Hey Puddin'

The other day I had a dream that I made rice pudding... I woke up with a terrible craving for it and in a haze I had a most brilliant idea to use the Silk Coconut Milk I had purchased for my smoothies. The milk overpowered the flavor of the fruits, so I was getting a bit tired of having flat-palate drinks; using the coconut milk in lieu of whole milk or even skim seemed like the PERFECT substitution for a rice pudding. Aaaand I did have a lot of basmati rice in the cupboard. So I threw off the covers and plopped myself in front of the computer, froggy pjs and all, in search of a recipe. I just wanted a plain and simple recipe since I'd never made rice pudding before and I wanted to invent my own flavors by steeping the pudding with a few cardamon pods.

My recipe is loosely based off this one from Ina Garten. Although right now, I must say I am not happy with her after turning down the Make-A-Wish child's desire to cook with her not once, but twice. I mean, it looks pretty bad, Ina, no matter how you slice it...

Now, don't be intimidated by the thought of making your own rice pudding. It really is quite simple, but you need to be sure to cook the rice through before taking it off the heat, because once it's in the fridge, it really won't get any - um - mushier.

Creamy Coconut Rice Pudding

What you need:

3/4 c basmati rice

1/2 tsp salt

5 cups vanilla coconut milk - in the half gallon carton, not the canned stuff - that's wayyy too fatty and expensive

1/3 c sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten (this is optional)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

5 cardamom pods

What you do:

Combine the rice, salt, and 1 1/2 cups of the milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir once, then lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook on the lowest heat for 8-9 minutes. Don't open the lid - the rice is steeeeeaming :) If you have a hot stove, keep the pan halfway off the heat because you don't want the bottom to scorch.

Take off the lid and add 3 more cups of coconut milk, sugar, and cardamom pods. Taste to see if it needs more sugar, but using vanilla coconut milk helps reduce the normal amount in most rice puddings.

Simmer, uncovered for 30-35 minutes -until the rice is tender to the bite. Towards the end of the time, the pudding will thicken a lot so stir often. Add the vanilla. This is when Ina says to add the egg, but you could skip this step. I did it but tempered the egg first in a bit of the pudding - still, tiny specks of cooked egg formed. They didn't bother me, and I think the egg helped tighten up the pudding, but I like mine loose so I could have done without it.

Take off the heat and serve warm, or put in the fridge for later. Take the pods out before storing, though, otherwise they overpower the pudding and it can taste a little "off.

"I Have a Test Coming Up But I Don't Want to Study" Pie

A couple weeks ago, with yet another exam on the horizon, it occurred to me to - GASP - take some time for myself! So I rented a movie - The Waitress, which I had been wanting to watch for some time but never had the guts to ask if the MCV Library could get movies from the the other campus...And because I know myself, I also knew that I'd have to make a pie before I watched the movie because I'd be drooling after the credits and that would lead to a monstrous craving which is never a good thing to let fester, right?

I

So yum yum - apple pie. Here's the recipe:

For the Topping:

Just make a simple crumble topping with a few tablespoons of softened butter, 1/2 cup flour, 1 cup rolled oats, some almond extract, and a sprinkling of nutmeg and cinnamon. Set aside.

Cut and chop/slice the apples. I like to do both for a little difference in texture. Then toss them in a little lemon juice, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Set aside.

Now, here's my little secret. I like gooey filling on my apple pie so I borrowed the following set of directions from my recipe for strawberry-rhubarb cobbler. I figured if it made a tasty concoction for the cake, then I could tweak it and use it for my pie. In a saucepan, warm up about a cup of water. In a bowl mix 1/3 cup white sugar and 2 or 3 Tbs cornstarch until they are thoroughly incorporated. Add the apples to the water and cook until they are slightly softened. Add the sugar mixture and a couple teaspoons brown sugar and some vanilla. Watch as a delicious filling forms right in from of your eyes!

Pour into a pie shell, cover with the topping, and bake in a 350 degree oven for about a 1/2 hour.

Shout out to Roslyn for peeling the apples in her own special-amazing way. I'm glad we finally got to make something together :)

Georgia Peach Cobbler

My boyfriend is in looove with Georgia peaches and I honestly didn't know why until his sister brought home a few the other day. Let me compare for you: the peaches we get in Michigan have a stringy texture with a watery flavor tinged with sweetness, but more of a fake sweetness. And so, we've created the idea of what a peach tastes like through the variety of artificial peach flavors we sample in things like ice cream and those weird gummy peach ring things.

A Georgia peach, however, is unlike any of this. It's texture was the first thing I noticed because it was almost creamy. It was less juicy than I imagined it would be - the flavor was just so concentrated. It was also heavy - hence the dense flavor as well. I'd urge you to compare one to what you normally consume and taste the difference. I myself still haven't decided which is "better" - just that there is definitely a difference between varieties. But Georgia peaches are a dream to cook with - see the following recipe.

Happily, I have been able to turn Weston on the idea of pie - but with these special peaches, I wanted to make something a little more special, so I made a cobbler-esque dish. I really like this recipe - I've been using it for the past 6 or 7 years and I have no idea where I found it - somewhere on the Internet for sure. But I've tweaked it so many times, it would be impossible to find it again at this point. So, thank you random website for your recipe base.

For the peach (or any stone-fruit) filling:

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

6 to 7 Georgia peaches

2 Tbs lemon juice

Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan . Then add the peaches and lemon juice and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Turn off the heat and let stand covered.

For the cake:

3 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup cold butter, chopped

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

Mix the flour, sugar, and powders and cut in the butter until it looks like this:

Then combine the rest of the ingredients and pour them into the flour mixture, mixing only to combine.

Layer 1/2 of the batter in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan.

Cover with the fruit mixture.
Dollop over the reserved batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 or 50 minutes, until the top is a golden brown

Tips from the Chef

You can use any fruit with this recipe and that's what makes it one of my fav's - sometimes I'll even just make the fruit part and put it in a pie crust because I love gooey pie fillings. Seriously, try it :)

I really like this recipe because of it's idea to layer the fruit over the cake and then dollop over bits of reserved dough. Seeing that fruit peek through makes for a very pleasing, homey-chic look. I like this without any sides like whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, but that's up to you and what your preferences are.

Enjoy!