Mike's LawFare Kitchen

Spring Risotto & Chicken Broth

Homemade broth is something I always have in the freezer and make it in big batches. It’s the basis of so many recipes and using something homemade always has the most flavor.

There are a ton of recipes out there on how to make broth, but this is what works well in our house and involves using scraps that would otherwise go in the trash.

We keep a 1 gallon ziploc in the freezer that has come to be known as the “Stock Bag” and it’s where we keep the veggie scraps and parmigiano ends that we eventually want to use to make broth.

Some of the veggies that we add are carrots (peels/slices/ends), ends of onions and shallots, leeks, celery, parsley and fennel. Other scraps like kale, broccoli etc wouldn’t give off a nice flavor, so try to stick to the ones mentioned above. We also add in end the ends of our parmigiano when there’s about a half inch left of cheese on the rind.

Once the bag in the freezer is full, we make broth!

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon bag of veggie scraps from the freezer

• 2 lbs of chicken backs. You can use other meat here like chicken wings or even a whole chicken, but we’re able to get chicken backs very cheaply from the butcher and they have a nice amount of meat and fat on them which you need for flavor.

• Kosher salt

• Whole black peppercorns

Directions:

1. Add everything to a stock pot and cover with water. Add about 1tsp or so of peppercorns and a bit of salt. Put on medium heat. Once the water starts to boil, reduce the heat to a light simmer. Now just wait for it to reduce about ¾ to halfway. You can skim off anything that comes to the top, but try to keep the fat as that’s where a lot of the flavor lies.

2. Once reduced and you’re happy with the amount of salt and flavor, let it cool until it’s still warm, but not hot. Then strain through a fine sieve or cheesecloth lined strainer into storage containers.

3. Once cooled completely, freeze and pull out as needed for soups, risotto, etc.

Spring Risotto

Now that you have some homemade broth, you’re ready to make some risotto. This one has a beautiful bright green color and goes great as a side dish or a main.

Ingredients:

• 11/2 cups arborio rice

• 1 small white onion, diced

• 1 garlic clove

• ½ cup dry white wine

• ¾ cup parmigiano

• 4 cups heated chicken broth + ¼ cup for the puree (or veggie broth if you prefer)

• A couple handfuls of mixed spinach and herbs - This could be a mix of things like spinach, mint, sorrel, green onion, parsley. I used what was growing in the backyard. Proportionately look for a higher amount of spinach to herbs.

• Lemon zest and mint to garnish

Directions:

Step 1: Blanch your greens. This preserves the bright green color. To do this, boil some water, and drop them in for just about 30 seconds or so. Scoop them out and quickly stop the cooking process by dropping them in ice water. Once cool, squeeze out the excess water and blend them with a little bit of broth and a clove of garlic. Set this aside.

Step 2: Heat up your 4 cups of broth in a sauce pan and keep warm.

Step 3: Heat a large pan over a medium flame and add olive oil. Once hot, add your onion and saute until translucent.

Step 4: Add the rice and saute in the oil and onion for a minute or so before adding in your white wine. From here, you’re going to add in the warm broth by the ladleful while continuing to stir. The rice will absorb the liquid as it cooks.

Step 5: When it’s almost done (no crunch in the rice, and creating a creamy texture) mix in your green puree, parm and any additional broth that’s needed. You want it to be nice and creamy so don’t be afraid to add a little extra.

Step 6: Plate immediately and serve with a bit of lemon zest and some mint leaves or herb of choice to garnish. This would go so nicely as side to either meat like lamb or fish. Or it’s delicious on its own with a crisp white wine.