Vegan (or not) Rice Pudding

Vegan (or not) Rice Pudding

Adapted from Jonah Rosenberg by Blue Heron Kitchen

In honor of my Mother, my Grandmothers and my Children

You’ve loved rice pudding from the first jar of Gerber’s you mother cracked open. Many cultures prepare rice for dessert from Asian sticky rice preparations to Italian dessert risottos. The Greeks nail rice pudding with egg yolks and heavy cream. In a pinch, there’s Cozy Shack.

A couple of weeks ago, Martha Rose Shulman's column offered brown rice recipes for health (link is to recipes in the Times). She offered these recipes despite reports of alarmingly high levels of arsenic in most brands of domestic rice (link is to Consumer Reports article) which now require us to limit our intake. Brown rice was the worst offender, with the most arsenic found in the hull. I’m still scratching my head at why, given this horrifying information, she chose to offer us an array of “healthy” brown rice-based meals. 

So you must be wondering why I'm offering you a recipe for rice pudding. Findings were that the levels of arsenic were significantly lower in aromatic rice varietals, such as basmati rice. Basmati, from India is the rice I keep in the house because I cook Indian food; and it's the rice I’ve used in this recipe. 

Beautiful package - a gift from my friend, Rick.

You can use short grain 'risotto' type rice, which is more conventional. Buy the best quality rice you can find. Buy rice from Italy, Greece or India. 

I’m still dumbfounded that brown rice isn’t safe anymore.  

My son, Jonah, is a fine cook. He regularly prepares meals for large groups of friends. Challenged by living in a country where food is much pricier than here in the U.S. (he lives in the U.K.), he came up with this economical, simple, quick and delicious recipe for rice pudding. 

He’s going to be furious that I used almond milk, but tomorrow is Mother’s Day and I’m using my “get out of jail free” card. 

This recipe is lactose-free, dairy-free, vegan, loaded with calcium and comfort. It’s good for your baby, your children, you, your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Your call on the dog.

Use unsweetened almond milk. I’ve been using “Silk” brand. An 8 oz. serving provides 450 mg. of calcium (!), it tastes great (when I drink it straight up, I add some stevia) and it has 30 calories per 8 oz. serving. Without running this through a nutritional analysis program, I calculate this dessert at roughly 167 calories per serving. Sweet.

Go legit and substitute whole cow’s milk. You can use 2% milk, but I wouldn’t go lower in fat. (If you do and it's great, please comment and let me know!) I used Nielsen Massey’s Vanilla Bean PASTE. You can find it at Amazon or Williams-Sonoma; and sometimes you can snag it at discount stores like Home Goods.

(Click on me to go to my website)

Please take time today to visit Sandy Hook Promise.org and send loving and caring Mother’s Day wishes to the mothers whose children were senselessly murdered:

http://www.sandyhookpromise.org/

To all who are lucky enough to have your mother: call her today. Stop dissing Hallmark. It was a good idea.

peace and love,

jane

Vegan (or not) Rice Pudding

Equipment: 1 heavy-bottomed 2 to 3 quart saucepan, preferably stainless steel.

Ingredients:

4 cups (960 ml) unsweetened almond milk, almond-coconut milk, cashew milk (or cow’s milk.)

½ cup short grain (high starch), such as Arborio or sushi rice, rinsed under cold water

¼ cup granulated white sugar

4 whole green cardamom pods, slightly cracked open (you can omit these, but the taste is wonderful.)

Rind (without the white pith) of one orange or lemon (Meyer lemon is heaven!)

1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or scrape seeds from ½ a soft, fresh vanilla bean) or pure vanilla extract will do.

Cinnamon (for serving)

1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier or Triple Sec (optional)

Procedure:

Put all ingredients into pot (except optional liqueur) and heat over medium/high flame until it comes to a boil.

Lower flame to medium/low and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon or a spurtle (a wooden tool used to cook oatmeal that you should own if you make oatmeal because it’s brilliant and once you use it, you’ll wonder why you never had one.) often. Cook for about 35 to 40 minutes, until mixture is very thick. It will thicken a bit more as it cools.

If you’re adding liqueur, add it a few minutes before removing the pudding from the flame.

Remove cardamom pods and citrus rind. 

If you like raisins in your rice pudding, plump some - about 1/3 to 1/2 a cup - by pouring hot water over them and letting them sit for several minutes (You can add some liqueur to them too and this would be delicious.) Stir them into the pudding after you've removed it from the stove.

Serve warm, room temperature or chilled. If you’re not vegan, a dollop of whipped cream! If you’re vegan or dairy-free, try some dairy-free topping. 

You don’t need much more than a sprinkle of cinnamon, a spoon and love.

Yield: 4 servings

  

Marshmallows!

