Risotto aux Fruit de Mer

Recipe 2 of 2 by teammate Eric Keener for the HitchFire Project

Adventure. Community. Food. Naturally!

Watch the cinematic adventure of this recipe come to life in the video below!

The Meal:

Rockfish and Ponzu Sashimi was served as the appetizer. You can find that recipe by clicking here.

Risotto aux fruit de mer (fruit of the sea) served with Tabasco caviar pearls, squid ink tapioca chicharrons, and toasted homemade focaccia drizzled with fig balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Note on the order and timing of cooking:

1. Descale, gut and filet fish with skin on, dust with spice mix and keep cold.

2. Start on the stock. It will take 1 hour to simmer once all ingredients are added.

3. While the stock is cooking, prepare the ingredients (mostly chopping/slicing/mincing the veggies as listed) for both the risotto and the seafood (limpet, mussels and fish). Remove the outer growths and beard from mussels. Using a spoon, remove the shell from the owl limpet and clean out the stomach contents under running water.

4. Right around the time that the stock is done, start to cook the risotto and invertebrates so they are done at the same time. The risotto will take about 15 minutes and the mussels take about 10 minutes.

5. Frying the fish only takes a couple minutes, so do it at the end so the skin is as crunchy as possible for plating.

“Chef Mojo” Spice Mix:

NOTE: This spice mix is an epic blend for all kinds of applications, however if you don’t want to create this yourself, you can substitute a half and half blend of Cajun and steak seasoning with a dash of lemon zest and brown sugar.

• White pepper

• Ground mustard

• Cayenne

• Piment D’ Espelette

• Minced rosemary

• A little lemon zest

• A little brown sugar

• Sea salt

• Smoked salt

• Truffle salt

• Celery salt

• Chili powder

• Garlic powder

• Onion powder

• Fresh ground black pepper

Fish Stock

Ingredients:

• Thick Kelp, 12”-18” fresh strand (bull kelp/bladder chain/giant kelp/sea cabbage/kombu)

• 2 Large carrots, chopped

• 2 C white wine (dry)

• 4 Bay leaves

• 2 Rockfish frames, heads and fins (small-medium sized)

• Thyme (4 sprigs)

• ½ C Dehydrated mushrooms (Porcini if available)

• Sea salt to taste (learn to make your own here)

• 2 Tbsp Unsalted butter

• 1 Large white onion, peeled and halved

• 1 Large lemon, halved

• 1 Leek, sliced up to green

• 1 Shallot, rough chopped

• 4 Cloves garlic, rough chopped

• 3 Celery stalks, rough chopped

• 3 C fresh water

• 3 C ocean water

Method:

Note: Descale the fish, discard the gills, guts, and as much of the blood as you can under running water. Then remove the filets with skin on and liberally dust them on both sides with the spice mix. Keep them cold until you start to cook the invertebrates. Fish heads, bones and fins will be used in the stock.

1. In a large stock pot with thick bottom, heat over high heat and add the onion and lemon with the sliced side down. Let them char until blackened then remove the lemon and flip the onion to char the other side. Remove and set aside.

2. In the same pot, over medium high heat, add the butter, leek, shallot, garlic and celery, and cook until softened, stirring occasionally - some browning is preferred.

3. Add the white wine and juice of charred lemon to deglaze the pan, scraping with a wooden spoon to loosen the charred bits on bottom of pot and let cook for about a minute.

4. Rough chop one of the halves of the white onion then add it with the rest of the ingredients (except the other ½ of the charred white onion which will go into the risotto) including the fish heads and frames.

5. Turn heat down to low and do not let it boil at any point.

6. Keep the stock simmering, uncovered, for 1 hour. While the stock cooks, start prepping all of the other ingredients. Around the end of the 1 hour timeframe, start on the first steps of the risotto and invertebrates.

Invertebrates

Note: This section will take about 15 minutes. You don’t want to cook the limpets too long or on too high of heat or they get chewy.

Ingredients:

• ¾ C white wine

• ¾ C fish stock

• 2 Tbsp Parsley

• Red Pepper

• Sea Salt

• Pepper

• Mussels (10-20)

• Owl Limpet (10-20)

• 4 Tbsp Butter

• 1 Tbsp Olive oil

• 1 shallot, fine diced

• 6 cloves garlic

Method:

1. Harvest the cleanest mussels and remove the beard. Knock off shell growths. Clean limpets by removing the shell and stomach contents then rinsing off in water.

2. In a deep frying pan (stainless steel or cast iron work best) over medium heat, add the butter and stir, allowing it to slowly brown. Don’t let it get too brown too fast - about 1-2 minutes.

3. Then add olive oil, garlic, shallot and red pepper flakes and stir until fragrant and just starting to soften.

4. Pour in the wine and season with salt and pepper, then pour in broth.

5. Once it’s boiling, add mussels and cover until the first shells begin to open. 

6. Turn down heat to low and add limpets, stirring for 1-2 minutes then add the chopped parsley, stir to coat and mix everything, then remove all the ingredients from the pan, set them aside and keep warm and wipe out the pan. You’ll use it for the fish.

Cajun Seafood Risotto

Note: At the point where the risotto is almost fully cooked (the rice grains are chewable but still slightly tough in the middle), start frying the fish.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

• ½ white onion, charred and fine-diced

• 1 ½ C Arborio Rice 

• Saffron threads, 1 pinch

• 1 tsp spice mix

• ½ C white wine

• ½ C Mascarpone cheese

• Sea Salt

• Pepper to taste

• Tabasco Caviar Pearls (Agar Agar Recipe Here)

Method:

1. In a large saucepan over medium high heat, add butter and the charred onion until soft.

2. Add rice and stir regularly for 2 minutes.

3. Add saffron, spice mix and wine into rice and cook until nearly absorbed.

4. Add 1 C of stock at first and occasionally stir until nearly absorbed. Continue adding ½ cup of stock at a time until rice is just done (not too mushy, about 20 min). Add in mascarpone cheese and mix it well.

5. Try to time it so the risotto and the fish are done at the same time.

Crispy Skin Rockfish

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp butter

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil (or other high heat oil)

• Fish fillets, skin on, descaled, liberally seasoned with chef mojo mix

Method:

1. Heat the pan you cooked the mussels in over medium high heat. 

2. Make small slits in the skin of the fish so it doesn’t shrivel up during cooking and warp the shape of the fish. Only cut the skin with parallel slits, not cutting down into the meat.

3. Once the pan is hot, add the butter and oil. Let it heat up for 1 min and then add the fish with skin side down. Don’t move or flip the fish. You will be able to see the fish turning white (cooked). Wait until the fish is almost entirely white, then flip it over for 15-30 seconds (the skin should be golden brown and crispy) and remove from pan. And your meal is ready to plate!

Plating

1. Add a ladle full of risotto to a plate. Top with mussels, limpets and fish (skin side up).

2. Drizzle around the edges with the brown butter sauce from the mussels and limpets and season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the tabasco caviar pearls and garnish with pea tendrils and garlic flowers.

4. We included toasted, homemade focaccia from our sourdough starter then drizzled it with olive oil and sweet fig and balsamic syrup. 

5. We also brought some squid ink tapioca chicharrones to use as “spoons” for the risotto but they were more of an afterthought.