Risotto Parmigiana with Poached Prawns

I love how fancy the name of this recipe is. It makes it sound like something you'd order in a restaurant you can't really afford to be in but one of your friends decided to have their birthday party there so you really had no choice.

The great truth about this recipe is that it's easy. It does take some time, and there are a few extra steps most people now a days aren't usually willing to take, but that's the difference between food you can eat and food you want with a fiery passion. It's true: extra steps= fiery passion.

On to the recipe:

Poached Prawns

Make a Court Boillion

• Cut celery, carrots and onions into a small dice (you want about twice as much onion as you have of each carrot and celery)
• Add that to a pot with a bay leaf, crushed black pepper corns, parsley stems and lemon juice or white wine.
• Cover with cold water, put on the stove and bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and continue to simmer for 20-30 minutes.
• Once finished simmering, strain out the liquid and reserve, throw away the vegetables
• Put the liquid back into the pot and bring to a boil
  

Prepare the Prawns

Prawns are really just jumbo shrimp, for the best result buy them from the freshest source possible, and de-vien/shell them at home. This only takes a few moments and the flavor of the shrimp isn't lost with all of the salt of normal packaged shrimp. Throw the shells into the Court Boillion.

Have an ice bath ready (mix cold water with a hand full of ice cubes in a bowl).

Blanch the Prawns

• When the Court Boillion has come to a boil once more, lower the shrimp into the liquid and poach for 3 minutes.
• Be sure not to put too many shrimp in at once. You don't want them to be crowded and too many would cool the temperature of the Court Boillion.
• Immediately once the 3 minutes is up plunge the shrimp into the ice bath and leave them there until they are fully cooled.
  
• Once cooled dry and then season the shrimp with salt and pepper

Risotto

• 1 medium onion- Diced
• 1/4 Parsley- Chopped
• 4-5 Button Mushrooms-Diced
• 2-3 Crimini Mushrooms-Diced
• 1 oz Butter
• 0.5 fl oz. Vegetable Oil
• 0.5 lbs (2 1/8 cup) Italian Arbonio rice
• 1 qt Stock (Chicken or Vegetable)
• 2 oz Parmesan Cheese- Grated
• Salt-to taste

• Heat up the stock, if you don't have any you can always use a buillion cube dissolved into 1qt hot water.
• Heat the butter and oil in a LARGE saute pan, add the onion and saute beginning to soften. Do not brown. Add the mushrooms and cook until they reduce by 1/2 in volume.
  
• Add the rice and saute until well coated with fat
• Using a small ladle or 1/4 measuring cup, add 1 ladle of stock to the rice. Stir the rice over medium heat until the stock is absorbed and the rice is almost dry.
• Add another ladle of stock and repeat. Do not add more than one ladleful at a time.
• Stop adding stock when the rice is tender but still firm. It will be very moist and cream, but not runny. This can take a while, but its worth it, just keep adding the stock a little at a time, but don't allow the rice to get dry. Add the chopped parsley when the rice is almost ready.
  
• Remove from the heat and stir in 3 oz butter and the Parmesan cheese. Salt to taste.

Assemble

• Heat up the shrimp in a pan, just to warm them through.
• Serve the Risotto in a bowl with the shrimp laid on top and a bit of parsley to make it look fancy, or you could just eat it out of the pan.