Risotto, u confound me...

it all seems so simple - melt butter, sautee onions until translucent, add rice for 2-3 mins until faintly toasty, add wine until evaporated, then add heated stock, 1 cup at a time, letting each cup get completely absorbed before adding the next. stir constantly. stop when risotto is creamy but still al dente, or "toothy" in the middle of the grain.

this should leave you with risotto - creamy, saucy rice basically. well, it does, but damn, doing it is waaaaay different than doing it well! i've tried dozens of times and am only now getting close to a good risotto.

first and foremost, use a wide sautee pan - i tried like 10 times with a deep stock pot before finally realizing that was not the way to go. (ok, recipe's often don't specify the cooking vessel, and when they do, i often don't recognize which is which. i had to see someone making it on a cooking show before realizing my mistake. lame. not at all suprising.) second, be patient and keep stirring. trying to speed things along does not a good risotto make.

anyways, these days i'm fairly happy and have become unconfounded. here's the mise en place and the finished product: musroom risotto and orange-rosemary grilled lamb chops.