amazing, but make sure that the heat is relatively low so nothing gets zapped up too quickly. Season generously with pepper, and a pinch of salt here - the soy and miso are going to bring the saltiness up, remember.
Now, here’s where you need to really pay attention to make an excellent risotto: bring the temperature up on your stock pot until it’s nicely simmering, but not quite boiling on a medium-high heat. To your sauteed veggies, add the rice, and bring the temperature up a little bit. The mixture should be getting dry, which is exactly what you want! Make sure to stir constantly at this stage, and the aim is to get the rice lightly toasting with the ingredients.
Once the rice has toasted gently after a few minutes, add in the cooked meat if you’re adding it in, and then the wine. This should be bubbling nicely, and the idea now is to keep the risotto stirring regularly - if not constantly until you’re done at this stage. The wine should be starting to sink into the risotto gradually, and you’ll go from the wine to more of a milk which then starts to become a rich cream, rice pudding consistency.
Then, it’s time to start adding your stock, ladle by ladle from your smaller pot into the bigger vat. Stir in each bit of stock that you’re adding until it gets to that creamy texture again - that’s what you want the end game to be, but the rice still has to cook and that’s what you need to be patient and let happen at this stage.
Each stock addition should take about 3-4 minutes to reduce down, and it might get a little faster towards the end. Feel free to adjust the temperature to keep it nicely bubbling - we’re not going for a boil here. Once you’ve done about 4 stages of this, start to taste the rice to see if it’s cooked - you want a very slight bite to it at the end, so once you’re about 80% there (it’s quite subjective), slow the temperature down and start adding smaller portions of stock to get it to the right balance, along with that really lovely creaminess.
And at this stage, you’re done! Add half of your parmesan to the finished product, and the other half is for garnish and serving.
Bish Bash Bosh!
Thanks for getting to the end of pairing and recipe #1, where there’s many more to come. I love hearing feedback or suggestions, so feel free to pop them in the comments below!