[TND] 2.18 Balsamic Garlic Pork and Mushroom Risotto

I refined the balsamic garlic pork I did a while back for this week, since I thought it pair nicely with the creaminess of the risotto. I roasted a healthy amount of garlic, two or three heads worth (by the way, you can buy fresh peeled garlic at whole foods, it speeds up the process immensely and the markup isn't that substantial once you account for the peelings), and put it in a gallon ziploc bag with a cup or two of balsamic vinegar. I added pepper and thyme and a bit of salt, and then mushed everything together until I had loose balsamic garlic paste. Pork chops were on sale, so I used them instead of the pork loin. I put them in the bag, smooshed it around to coat everything, and let them marinate a bit while I got the risotto prepped and started, occasionally flipping the bag. After I transferred them to sheet pans, I snipped the bottom of the bag and distributed the paste over them before roasting them at about 450 for 10-12 min. The real change was topping them with creme fraiche, which turned into an amazing sauce. I think you could put creme fraiche on pretty much anything and it would make it better, though.

Mushroom risotto is something I'll make for a weeknight dinner occasionally, though I usually just use dried mushrooms. This was greatly improved by adding a variety of fresh mushrooms. I was a bit intimidated by the per pound price of fresh shitakes, oysters and enoki, but turns out mushrooms aren't very dense, and you get a good amount of mushroom for pretty cheap. I soaked dried mushrooms (a variety, from trader joe's, or trapper john's, as my mom calls it), and used the soaking liquid (strained) as the broth for the risotto. Every time I make risotto I think "wow, this ratio of wine:rice:stock is really easy to remember" and then promptly forget it. I think it's threes. 1/3 for wine and 3x for stock, so one cup of rice needs a third a cup of wine and three cups of stock. I think I usually need more stock, so maybe it's fours. Between three and four will work. Probably. Warm stock, shallots and onions, not just onions, though now I'm thinking about a risotto involving leeks. Since they're delicious. I really like making risottos, it's fun to watch it come together slowly. Fresh mushrooms go in towards the end, along with a dollop of creme fraiche, lots of thyme (fresh or good quality dried), a handful of parmesan, salt 'til it tastes good, and pepper.