Risotto, duck breast

Risotto, it is the tale of two pots. These two pots start out exactly the same but eventually one pot ends up with everything and the other pot ends up with nothing. Just like in the Bible. But don't ask me what all that means. What, do I look like a biblical theologian over here? 

Pot 1:

Butter and olive oil just as with pasta and then some smashed garlic and dehydrated onion flakes because at this moment I do not have any real onions and that is an intolerable dearth. 

Simultaneously chicken stock is heated in another pot. This is commercial chicken stock so it's salty. Eventually a considerable volume of chicken stock will be absorbed, evaporated, and concentrated into the rice so for all these reasons the stock is diluted with water first by a good 25% to 35%. A full thirty-two ounces of liquid was taken up by 1 level cup of Arborio rice, and then an additional two cups plain water after the thirty-two ounces of diluted broth was gone. So you can see how flavor is concentrated and how over concentration is avoided.

Pot 2:

Pot 1:

The rice is stirred around regularly if not continuously which knocks off the surface starch and thickens the cooking liquid. 

This is the duck breast prepared earlier. It is already sliced, but those slices dried a little so fresh slices were cut off the remaining lump.

Apparently the unsightly hole is a vein and not a shot hole.

Pot 1:

Eventually one cup of Arborio rice absorbed over 48 ounces liquid. The aim is for the mixture to be this wet then further thickened with the addition of hard cheese. Judging the amount of wetness to finished rice is a bit of a trick and something of a preference. So far I've seen very dry and very wet risottos. I prefer the wet risottos.