Mighty mushroom risotto

Holy shiitake - I made the most delicious mushroom risotto yesterday, using three varieties of local mushrooms: white buttons, shiitake and portabello.

I found the white buttons - Essex Kent brand from Kingsville - at Zehrs. The Gentle Rain in Stratford supplies the other two: organic shiitakes from Weth Farms in Goderich and portabellos from Windmill Farms in Whitby.

It was steamy, creamy, delicate yet hearty and doused with green peas and a sprig of fresh parsley. I takes a little longer to make but this delectable slow food dish is absolutely divine and worth every minute you invest. I usually set aside 45 minutes of uninterrupted time to make it (you need to constantly stir the rice). Prepare your ingredients ahead so you just have to drop them into the pan, pour yourself a big ol' glass of wine and sink into the loveliness of the process. Here's how I make it:

- Heat 4 C reduced sodium chicken broth in a saucepan over med-low heat
- In a larger saucepan over med-high heat, melt 2 tbsp butter and with a wooden spoon, saute a minced shallot and as much garlic as you like until translucent (about 2 mins)
- Add 1 C aborio rice and stir until coated (about 1 min)
- Add 1/3 C dry white wine and stir until absorbed
- Ladle 1/2 C hot chicken stock into the mixture, stirring continuously. Once absorbed, add more hot stock until you're almost out (this will take around 15-18 minutes or so)
- Toward the end of the broth, add as many chopped mushrooms (I remove the stems from the shiitakes and portabellos) and frozen peas as you'd like to the large saucepan
- Continue stirring and adding broth
- When broth is all used up, the rice should be still firm to the tooth and the peas cooked through. Remove from heat, stir in 1/3 C freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano (or more!), cracked pepper and freshly chopped parsley. Serve immediately and enjoy!

If you still aren't sold on making this for yourself and the ones you love, here are some additional facts about mushrooms. For more than 6,000 years, the Chinese have used shiitake mushrooms medicinally. Shiitakes have lentinan, an active compound that powers up the immune system and strengthens its ability to fight infection and disease. Against influenza and other viruses, lentinan has been shown to be even more effective than prescription drugs; it even improves the immune status of individuals with HIV and cancer.

Shiitakes are also good for your heart, being chalk full of eritadenine, which lowers cholesterol levels and L-ergothioneine, a potent antioxidant. Portabellos and criminis have the most L-ergothioneine, followed by white buttons. White buttons contain up to 5 mg per three ounce serving-12 times as much as wheat germ and 4 times more than chicken liver. And more good news, L-ergothioneine is not destroyed when mushrooms are cooked.

Good for you, good for the local economy, good for the planet and crazy delicious. Does it seriously get any better than this?