Saffron Risotto with Skate & Octopus
This is after a recipe from Francois Geurds' new cookbook. It didn't turn out quite right. I think the rice I used was too old and/or my fish stock wasn't that good. And I was struggling with the skate, I never prepared skate before and I haven't eaten it that often either. I should have looked for proper instructions on the internet, but I didn't. Hehe, no worries, it taste fine. Actually, it tasted nice enough to want to prepare it again.
What would I do different next time (and yes, there will be a next time!):
* I always have issues when using fish stock, that's why I made my own fish stock this time and still I didn't like the result in the risotto. So next time: chicken stock!
* skin the octopus before simmering.
* maybe poach or steam the skate, I'm the only dutch girl who doesn't particularly like panfried fish.
* in that case: make a separate butter/lime/caper sauce. The lime was very nice.
* buy "fresh" risotto rice. I only had an old bag that smelled like carton.
* maybe add some vinegar to the onion-stock in which I poached the octopus? Or maybe not, I'm not sure. And decide whether the panfried onions for the onion stock should be caramalized and brown (like I did this time) or not.
(Update: see my second, much better attempt: here)
RECIPE
(for 2)
The octopus
Freeze your octopus, then defrost it, instead of banging it a hundred times over the pavement like they do around the Mediterranean. (I seperated the arms before freezing them. Maybe I should have kept it whole? Would it make a difference? Don’t know)
Make an onionstock: panfry 3 onions in some oil or butter, add 750ml water, simmer for half an hour, sieve. (I browned the onions, they probably should have stayed lightly coloured)
In this stock you gently simmer the octopus for about an hour.
The risotto
Prepare a pot of simmering fish stock, or what I will use next time: chickenstock. About a liter will do. Add a pinch of saffron. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in saucepan, then sauté the rice until translucent in about 3 minutes. (no shallot in this recipe) Add a glas of dry white wine, stirr until the rice has absorbed most of wine. Add one ladle of stock to rice, wait for the stock to be absorbed before adding another laddle. Cook until rice is al dente. This will take about 20-30 minutes.
Note: there was a sprig of rosemary in the photo, not in the recipe.
The skate
Rinse the wings of skate in icewater, pat dry thoroughly. Gently panfry over medium heat in butter for about 2 minutes each side, depending on the size of your skate.
This is were I struggled, the recipe asked for skate wings on the bone and I couldn’t figure out when to take out the bones. Probably not when it’s on top of your risotto, hehe. The photo accompanying the recipe showed a nice square fillet of fish with no bones. My confusion probably started because I had 2 tiny little wing skates, hardly suitable for filleting! Better to get a large skate next time, especially if you want it to look pretty.
But in this case I was happy I prepared it on the bone, so that way it was nice and succulent. And I know what to do next time. What I should have done is looked for these youtube-clips beforehand, not after:
To understand the anatomy, watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M28rl2UK5og
To see the filleting and cooking, watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Vo60dwh_k
The sauce
After panfrying, transfer the skate to a warm plate, covering with tinfoil. Add a tablespoon or two of finely chopped shallots to the pan, then add a few capers and the juice of a lime to your taste.
Assembling
Spoon some risotto on a plate, add the skate, add the octopus, add the sauce, garnish with some chopped chives.
See my second, much better attempt: here