Almond & Coconut Rice Pudding

I get excited when a fresh issue of a cooking magazine shows up in our mailbox- so much inspiration, so many recipes to try out!  Check out which magazines we like to flip through on our “Blogs, Books & Magazines” page.  I also like it when I have ingredients to make particular recipes, without having to break the bank- or keep visiting the grocery store.

When I was flipping through the January issue of Food and Wine, I spotted a recipe for Almond-Milk Rice Pudding.  Knowing that I had about the exact amount of sushi rice in our pantry I’ve been wanting to use up, I thought this would be the perfect dessert, or snack, throughout the week.

The week prior, we had access to a car (thanks Carrie!) and I had bought various (delicious) items at Trader Joe’s.  Two of them were almond and coconut milk.  Not too familiar with these liquids?  Almond milk is made from ground almonds, and a great substitute if you have dairy allergies.  Coconut milk is made from grated coconut, also a great milk substitute, and used in many vegan and vegetarian dishes.  I recommend using the unsweetened versions, making this a little healthier, and not overly sweet.

Almond & Coconut Rice Pudding
Adapted from: Food & Wine (January 2013)

1 1/2 cups of sushi rice, rinsed
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
4 cups of almond milk
4 cups of coconut milk

In a large bowl, or pitcher, combine the almond and coconut milks together.

In a large saucepan, combine the sushi rice, sugar, salt and 1 cup of the milk mixture.  Cook the ingredients over low heat, stirring, until the milk is absorbed- about 5 minutes.  Then add in another cup of milk, stirring until the liquid is absorbed, about 5-10 minutes.  Gradually, every 5-10 minutes add another cup of milk and keep stirring, until you use all but 1 cup.  By then, the rice mixture should be thickened, and the rice will be cooked.  Lastly, turn off the heat, pour in the last cup of milk, stir, and allow it to cool.

Serve with preserves, defrosted fruit, or fresh fruit (berries would be best).

Birthday Fruit Tart

For my birthday Sam made an amazing fruit tart:

This is my favorite dessert in the world.  And let me tell you, I’ve bought fruit tarts from many pastries or bakeries, but this was the best tart I’ve ever had!

Remember, you can use different fruits- whatever you like.  Some suggestions: kiwis, raspberries, blackberries, plums or bananas.

Birthday Fruit Tart

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced
1/4 cup ice water
9-inch tart pan

For the filling:
5 extra-large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rosewater
1 pint strawberries, halved
1 pint blueberries
1/4 cup honey

In a food processor, add the flour, salt, and cold butter and pulse until crumbly.  Now slowly add the cold water until the dough comes together into a ball (you shouldn’t need all of the water).   Wrap the ball in cling wrap and put it in the fridge for a half hour.  Preheat your oven to 375ºF.

While that’s cooling off, you can work on the filling.  In a small pot, warm up the heavy cream, being careful not to let it bowl over.  In a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks together with the sugar for a few minutes until they’re nice and thick.  With the mixer on low, add the corn starch.  Now add the mixture to the milk and whisk constantly with the heat on medium low.  It will quickly begin to thicken.  When it reaches the consistency of pudding, turn off the heat and mix in the butter and vanilla (you can substitute with almost anything here; almond extract or even some good, black rum would be nice).  Transfer the mixture to a bowl and put in the fridge to cool.

Now roll the dough out on a well floured cutting board and add to a greased tart pan.  Toss it in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden.  Remove the crust from the oven and pour the filling into the crust and smooth out with a spatula.  The filling may seem fairly firm, but don’t worry, it will soften up in the heated crust.  Now add the fruit to the top of the filling (I used strawberries and blueberries, but you can use whatever you want.  Peaches and raspberries would be good too.)  Mix the honey and rosewater together and microwave for 20 seconds, then brush it over the fruit.

That’s it!  Put the tart in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes and enjoy!

Peppers & Tomatoes

I’m sure many of you will be disappointed that there won’t be a recipe at the end of this post.  But I do have some gorgeous pictures of tomatoes and peppers from the Farmer’s Market, hopefully enticing you to buy some of summer’s best.

Instead, I’m posting a link to my friend Meaghin’s blog.  She lives in Brooklyn, New York and her posts always include beautiful pictures, and delicious recipes.  Mainly what I’d like to point out her blog post about tomatoes.

In her post she mentions the book Tomatoland, and discusses the tomato industry.  This is the same book which was mentioned in this post, which had this link to the NPR article.

All of us can eat any fruit or vegetable at any time throughout the year.  For example, if we would like cucumbers or peppers in December, there will always be some in the local grocery store.  The question all of us have to ask ourselves is whether produce will taste as delicious when you buy it out of season?  Tomatoland focuses on another factor we should take into consideration when purchasing out of season tomatoes (or other fruits and vegetables)- human welfare.  After reading Meaghin’s post, I’m even more intrigued about the book- I think it might have to be my next read!

Has anyone else read the book?