risotto Archives - Hungry Travelers

risotto

Green chile’s culinary apotheosis at Bishop’s Lodge

Posted on May 26, 2023May 15, 2023 by Pat and David

It might be a relative newcomer to the Santa Fe scene, but Bishop's Lodge (1297 Bishops Lodge Road, Santa Fe, 505-390-323; aubergeresorts.com/bishopslodge) became one of our go-to spots in the city. Established in 2021, the resort is just four miles north of the Santa Fe Plaza, yet feels like a stylish oasis in the mountain desert. Lit by late-day sun and backed up by the Sangre de Cristo mountains and the impressive cumulus clouds that coalesce above them, the resort projects an iconic presence at the crest of a small hill. We found ourselves gravitating to the resort's lounge and restaurant, SkyFire, for its tranquility and for its striking sunset views. During our stay in Santa Fe, the great Nacha Mendez (nachamendez.com/events) was playing the...Read More

Enjoying the culinary versatility of green chile

Posted on January 27, 2023May 15, 2023 by Pat

At home, we make a pretty traditional version of green chile cooked with onion, garlic, a little ground beef, and freshly crushed cumin and coriander seed. (We also add puréed tomatillos, but that's another story.) It's a staple of our diet, served over rice and topped with a bit of sour cream to soothe the heat. Or we spoon the sauce over eggs and tortillas as a verdant variation of huevos rancheros. My last visit to Santa Fe proved that green chiles are much more versatile. They can star equally in both casual and fine dining. The green chile cheeseburger, for example, has become an icon of New Mexican cuisine. The state tourism office modestly admits that it didn't invent the hamburger sandwich. (That honor...Read More

In Milan, a little wealth helps make rich risotto

Posted on March 13, 2021March 13, 2021 by Pat and David

Our experience with Milan is a little like Stanley Tucci's before he started shooting the Searching for Italy series now running on CNN. It was always a place we admired from afar and but visited mostly when we were changing trains or planes. For many years, Alitalia had direct flights between Boston and Milan, so we often flew through Malpensa when we were visiting northern Italy. As Tucci observed, the first thing that hit us about Milan is the pace. The city has a hurry-scurry that almost makes Manhattan feel laid-back. That's probably because the Milanese are so busy making money. The city is home to the Italian stock market, the furniture industry, and to Italian fashion and design. It helps to have all that...Read More

Risotto and Giotto, Padua’s bitter and sweet

Posted on December 23, 2019December 20, 2019 by Pat and David

The “sweet” spot of the Venetian city of Padua (or Padova, as the Italians have it) is the Scrovegni Chapel (cappelladegliscrovegni.it). Its walls and ceilings hold the masterpiece fresco cycle painted 1303–05 by Giotto di Bondone, the late medieval Florentine painter who invented the Renaissance almost single-handedly. Neither of us had ever seen the frescoes in person, and we built part of October's Italy trip around a couple of days in Padua and our reserved 15-minute time slot in the chapel. After more than 700 years and a couple of post-earthquake restorations, the paintings are in startlingly good condition. The strict limitations on visitation are designed to keep temperature and humidity stable. The image at the top of this post is the Last Judgment. Let's...Read More

Lunch with class and style on Trieste’s Piazza della Borsa

Posted on December 19, 2019December 18, 2019 by Pat and David

Certain dishes taste their best in special surroundings—prosecco and potato chips on Venice's Piazza San Marco, for example. Our latest pairing of plate and place is pumpkin and sausage risotto on the glorious Piazza della Borsa in Trieste. In case you don't know the city, it's just barely in Italy, sitting on the Slovenian border a few kilometers from Croatia. In fact, it's only been Italian since 1919. For hundreds of years, it was the chief shipping port for the Austrian empire. Most significantly, it was the chief importer of coffee for all of Mitteleuropa. Without Trieste, there would be no such thing as “Vienna roast.” To this day, its citizens drink nearly twice as much coffee as the average Italian. But we digress. The...Read More

