Champagne: The Spirit of Celebration

Chronicle Books has always has an affinity for design. One of their most beautiful books, in my opinion, is their book on champagne by Sara Slavin and Karl Petzke.

Champagne: The Spirit of Celebration is one heavy paper with lovely striped endpapers. There is a grand mix of vintage images and crisp modern photos. The recipes form a handful of vibrant, sensuous dishes for any table. It is a rare combination, a handsomely bound book that is also a grand little cookbook.

As you can tell, I’m a big fan of risotto as a festive entrée. This is one of my all-time favorite recipes. I have gone back to it year after year and it always impresses.

Champagne Risotto with Wild Mushrooms

4 cups beef broth
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 pound wild mushrooms (morel, shiitake, etc.), stemmed and sliced
2 tablespoons finely minced shallots
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 1/4 cup champagne
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Heat broth to a simmer and let simmer until later. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. When the butter begins to foam, add the mushrooms and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Place the remaining butter in a large heavy-bottomed sauce pan and sauté the shallots until soft, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir for 1 minute to coat with the butter-shallot mixture. Add 1 cap of the champagne, reserving 1/4 cup. Stir until champagne is completely absorbed.

Begin to add simmering broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently, but waiting until the broth is absorbed before adding more. After 18 to 20 minutes the rice should be tender but still firm. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup of champagne, mushrooms, half and half, cheese, and parsley. Serve immediately.

There are several wonderful histories of champagne. Patrick Forbes’ Champagne: The Wine, The Land and The People is an older book, but one of the best I have ever read on the history of both the drink and those who make it.



For this eve of a New Year, raise a glass of champagne or a bowl of risotto and toast the year to come.

Caviar

"Charlie Chaplin has sold a 1,000-word excerpt from
his autobiography to the soviet newspaper
Izvestia for nine pounds of caviar."

New York Times, September 22, 1964

Susan Friedland has a broad and bold take on Caviar. Her first book was about Ribs, and frankly, I simply adore a girl who loves her ribs and caviar.

While her book features a basic history of caviar, her recipes feature caviar as an ingredient as well as an expensive garnish. She includes several recipes for caviar substitute, many Russian, as she tells us while the Russians love caviar, they also know how to fake it. She features several types of roe in her recipes, including the dried mullet roe botarga.

As the holidays are winding down, I find there is nothing more comforting than a lovely risotto.

Caviar Risotto

1 cup bottled clam juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4-5 tablespoons minced onions
1 1/2 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup aquavit, dry vermouth, or dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons salmon caviar

1. In a saucepan. Mix the clam juice and 4 cups of water and bring to a simmer.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and sauté the onion slowly in it, stirring from time to time. The onion should be soft but not browned.
3. Add the rice and stir to coat with butter and onion. Raise the heat and pour in the aquavit or wine. Boil off the alcohol, stirring constantly.
4. Lower the heat, add 1 cup of the simmering liquid, and keep stirring until all the liquid is absorbed. Add another cup of simmering liquid and stir until that’s absorbed. Keep adding the liquid until the rice is creamy and still firm. Toward the end of the cooking time, add the simmering liquid in smaller quantities; never stop stirring or the rice will stick and burn. After the last of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is virtually done, add the heavy cream, stirring to combine. Turn off the heat and cover the pan with a folded dish towel. Let sit for 2 or 3 minutes. Gently sir in the caviar and serve immediately.

If you have an interest in caviar and want to learn more about this ancient fish story, Inga Saffron’s book, Caviar, is a detailed history of how a food eaten by peasants was transformed into the indulgence of the Tsars.



And our final word on caviar comes from a shaken but not stirred James Bond:

“The trouble always is,’ he explained to Vesper, ‘not how to get
enough caviar, but how to get enough toast with it.”