Orange and Cinnamon Scented Rice Pudding With Caramelized Brown Sugar Crust

So officially the calender says that we should be in the season of Spring.  Well, in my neck of the woods, it is STILL winter.  A blizzard rages outside my window;  I have enough snow in my backyard to build a massive snow fort if I wanted ( I don't!), and there is no sign of melting until maybe next week.  The only bright side to this never-ending winter (besides making snow angels!) is that I can make some wonderful comfort food I haven't had a chance to yet.  Things like butterscotch pudding, and chocolate caramel bread pudding and you guessed it, rice pudding!  I'm all about pudding lately.  Not sure why.  Yes, I have all of my teeth, and no I'm not 100 years old.  There's just something really homey and comforting about it.  March is a tough month for me.  It's so long and dreary, and world events are kind of bumming me out.  I guess I just need more comfort all around.  Or like my friend Mindy tells me on a fairly regular basis "girl, we need to find you a man!"  I just hope he likes pudding.

This is nothing like your Granny's rice pudding - there is no cornstarch or eggs or glueyness to it that can sometimes give rice pudding a bad wrap.  Using arborio rice creates a luscious pudding, scented with maple and hits of orange and cinnamon. I love the cinnamon sticks nestled in the rice while it bakes - your house will smell incredible.  And the brown sugar crust.  Well holy smokes! It's a beautiful thing.

I've never baked with almond milk and I was very impressed.  The pudding is rich tasting, but not heavy.  You could use all 2% if you like, but don't use skim.  The brown sugar crust sort of melts and you are left with this delicious caramelized brown sugar syrup.  Spooned into my pretty blue dishes, and sprinkled with freshly grated nutmeg and orange zest, the rice pudding soothes this winter weary soul. The blizzard can rage on for all I care.  I have  pudding to see me through.

Orange and Cinnamon Scented Rice Pudding With Caramelized Brown Sugar Crust

4 cups 10% cream (use whatever liquid you want.  almond milk; 2%; or a combo of whatever you like)
1 cup arborio rice (do not subsitute any other rice)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp finely grated orange rind
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp nutmeg
2 cinnamon sticks (if you don't have, 1 tsp of ground cinnamon is fine)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

In a large bowl, stir together liquid, rice, sugar, syrup, orange zest, vanilla, and spices.  Scrape into a buttered 10 cup baking dish.  Nestle the cinammon sticks in rice.  Cover tightly with alluminium foil and bake at 325*F for one hour.  Stir, cover again, and bake for 15 minutes longer.  Remove from oven, and take out cinnamon sticks.  Sprinkle the brown sugar over the rice and put under broiler for about 4 minutes, until bubbly. Keep a close eye so as not to burn.  That would  be awful!   Best served warm or at room temperature.  Refrigerate for up to 3 days.  Makes about 6-8 servings. 

Conjuring Spring With Slow Cooked BBQ Ribs

Winter is still roaring where I live on the Canadian Prairies.  It's been almost a solid five months of bone chilling cold.  And there is no respite in the near future.  Having spent most winters of my life out here I know the deal, but it still doesn't mean I have to like it!  I've been a good sport long enough.  It's time to think of shedding layers and wearing the cute boots instead of the practical, warm, fleece lined pair.  I want pretty tops instead of wool sweaters.  I want to get in my car and drive, instead of having to let it warm up for minutes beforehand.  And I want to grill my food!  But the BBQ is buried somewhere out in the snow pile that is covering my patio.  Not one to give up on a dream, especially a dream of food, I thought I would whip up a beautiful BBQ sauce, throw it over some ribs and slow cook the whole deal in my crock pot.  If I closed my eyes and inhaled, surely I would recall what it is to be basking in sunshine, sipping a nice chilled Pinot Grigio on the patio while the ribs were sizzling away on the BBQ.   

Whenever something turns out incredible in the slow cooker, I kind of scold myself for not using it more often.  These ribs were fantastic!  Truly the fall off the bone variety. The sauce was spicy and sweet, and the ground ginger wrapped it all up nicely.  I used one rack of ribs, cut into 3 rib sections, and that is what this recipe calls for.  It can be easily doubled though.  When the time comes for proper BBQ-ing (it will, right?) I would brush this sauce over everything.  Ribs, chicken, chops.  Just cook the sauce on the stove top first for about 20 minutes.

