Scared of Risotto?

I was...until yesterday. I tried it in a restaurant once, with some cut of steak (and I'm sure a glass or three of Cab), and was hooked. It had this cheesy, gooey, creamy consistency that had a huge comfort food vibe, and I vowed to try it myself one day. That is, until I learned how much time and effort went into it - 20 straight minutes of stirring? No thanks.

The other day Brandon made a rare dinner request, and of all things, it was for Risotto. My first reaction was actually relief that he took some pressure off me (trying to come up with creative things to make every night gets tough after a while); but then I thought, Okay, bring it on! I can do this! The next day, I scanned a few online recipes to get an idea of how I was going to tackle the project, and went to New Seasons armed with my list. Here's what I ended up with:
* Arborio rice (about 2 cups)
* 1 large Leek
* 1 medium Fennel bulb (use half, or more if you like)
* 1 lemon
* Green onions (use for garnish)
* Dry white wine (I got an inexpensive Eola Hills Chardonnay) - about 1.5 cups
Things required which I already had on hand:
* Olive oil
* Salted butter
* Chicken stock (will need 5 cups)
* Parmesan cheese (to sprinkle on top after)
* Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper

Heat about 1-2 T each olive oil and butter in the pot. After butter melts, add the chopped leek and fennel. When those are softened, add rice and coat well with the fats & veggie mixture. Then add the wine, stirring until it's absorbed. At this point, you have to add chicken stock, a little at a time. Add only a couple ladlefulls at a time, stirring constantly! When each addition of stock has been mostly absorbed, add a couple more. Remember to keep track of how much stock you're adding (I really had more than 5 cups of stock to use, so it wasn't a perfect measure). But you can actually tell when the risotto is close to being done, as the rice develops a cheesy stringiness (amazingly, since there is no cheese in it up to this point). About 5-10 minutes before it's done, squeeze about a half of a lemon's juice into the mix, and add your salt and pepper to taste.

When plating up, sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan and sliced green onions on top. Yum!

A few notes for next time:
1. Add more salt than you'd expect
2. Try adding a little garlic
3. Half a lemon is more than enough
4. Parmesan definitely finishes it off - but Asiago might be better (it's tangier)
5. Serve with a white that isn't quite as dry as the Chardonnay used in the recipe - perhaps a Pinot Gris or even Saugignon Blanc
6. This was eaten with leftover pork sirloin roast I made in the slow cooker a couple days ago - HIGHLY recommended. I also made oven roasted broccoli with Parmesan, but this might be good with peas instead (the sweetness of the peas should be a good offset to the lemon in the risotto)