The sheer joy of Hadley asparagus

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Pat and David

Slicing north to south through western Massachusetts, the Connecticut River Valley is some of the richest farmland in northeastern North America. We like to have an excuse to drive 90 miles west from our home in Cambridge at selected moments in the growing season. And as far as we're concerned, the agricultural season begins at the opening letter of the alphabet. “A” is for Asparagus, proudly priapic. When we saw the sign above at North Hadley Sugar Shack (181 River Drive/Route 47, Hadley, MA; 413-585-8820, northhadleysugarshack.com), we couldn't help but smile. Hadley was famous for asparagus from the 1920s until the Fusarium blight struck in the 1970s, decimating the 50-ton annual production from Hadley and adjacent river towns of Hatfield, Sunderland, and Whatley. Farmers fought...Read More

Realizing a 150-year dream: Ravine Vineyard Estate

Posted on August 14, 2017February 28, 2018 by Pat and David

Norma Jean Lowery Harber's family has farmed the 34 acres of Ravine Vineyard Estate (ravinevineyard.com) in St. Davids since 1867. Indeed, her great-grandfather planted the Niagara region's first commercial vineyard here in 1869 and the land was in orchards for many decades. Norma Jean and her husband Blair Harber bought the farm from the rest of the family in 2004. They set about creating organic vineyards and an organic winery. Norma Jean's father had grown wine grapes, and the couple replanted vineyards to focus on the three classic Bordeaux reds (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc) along with Chardonnay, Riesling, and small amounts of Gewürtztraminer. The wines are reason enough reason to visit Ravine. As luck had it, we missed the tasting room hours. But...Read More

Pouilly-Fumé complements asparagus-prosciutto risotto

Posted on May 25, 2017June 6, 2020 by Pat and David

We sang the praises of Sancerre a few weeks ago, lauding its round fruit combined with tart minerality. We are continuing to welcome the spring and summer seasons with other Loire Valley wines. Sancerre's sister Sauvignon Blanc wine, Pouilly-Fumé, certainly has a strong family resemblance. With a bit flintier taste than Sancerre and a haunting smokiness, Pouilly-Fumé pairs wonderfully with asparagus. We had a couple of bottles of Saget La Perrière 2013 on hand when we acquired up a nice bundle of just-picked asparagus from the Connecticut River farms in Hadley, Massachusetts. We immediately thought of our favorite risotto treatment for the vegetable. That recipe was created for Pinot Grigio, so it uses San Daniele prosciutto and Grana Padana cheese. It's easy to adapt the...Read More

Lexus Gran Fondo speeds onto Cape Cod

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Pat and David

“Think of it as a party on wheels,” said Chatham Bars Inn general manager John Speers. He was speaking over cocktails on the inn's wrap-around front porch. “Our kind of gran fondo always incorporates food and wine.” The Lexus Gran Fondo launched in high style on Memorial Day weekend. The cycling and gastronomic events all centered on the historic inn at the elbow of Cape Cod. The luxury car brand has long supported other cycling events. But Lexus pulled out all the stops for this first Gran Fondo under the company name. A team of Lexus-affiliated professional riders led the 100-mile ride on Saturday from the XV Beacon (xvbeacon.com) hotel in Boston to the Chatham Bars Inn (chathambarsinn.com). Less ambitious riders could opt for 50-mile...Read More

Hearty Trentino dishes complement the wines

Posted on June 10, 2016June 10, 2016 by David

If you're going to spend all morning tasting 128 wines, you really need some hearty food to follow up. The Trento cuisine is a fascinating blend of Italian and Germanic foodways, and it's well suited to the regional wines. After we sampled our way through the wines, most of us had absorbed enough alcohol, even without swallowing, that we really needed a good meal. The Trentino wine consortium made sure we got it! We started with a glass of light white wine made from the Incrocio Manzoni Bianco grape. It's part of a group named for professor Luigi Manzoni (1888-1968), who experimented with crossing a number of grapes during the 1920s and 1930s at Italy's oldest school of oenology in Conegliano, north of Venice. The...Read More