Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

Now this is real comfort food. Creamy tender rice simmered in milk and cream, simply flavoured with vanilla and a few rasps of freshly grated nutmeg… and a blob of homemade raspberry jam. Heaven!

I love it.

Although there are many exotic variations available these days (some using basmati rice, coconut milk) my favourite has to be the good old-fashioned version, using short-grained rice cooked in sweetened milk/cream. When the weather is horrible outside and the evenings are long and dark, one spoonful of this is like getting a huge big warming hug.

This is a pudding that reminds me of my childhood and in its simplest form, it is a very economical dish to rustle up. You can enrich it with egg yolks and butter or make it using cream alone, but I don’t think that this is absolutely necessary; as the rice cooks it releases some of its starchiness into the liquid which serves to thicken it and create a rich texture in the mouth. I do like to use a little double cream though, mainly because it lends a lovely creamy taste to the finished dish.

Rice pudding can be baked in the oven but the recipe that I give here is cooked on the hob. This creates a very creamy version without the caramelised skin that you get when you bake it, but I love both versions. This was just the one that took my fancy today!

 

I have specified “pudding rice” in the ingredients listing, which is something readily available in Irish supermarkets, but this is essentially short-grain rice and is interchangeable with any good risotto rice in this recipe. I have made it using both Arborio and Carnaroli risotto rice and they were equally as good as the “pudding rice”!

 

One last thought – I love nutmeg and I think that it is an absolute necessity in this pudding. Don’t use the ready ground version as it tends to go stale quite quickly. Add some freshly grated nutmeg just before serving and you will be rewarded with a gently spiced warmth that just compliments the creaminess of the pudding so well.

      

Ingredients:

150g pudding rice
900ml milk (full-fat)
300ml double cream
1 vanilla pod, split open lengthways and the seeds scraped out

50g caster sugar

Freshly grated nutmeg

To serve:

Jam or stewed fruit of your choice
 

Method:

1. Put the rice, milk and double cream into a medium sized, heavy-based saucepan along with vanilla pod and its seeds. Bring to a gentle simmer over a low heat and cook, stirring regularly for just over an hour until the rice is soft and has swelled.
2. Stir in the sugar and add a little freshly grated nutmeg. Remove the vanilla pod.
3. Serve hot, with a generous spoonful of jam or seasonal stewed fruit on top. (I used homemade raspberry jam, because it is my favourite).

Serves 4-6.
 

Clementine Posset with Cranberry Compote

I love desserts that are simple to make but look elegant and appear more complex to produce than they are in reality. This is one of those types of desserts and one that can be made in advance which is a distinct advantage at this busy time of year when there is so much to do in the run-up to Christmas.

This would be a wonderful dessert to serve on St. Stephen’s day, when you still want something that’s luxurious but a little lighter after all the rich fruit puddings and trifles traditionally served on Christmas Day.
 

This dessert has a lovely citrus freshness which is very refreshing on the palate. Clementines can be very sweet but the cranberry compote cuts through that sweetness to create a balanced dish. I have added a splash of Cointreau to the cranberry compote because I have always associated the orange liqueur with Christmas but also because it echoes the citrus notes of the posset.

The posset would be delicious served with a few madeleines on the side or as I have done with some stem ginger shortbread hearts.

I like to serve this dessert in small individual serving glasses  (about 70ml capacity) as I like to be able to see the colour and texture contrasts between the posset and the compote.

Ingredients:

Cranberry Compote:
150g fresh cranberries
115g caster sugar
1 tblsp Cointreau

3 tblsp water

Clementine Posset:

300ml double cream

75g caster sugar

Juice of ½ lemon

Grated Zest and juice of 1 large clementine

 

Method:

Cranberry compote:
1. Put the cranberries, caster sugar and water in a small saucepan over a moderate heat and bring to a simmer. Stir occasionally but try not to break up the fruit too much. Allow simmer for about 7 minutes or until you have achieved a syrupy consistency. Remove from the heat, stir in the Cointreau and allow to cool.
2. When cool spoon a couple of generous teaspoons of the compote into each of the individual serving glasses and refrigerate while you make the posset.
Clementine posset:

3. Put the double and sugar in a medium sized saucepan over a moderate heat and bring to the boil. Allow to bubble for two minutes and then remove from the heat. Add the clementine and lemon juices and the grated clementine zest and stir well.

