Sweet Risotto with Buttermilk and Sultanas

Ingredients

• 0.5 cup amaretto 
• 2 tablespoons butter 
• 2 cups cultured buttermilk 
• 1 tablespoon cardamom pods 
• 1  cinnamon sticks 
• 0.3 cup honey 
• 1  juice of orange juiced ( and zested)
• 4 cups milk (preferably not ultrapasteurized)
• 0.5 cup carnaroli rice 
• 0.5 cup sultanas (or substitute raisins)
• 2  vanilla beans 

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• sauce pan
• sieve

Directions

1. Place the sultanas in a small bowl, and cover them with amaretto. Allow them to plump in the liquor while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Pour milk and buttermilk together in a 2-quart saucepan. Drop the spices into the milk, and stir in honey. Warm the liquid ingredients over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, taking care not to let them boil.Melt butter in a wide skillet over medium-low heat. When it froths, stir in the rice. Stir the rice frequently until its edges become slightly translucent, then stir in the orange zest. Stir in the sultanas and amaretto. Working 1/2 cup at a time, strain the milk through a fine-mesh sieve into your rice. Stir the rice continually until all the liquid is absorbed, then strain the remaining milk - a 1/2 cup at a time - into the rice until it is all absorbed. Stir in the orange juice into the rice, and continue stirring until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender and cooked through.
3. Serve warm.