Indian Spiced Rice Pudding

I recently attended a potluck hosted by one of my long-time blogger idols, Marisa from the fabulous Food in Jars. She invited twenty lucky Philly gals to her home to celebrate the release of fellow blogger and all around swell gal Kate Payne's book The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking.

I was worried that it would be a little awkward to attend a potluck where I didn't know anyone, but as soon as I walked through the door of Marissa's apartment, I relaxed. It was a fabulous evening. I met so many amazing women who were food bloggers, locavores, DIY-ers and passionate about Philadelphia's eating/living/gardening scene. And the FOOD! The table was piled high with the freshest, most delicious food I've had in a long time. Everyone's dish was absolutely stellar.

When planning my own dish for this event, I contacted Marisa for the potluck's parameters-- did she need me to bring a salad? A main dish? A dessert? Any dietary restrictions? She replied that I could do whatever type of dish I liked, but that Kate was gluten-free, so if I wanted her to taste my dish I should plan accordingly. As I was originally planning to bring some homemade crackers (more on that recipe soon!), this was a little bit of a curveball for me, but hey, I am a student at the Natural Gourmet! I ain't scared of gluten-free cooking!

I've always loved rice pudding, but the basic raisin-and-cinnamon formula can get a little boring. This recipe is adapted from a Coconut Arborio Rice Pudding from Food & Wine magazine, and to put a new twist on an old favorite, I used Indian flavors in my version.
Herbivores, it was a huge hit. I had multiple people tell me "I don't usually like rice pudding, but this was great!" Plus I got some sweet compliments from Kate about my vintage Pyrex bowl. She shares my vintage Pyrex obsession! Squeee!

I would be completely remiss if I didn't give a huge thank-you and a large share of credit for this recipe's success to the lovely Davina Soondrum, who suggested the rice pudding idea in the first place, found the Food & Wine recipe and who slipped a tablespoon of vanilla into the pudding while I was preparing it for the party.


Bain taitneamh as do bheil!


PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: about 45 minutes
SERVES: 6-8


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 quart (4 cups) whole milk
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups water
  
• 1 14 ounce can full-fat unsweetened coconut milk
• 2-3 pieces candied ginger, cut into a very small dice (about 3 tablespoons)
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted & salted pistachios
• 1 very ripe mango, cut into 1/2" chunks (about 1 cup)
  
• 1 tablespoon local honey (I prefer orange blossom for this dish, if you can get it)
  
• 1 tablespoon good vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened large coconut flakes

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread coconut flakes out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until just browned, checking frequently to prevent burning. This should take anywhere from 5-10 minutes, depending on your oven.
2. In a large, heavy-bottomed sauce pan, combine the milk, rice, sugar and water. Bring to a boil and immediately lower to a simmer. Simmer mixture for 30 minutes, stirring very frequently, until rice is tender and liquid is thick.
3. Add coconut milk and simmer until sauce is very thick and creamy. It is very important to stir frequently at this stage to prevent burning. It is not advised to update your Facebook status at this point, as you will return to find rice stuck to the bottom of the pan. Just sayin'.
   
4. Once sauce is thick, turn off heat and stir in candied ginger, pistachios, mango chunks, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom and sea salt.
5. Allow pudding to come to room temperature, place in your prettiest serving bowl and garnish with toasted coconut flakes.

And please, please check out Marisa's blog (she gave us all a shout-out: woot!!) and Kate's book. These lovely ladies are extremely talented, overwhelmingly generous and just plain good people. Here's to my Philly blogging community and to many more potlucks in the future!

Elliott's Roasted Tomato Sauce

Happy spring, herbivores! I hope you're enjoying the blooming trees, the milder temperatures and the raging seasonal allergies.

I am busy as always, scuttling between two kitchens and two cities. But life is good. The little amount of sunshine that I actually see is indeed improving my mood, and I would much rather suffer the sniffles of spring allergies than the shivers of winter sub-zero winds.

We're just finishing up our Baking section in school and we've been having a lot of classes lately with the awesome Chef Elliott Prag. (Side note: if you're not a fan of the Natural Gourmet's facebook page, do yourself a favor and "like" it today. Chef Elliott posts a ton of interesting and often funny articles about food, food justice issues and all things delicious.) In our Bread I class, I was baking savory Italian-themed dinner rolls and Chef Elliott suggested that I whip up this tomato sauce recipe as a vegan dipping option.

It was SO. GOOD. Veggie freaks, you know how much I love butter. Seriously, I could polish off a stick of butter in a sitting, no problem. But this sauce was so damn delicious that I scorned all of the awesome compound butters my classmates were whipping up for their breads in favor of a vegan option. Really. Yes, really.

So when I scored a bag of hydroponically grown tomatoes at the Union Square Greenmarket yesterday, I knew in an instant what I was going to do with them. This sauce works terrifically as a dipping sauce, tossed with pasta or as a pizza sauce. It's got an incredibly creamy mouth-feel that is almost reminiscent of a vodka sauce, although of course minus all of that pesky cream and vodka.

It's pretty amazing what seven (just seven!) ingredients, including salt and pepper, can do. This sauce is also incredibly fast and easy-- perfect for an weeknight dinner.

Because this recipe is pretty simple and very adaptable, I'm not going to get all precise with my measurements. Like a lot of garlic? Throw some more cloves in! Like things super-spicy? More red pepper flakes! Experiment with different types of tomatoes. Try using a really good extra-virgin olive oil. The possibilities are endless.

A big thank-you to Chef Elliott for this perfect, simple addition to my dinner repertoire.


Bain taitneamh as do bheil!


PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 30-45 minutes
YIELDS: about 4 one cup servings


INGREDIENTS:

• 6 large tomatoes
• 2 small or 1 large onion
• 1 head garlic
• about 1/2- 3/4 cup good quality olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Quarter tomatoes. Remove skin from onions and quarter. Remove skins from the garlic cloves. In a roasting pan, season tomato quarters, onion quarters and garlic cloves with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Drizzle a little olive oil over the vegetables and toss to coat thoroughly.
2. Roast veggies in the oven for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Remove from oven when onions are soft and slightly browned.
   
3. Place vegetables in a stand blender and with a towel held firmly over the top, blend into a smooth paste.
4. With the blender running, gradually stream about 1/2 cup of olive oil into the sauce. Taste frequently to adjust seasoning. Sauce is done when the texture is smooth and very creamy and has a bright orange hue.
   
5. Serve over pasta with torn parsley or basil leaves as a garnish. Or use as a pizza sauce. Or just eat it with a spoon right out of the blender.