Slow Cooked BBQ Pork Ribs

1 side of pork ribs, cut into 3 rib sections.
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp hot sauce
1 tsp chili powder OR 1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp coarse salt

Preheat oven to 350*F
Season your ribs with salt and pepper.  Cook in the oven for 40 minutes, turning a few times.  (This will cook off some of the grease.)
In the meantime, in a medium bowl, add the onions, garlic and rest of the sauce ingredients and stir well. When the ribs have cooked, place them in the slow cooker. Pour the sauce over top and stir to evenly coat.  Refrigerate over night if you are getting this ready the night before.  If not, then set the timer for 8 hours on LOW.  I roasted some baby potatoes in olive oil and garlic with a little coarse salt and pepper.  Coleslaw would have been awesome, but I had these delightful baby greens, so a garden salad it was. (Serves 3-4)

With a little taste of this sauce, I know I can hang in there.  Spring REALLY is just around the corner. Until then, I'll try conjuring it with pretty flowers too.  It can't hurt!

Sweet and Smokey! Roasted Yam and Garlic Soup with Irish Soda Bread

When people first meet me, and find out what I do for a living, I'm almost always asked "Hey Renee, what is your favourite thing to make?"  Invariably my answer is always soups and desserts.  If you haven't already noticed, I have a major sweet tooth.  Love me some sugar.  But I'm also a Taurus, and I crave comfort.  Be it in my home or  my food.  Comfort food is king.  And of course, you can't get more comfort than a big steaming bowl of soup. I'll make big batches of it on the weekend, and freeze portions so I have something to take out on a weeknight for dinner, because like you, I don't always feel like cooking after a long day at work.  The soup has to be hearty, like a ham and lentil, or a spicy Thai noodle, with lots of shrimp and chicken.  Or classics like minestrone, mulligatawny and of course cream of mushroom (but definitely not your Campbell's variety!)

This Roasted Yam and Garlic soup ranks right up there amongst my favourites.  It's super easy, has loads of flavour and freezes really well.  And it looks pretty! Yams are superfoods, and we should all eat a bit more yam.  I like mixing mashed yams with good ol regular potatoes as a topping for Shepherd's Pie. Slice them into wedges, toss with olive oil, oregano, a bit of chili powder and Parmesan cheese and they make great oven fries.  This soup has other roasted vegetables in it too, and the mellowness of the roasted garlic is a nice touch.  Your house will smell amazing!  Maple syrup, lime juice and spicy, smokey chipotle peppers are the stars of this soup though - the flavours complement each other really well. The basis of any good soup is a good stock.  So either make your own chicken or veggie stock, or look for a low sodium organic variety in the grocery store. 

Roasted Yam and Garlic Soup

3 large yams
coarse salt and pepper
3 garlic bubs (can roast with the yams, or roasted separately (slice tops off, place on tin foil, drizzle with olive oil, wrap up tightly,roast for about 30-40 minutes, until golden and fragrant)
4 tomatoes
2 red peppers
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 tsp. salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. ground sage
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
3 tsp. chipotle puree, or chipotle hot sauce
8 cups of chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 tbsp. maple syrup
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 375*F

Peel and chop yams into 1-2 inch slices.  Toss with 2 tbsp olive oil, coarse salt and pepper.  Place on a parchment lined bake sheet and roast until soft and golden, about 35 minutes. If you haven't roasted your garlic separately, you can add the bulbs to the bake sheet as well.  When done, squeeze the flesh from the roasted bulbs. 
Halve and seed the peppers. Place them and the whole tomatoes on a parchment lined bake sheet and roast until skins puff and turn brown, about 20 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 15 minutes.  Peel away the skins, and set aside.  (OR, you can add one small can of stewed tomatoes, and a few tablespoons of roasted red pepper spread, if you want to save a step.  Still turns out
beautifully.)
Heat the veg oil in a large soup pot.  Add the chopped onions and saute until translucent.  Add garlic and spices and herbs and cook until garlic is golden.  Use medium heat.  Stir in the seeded and roasted veg
and soup stock.  Stir really well.  Add the chipotle puree or hot sauce.  Bring to a boil,  reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Puree the soup with an immersion blender, and stir in the maple syrup and lime juice. If it seems too thick, add more stock.  Season with salt and pepper, more hot sauce and lime juice if you like.  Garnish with toasted pecans. Serves 6.

