Saturday, March 26, 2016

Comfort Foods. Rosie Makes Rice Pudding.

  I've been craving comfort foods lately.  

Usually this comes in the form of meatloaf 
and creamy mashed potatoes with a ridiculous amount of butter.

Since I make the meatloaf,
I lay claim to both end pieces.
Same house rule with bread.
I get the heels.
It's only fair.

I eat the first meatloaf end piece while still hot right out of the oven
with a side of wicked mashed potatoes.

 And that's the only hot meatloaf I eat.

 The rest I eat cold on white bread slathered with butter
then squished hard together and flattened like a panini.
And then I dipped it in my homemade barbecue sauce. 
To me, this is divine.

Now, if you actually want a meatloaf recipe,
here's what I do:

Rosie's Meatloaf
1 lb. meatloaf mixture
1 TB minced onion
1 TB minced bell pepper
1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
handful of crumbled Ritz crackers or torn up bread pieces
1 beaten egg
1/2 can Hunt's Meatloaf Sauce

Mix all ingredients by hand.
Your hands are your best kitchen tools.

Press tightly and evenly into loaf pan.

Bake at 350° for about 35-40 minutes,
pouring off grease throughout,
or until internal temperature of 165°.

The last few minutes,
pour a little more of the meatloaf sauce over top.

Rosie's Barbecue Sauce
1/2 cup ketchup (or any leftover meatloaf sauce you might have)
1 TB yellow mustard
1 TB Lea & Perrins
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
Mix together.
And if you'd like to put a drop or two
of Mr. Stubb's Hickory Smoke in there,
feel free to.

Now, on to more comfort food.

Youngest Hawthorne has been visiting Middle Hawthorne for a couple of weeks.  He returned home yesterday, and because of his growing dietary restrictions, I was trying to get an idea of what he'd like to eat.  He mentioned the Indian restaurants he'd been to and brought up rice pudding with raisins, nuts, and cinnamon.  I googled a few recipes, picked a few from Column A and a few from Column B and went to work putting together something that might be worthy of his precious palate.

I'm making my version of a rice pudding dish from India called Kheer. 
And I thought it interesting that rice made its way to Europe by way of India.

Rosie's Rice Pudding 
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup skim milk
1 1/4 cups cream
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped into mixture and pod thrown in for more vanilla flavor  (Remove pods before serving.)
1/4 cup raisins
3 cardamon pods, seeds crushed
1/2 cup basmati rice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup toasted almonds
1/4 cup toasted pistachios

To toast nuts, toss them around in a dry skillet until they become fragrant.  Set aside and let cool.  You could put them under a broiler, but I usually burn them whenever I do that.  I prefer a controlled toast.

Mix all ingredients in medium sauce pan.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

My vanilla pods were a bit dried out and ended up cracking.  I tied 'em up in little bundles and fished them out later before serving.

Yes.  The cardamon is essential.  It's not an overwhelming flavor, but it's something you pick up on and wonder, "Hmmm...  What is that?"
Crack the pods and crush the seeds with a mortar and pestle.

Whisk away.

Nuts in.
And a damn spot on my lens!

Keep cooking and stirring and it gets ricier and puddingier.


Oh my, but this is extraordinary.
It's mushy.  It's squishy. It's warm and steamy.  It's soft.  It makes my tummy happy.



And it was divine the next day at cool to room-temperature.
I scooped little melon balls of the pudding.

I sprinkled more toasted pistachios and almonds on top, gave it a drizzle of pure maple syrup, and sprinkled turbinado sugar for good measure.




6 comments:

Rocquie said...

I've been thinking about meatloaf for a while now and I just had kheer in an Indian restaurant for lunch today. Both your recipes look delicious, as usual. Thanks, Rocquie

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Every now and then, you just have to have meatloaf and mashed potatoes. And that rice pudding was really good. Thanks, Rocquie.

Unknown said...

Your recipes look delicious. I would love to try this one but I lack with cooking skills. Shared! Thanks for sharing your recipes.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Thanks for reading and commenting, Amber. The good thing about most comfort foods is they don't need cooking skills. I think you're good to go on these! -Rosie-

Amy said...

I'm catching up on your blog posts. This meatloaf looks delicious and easy to make. You need to add a "pin" button to your blog so I can add your recipes to my Pinterest boards!!

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Amy, the newer posts do have a pin button. I don't know how to go back to add them.
Thanks for reading! - Rosie