Lemon Portabella Risotto

I came across the book ' Cooking for Mr Latte' by Amanda Hesser and I have not been able to put it down. In case you don't know who Amanda is, she has worked as a columnist at the New York Times as a food reporter and is a co founder to the food52 website, which I adore. Her engaging story chronicles the courtship of her then boyfriend now husband, Tad Friend.

I love a story that is told through recipes. I never realized how much I love this type of storytelling until recently when I picked up Amanda's book and yet again I am pulled right into the story.

This recipe for risotto was adapted from her book. Amanda writes a scene about making dinner with a friend and teaching her basic culinary skills. Amanda's culinary genius is rubbing off on the friend as evidenced by this recipe. The two gals thought up this recipe on the spot. I am glad they did. It is wonderfully good and fairly simple to make. If I didn't know better, I would have never known that risotto can be difficult to make. This recipe would never let you in on that secret. I have watched a video of Amanda making risotto, and learned a few tricks to making this recipe turn out delicious. First, saute the rice in butter and oil until the rice has turned translucent. Then begin adding the chicken stock slowly and stirring, stirring, stirring! In no time at all you will have a killer risotto. This goes well with fish, chicken and pork. Or just a bowl by itself.

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup Arborio rice, or medium grain white rice
4 cups or 1 32oz box of good chicken stock
Zest of one lemon, preferably organic
3 oz of creme fraiche
1/4 cup of fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of baby portabellas- chop bite size
Sea salt

In a 4 quart pot, melt the oil and butter. Add the rice and cook until rice has turned translucent, 2 to 4 minutes. Begin adding the stock to the rice slowly and stir. Pour in more broth when the previous liquid has been absorbed.When two cups of stock has been added, stir in half the lemon zest. Add the rest of stock slowly and stir. When liquid is about absorbed, add the rest of the lemon zest, creme fraiche, mushrooms and the cheese. Season with salt. The risotto should be creamy.