4. Leave to cool for roughly 10 to 15 minutes and pour, dividing the mixture equally on top of the cranberry compote in the individual serving glasses. 

Serves 6.

Individual Pear Clafoutis

I previously posted a recipe for Cherry Clafoutis and mentioned that all manner of fruits could be used. I find that blueberries work particularly well, but pears are particularly delicious especially if you include a generous glug of Amaretto – the Italian almond flavoured liqueur – in the batter. Almonds and pears have a natural affinity for each other and I think that they complement each other so well in this recipe.

 

I know that I am posting yet another recipe using pears, but the reasons for this are simple…

 

Pears are in season and I passionately believe that where possible we should cook to the seasons, using ingredients that are plentiful at that particular time of the year. Where feasible, I also try to use Irish ingredients. This makes practical sense on so many levels. Produce that is in season tends to be abundant and as a result is often much cheaper to buy than at other times of the year when the elevated prices that you pay are basically to subsidise the costs of shipping and flying the produce half way around the world.

 

Using fruit as an example, so often the fruits are picked when very under-ripe, are packed into cold-storage and then shipped thousands of miles. They apparently ripen on the journey and continue to do so when they arrive in our supermarkets and shops. Is it little wonder that these foods are so often tasteless? Eating fruit and vegetables grown in this country, when they are in season, makes sense because they usually taste so much better!

 

For the cook this inevitably means that you will be using certain ingredients more often depending on the time of the year, but honestly, I don’t have a problem with this! I will have my fill of them when they are in season and then re-acquaint myself with them with renewed and joyful enthusiasm each year.

 

It is also interesting to note that the reason that certain foods go so well together is because they are in season at the same time. Blackberries, pears and hazelnuts are a perfect example. They are harvested at roughly the same time and it is therefore inevitable that many classic recipes have been developed that use them together. Game is also in season at the same time that blackberries and other hedgerow fruits are coming in to fruit and again it is little wonder that they are so often paired together on the plate.

 

So, here is another pear recipe, but it’s a simple one and it tastes delicious. One piece of advice, use pears that are ripe and do remove the inner core using a melon baller or small teaspoon. The pears will then be beautifully cooked all the way through. I like to keep the pears whole and retain the stalks as I think that they look very alluring when served on their individual pillows of plumped-up clafoutis batter!
 

Ingredients:

6 small ripe pears, peeled but left whole with stalks intact80g caster sugar

2 large eggs

90g plain flour sieved

30g butter, melted
1 tblsp Amaretto

150ml milk

½ tsp vanilla paste

2-3 tblsp icing sugar
 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C.Gas Mark 4.2. Grease 6 individual jumbo muffin tins or largish individual ramekins (about 150ml capacity) with butter.

3. Beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla paste together with a whisk until well mixed. Next whisk in the flour.

4. Finally add the melted butter, milk and Amaretto and ensure that everything is well mixed.

5. Divide the mixture evenly between the greased muffin tins/ramekins and then pop a whole peeled pear upright into each on top of the batter. Immediately place into the pre-heated oven for approximately 30 minutes until the batter has puffed up, is golden brown and the pears are cooked through.

6. Remove from the muffin tins or serve in the individual ramekins whilst still warm with pouring cream, caramel sauce or custard. Dust with a little icing sugar if you like.

 
Serves 6.

      

Sauternes Crème Caramel with Sauternes soaked Raisins

This is an incredibly simple dessert to make and one that would be perfect to serve when you want to prepare something in advance but that still looks stunning and tastes delicious when served.

Whilst Crème Caramel can be served in one dish and then portioned out when served, it can also be made in individual moulds or ramekins in single serving sized portions. I have always favoured the latter as it easier to control the cooking of the custard. When serving in a larger dish, the outside may cook before the inside and scramble slightly whilst the centre remains liquid. In this recipe, sugar syrup is cooked the caramel stage and then poured into ramekins before being topped with a custard mixture. The custards can be steamed or baked in a water-bath or bain-marie in the oven. When baked, the custards are allowed to cool and are then chilled before being turned out so that the caramel sauce covered bottom is now on top.

A classic French recipe, it is one that uses few ingredients to produce something that is rich tasting yet light to eat. Crème Caramel does need to be served chilled but as alluded to earlier, it is a dish that you can make in advance and turn out of its mould(s) just before serving where the caramel will pool invitingly around the gently baked custard.