Marshmallows

Adapted from Ina Garten by Blue Heron Kitchen

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been fooling around with marshmallows. With determination, I’ve soaked gelatin sheets, separated eggs, substituted Agar for my religious and vegetarian friends, added booze to some and broke the bank, opting out of Betty Crocker red dye #4 for vegetable based food dyes to tint my sugar pillows.

Marshmallow 101: etymology: Marshmallow plants’ mucilaginous roots were used medicinally ( and presumably sweetened), in concoctions to help cure sore throats.  

In a casual marshmallow discussion with a passionate and talented baker, my colleague Rhonda asked if I was working with Ina Garten’s recipe. I’d been going nuts experimenting with both David Lebovitz’s and Nancy Silverton’s recipes, finally merging the best of both. David’s and Nancy’s recipes used raw egg whites and I wasn’t thrilled. Rhonda’s suggestion came just as I was about to pop open a bag of Campfires.

Ina’s marshmallows were perfection. And they’re fun. (Thanks, Rhonda!)

These are neither vegetarian nor vegan. Gelatin is a pork by-product. By replacing gelatin with agar (a seaweed extract), you’re good to flow. Go to a health food store, a kosher market or a good market, like Fairway (where I bought mine). If you can’t find it, go the Amazon route.

Here’s the poop: High fructose corn syrup, sugar and gelatin don't cure sore throats and they aren’t good for you. In defense of marshmallows, six ingredients that have the alchemic power to evoke childhood, complement hot or melted chocolate and bring joy and delight to anyone who simply looks, holds or tastes at one, should be labeled at food group.

Ina Garten is a world. I don’t turn to her recipes, but maybe I should.

If you have a candy thermometer (a digital one is a good choice) and an electric stand mixer, you’re in business.

Homemade marshmallows will make your hot chocolate worth the disgusting schmutz you just threw out your back shoveling. Slip some fancy chocolate and a few of these fluffy pillows between some graham crackers you’ve baked (see either of my recipes, updated or from July, 2012). Out with S’mores, in with S’mosts.

Plain are perfect. Use excellent quality vanilla extract. I’m a huge fan of Baldwin’s. It’s a small, family run business in Massachusetts. Theirs is a unique and rich vanilla, made in West Stockbridge, for generations. You can order it online and you’ll find it up there at their old-fashioned store and in local supermarkets.

I played around and added Grand Marnier (you could substitute Triple Sec), a little orange oil and some vegetable based food coloring to make pale orange adult marshmallows. You can use any liquor! Try Grand Marnier, Kahlua, Amaretto or Peppermint Schnapps marshmallows in your hot chocolate!

You’ll be surprised at how simple they are. Try making them with your kids! Keep the

boozed-up marshmallows out of their reach! Be creative with color, flavor and shape.

Above all, have fun!

jane

Marshmallows

Yield: 20-40 marshmallows, more or less, size is your call

Tools: Stand Mixer, fitted with wire Whisk, Candy thermometer

Ingredients:

3 packages unflavored gelatin/24g sheet gelatin

½ c. cold water (more if using sheet gelatin)

1 ½ c. granulated sugar

1 c. light corn syrup

¼ tsp. kosher salt

1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Optional: food coloring (India Tree makes plant based, natural dyes), ‘other’ extract, orange, lime or lemon oil (use VERY sparingly), booze.

Procedure:

Using a sifter or a fine strainer, prepare an 8 x 12-inch/ 20 x 30-cm non-metal baking dish by
dusting it generously with confectioner’s sugar. Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, cover powdered gelatin with
½ c. cold water, making sure to cover all with water. If using sheet gelatin, soak the gelatin in
a separate bowl, in cold water. You will throw it into the stand mixer’s bowl and add 2 Tbsp.
of the water to the soaked sheets.

Using a small saucepan, pour in corn syrup, sugar and salt. Cook together on medium heat
until the sugar dissolves.

Using the candy thermometer, turn heat to med/high and cook the syrup to soft ball stage,
240º F/116 C, remove from heat.

With mixer on low speed, SLOWLY pour the syrup into the dissolved gelatin.

Turn mixer to high and whip until mixture is very thick, approximately 15 minutes! (If you’re
adding coloring, wait.)

If you’re adding coloring, after about 10 minutes, reduce speed enough to drop in coloring
until you’ve reached desired tint. Return mixer to high.

After five more minutes, add extract or other flavoring. If you’re using booze, start at a Tbsp.
and then continue, to taste or combine with some vanilla. For my Grand Marnier
marshmallows, I used about 5 teaspoons of liquor.

Pour the marshmallow mixture into the prepared pan, smooth the top and sift more
confectioner’s sugar over the top.

Plain

Grand Marnier

Allow to stand, uncovered, until they dry out. Overnight is best. I was able to cut and toss
mine in confectioner’s sugar after eight hours.

Turn them out onto a board and cut into squares (or desired shapes).

Toss them in a bowl with more confectioners sugar and then, using a sieve, shake them
vigorously to remove any excess.