Of course you can't have a nice hearty bowl of soup without a hunk of bread.  I seldom make yeast bread.  I love it when I do, but somehow I never find time for it, except at Easter, when I make this lovely egg bread, studded with dried fruit and nuts.  But for everyday occasions, you can't go wrong with this rustic Irish Soda Bread.  It's hearty and substantial enough and yet not lots of work.  My favourite!  With whole wheat flour and bran, it's full of fibre, and like I've said before, you can never get enough fibre!


Irish Soda Bread

2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup bran, or oat bran
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp coarse salt
1/4 cup butter, cubed
2 scant cups of buttermilk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375*F.  In a large mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter, until crumbly.  Combine buttermilk and egg in a separate bowl.  Stir this into the dry mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms.  Turn out onto floured surface and knead gently about 10 times.  Shape into round ball and place on parchment lined bake sheet.  With a sharp knife, cut a X shaped slash in the top.  If you like, sprinkle some poppy seeds on top.  Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.  Serve warm.  Makes one large loaf.  (recipe adapted from a Five Roses booklet)

There you have it ~ one of my favourite soups and my all time favourite quick bread.

Apple Blueberry Walnut Crisp On the Coldest Night of the Year

I have the most beautiful apple tree in my backyard.  When the tree is in bloom,  it gives off the most glorious scent, and I love to sit on my deck, in the warm sunshine, and just smell.  Pure heaven.  In Summer, it is lush with leaves and tiny crab apples, and my cat Sunny will climb around in it for hours, hoping to catch a bird, which he never does, thankfully.  Autumn turns it into a golden orb, creating the most beautiful light.  But in Winter, it looks a little sad.  So bare and brittle. So solemn.   This tree gets no love in Winter. Tree and I are in the same boat: anticipating Spring with bated breath.  As I write this, on the coldest night of the year, I need some sort of reminder of what it is not be Winter.  I need some crisp!


 

In the back of my freezer, I found a Ziploc full of apples I had picked and peeled, cored and sliced.  Perfect for an apple crisp!  Also had some frozen organic blueberries.  Perfect. I'm so happy I froze so much fruit last summer, needed especially for days like today.   Can I just say a crisp is the perfect comfort dessert?  Any combo of fruit is amazing.  Add some nuts into the topping, and everyone will think you are a rock star.  To really put it over the edge, serve with whipped cream, or ice cream. But I never eat ice cream in winter.  I figure I'm cold enough, why get colder?  It's important to use real butter in the topping.  For any baking, I only ever  use butter.  There are no evils of hydrogenation or trans fat to worry about, and God love it, butter does make everything better.  In this recipe, you don't need a lot of it, but if you want an extra buttery topping, by all means, add more.  I won't tell.

Apple Blueberry Walnut Crisp

6 Cups of peeled, and sliced apples, and blueberries.  Any combination of fruit works. 
3 Tbsp. honey
1 Tsp. Pure vanilla extract
2 Tsp. whole wheat flour
2 Tsp. cinnamon

2 Cups of large flake oats
1/2 Cup brown sugar (or a bit less, if you want it not as sweet, depending on the fruit you are using)
1/3 Cup butter (salted is fine) adding more if you want a super buttery topping. 
1/2 Cup of walnuts, or pecans, or almonds. 

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, combine the fruit, with the honey and vanilla and flour.  Stir well.  Pour into a baking dish, 8x8 is fine.  In the same bowl, mix your dry ingredients, adding butter, and use your fingers to incorporate it all.  Add in the nuts.  There should be nice clusters and clumps, if not, add more butter!  When you are satisfied with the how buttery you want it, place the topping over the fruit.  Place the baking dish in your preheated oven, and bake for about 40-45 minutes, until the topping is golden.  Turn off your oven, and let it sit for a few more minutes.  Take it out, let it cool, then tuck in.  I love it for breakfast the next day, topped with vanilla yogurt.

And now at look at my beloved tree....