Risotto alla Milanese at Pub’s (Growers Pub) in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
After a succession of hot days in the high 80s, my daughter Florence Paget, husband Laurent Paget, and I went out for an iodine-rich dinner at Pub’s (Growers Pub) in Salinas, California.
Salt depletion caused by sweating in high heat reduces iodine in the body. Iodine depletion has been linked to several health disorders including thyroid cancer by the National Institutes of Health. I have provided a hyperlink to the NIH site:
NIH site regarding iodine depletion. This text does not substitute for a doctor, but it might help guide dining choices for people who work outside all day or who do not have air conditioning and provide a discussion topic for doctor appointments.
With this grim information about iodine on my mind, I ordered a meal that a rich Milan, Italy dweller might order to deal with a hot days.
I started with fried calamari (squid) rings that I could dip in piquant sauce with fresh lemon squeezed on the calamari. The crunchy, salty breading was delicious. The squid itself has protein and selenium, which helps the thyroid produce hormones and is an antioxidant according to WebMD.com.
After the calamari, I ate iodine-rich salad with blue cheese dressing. The blue cheese was very creamy and made me think it had been made with Gorgonzola or cheese made in the Gorgonzola style. The crispy and cold romaine lettuce tasted great after a succession of hot days.
My main dish was an excellent risotto alla Milanese made with carnaroli rice from the app River Valley in Northern Italy.
Risotto is easy to make if you can patiently stand at the stove and add in a little chicken broth at a time to be absorbed by the rice before the next addition of broth.
I used the risotto alla Milanese (saffron risotto) recipe from the Mediterranean dish.combwebsite to guide me. For this recipe, you heat chicken broth and pour some on saffron threads to steep before cooking. The saffron makes the risotto a golden yellow.
After you do this, you soften chopped onion in olive oil. Once this is done, you add in the pudgy carnaroli rice and coat it with hot rice for several minutes.
Next, you add dry white wine and broth followed by dissolved saffron. After this, you keep turning the rice till it becomes al dente, adding broth along the way. When the rice is creamy, remove it from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or grains pedant along with butter. Serve warm and enjoy the salty Parmesan cheese.
This meal does taste wonderful when the weather cools down at night after a hot day at Pub’s in Salinas, California.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