I love the simplicity of this dessert…it is just so tasty. You can serve it with some fresh berries or soft fruits, when in season, on the side if you wish, but to be honest, I like it served more or less as it is. Why over complicate something just for the sake of it?

However, I have adapted the traditional recipe for Crème Caramel by adding a splash of Sauternes wine to the basic custard. I love dessert wines and in particular Sauternes. I think that the almost syrupy nature of Sauternes compliments the slight bitterness of the caramel beautifully and creates a dish which has a really Christmassy feel to it. I decided to serve the custards with a few Sauternes soaked raisins, which I think add a fruity richness which is also very appropriate for this time of year. Sauternes wines, like many quality dessert wines can be shockingly expensive and I certainly wouldn’t advocate buying one specially to make this dessert, but I have to say that it really does add something special to this dish. I think a Muscat de Beaumes de Venise could also be delicious. When I get the chance I will try it out and possibly serve with some seasonal clementines.

      

Ingredients:

Caramel:
75g caster sugar

1 tblsp water

Custard:

150ml double cream

50ml Sauternes

25g caster sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

Soaked raisins:

Small handful of raisins

25ml Sauternes
 

Method:

1. Put the double cream and Sauternes into a small pan and heat over a moderate heat until just below boiling point. Take off the heat and set aside for about half an hour.
Make the caramel:

2. Put 75g caster sugar and water in a small pan over a low heat. When the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat slightly and cook, but don’t stir, until you have just reached a dark caramel stage (a roasted hazelnut type colour). Pour the mixture into the bases of two 150ml capacity ramekins and set aside.

3. Preheat the oven to 150C/Fan Oven 130C/Gas Mark 2.

Custard:

4. Put 25g caster sugar and the egg and yolk into a bowl and mix together with a hand-held electric mixer until light and pale in colour (about two minutes). Pour the infused cream onto the egg yolks and beat again at a low speed until fully incorporated. Pour the custard evenly over the caramel in the ramekins.

5. Place the ramekins into a small roasting tin and pour in enough hot water to come half way up the side of the outside of the ramekins. Bake in the oven for approximately 25 minutes until the custard are just set, but have a slight wobble in the centre. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. When cool, cover each ramekin with a little cling film and refrigerate for at least two hours, but overnight is preferable.

Soaked Raisins:

6. Put the raisins and Sauternes in a small saucepan and heat until just below boiling point. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve:

7. Run a sharp knife around the rim of each of the custards. Turn out onto serving dish and place a few soaked raisin around the base of each pudding.

 

Serves 2.

Pavlova with Clementines in a Cointreau Syrup

Inspired by my previous post, where I used clementines with chocolate in a marble cake, I decided to explore other ways to use this delicious fruit. If I’m being honest, I purchased a very large crate of clementines, because they were so inexpensive as they are in season. This is one of the great benefits of buying in bulk and also in season…the unit costs are so much lower!

Anyway, I now have a mountain of clementines that I will be using to experiment with in various recipes over the next couple of weeks. But, in truth, I’m not going to apologise for the amount of recipes to appear in the near future which will include clementines, because this is what canny cooks do – they buy what’s abundant and good value at different times of the year and find creative ways to use the produce.

I have decided to keep it simple here and I am giving a recipe for a pavlova. Pavolvas are essentially just meringues but they also include generous amounts of lightly whipped clouds of cream and are usually served with whatever fruits that are in season.  Nuts and chocolate can also be added but as I have already announced, I have kept it simple with this recipe and used clementines alone. To enhance the clementines and accentuate their orangey, citrus flavour, I soaked them in advance in sugar syrup laced with Cointreau – an orange flavoured liqueur.

What I aim to show here is that with minimal skills in the use of a piping bag, the most gorgeous and delicious dessert can be created.

      

Ingredients:

For the Cointreau soaked clementines:
5 clementines, peeled, white pith removed and segmented
100ml water

100g caster sugar

2 tablespoons of Cointreau

For the pavlova discs:

175g caster sugar

3 large egg whites

For the meringue kisses:

225g caster sugar

4 large egg whites

To finish:
500ml single cream, lightly whipped
 

Method:

To make the Cointreau soaked clementines:
1. Put the water and caster sugar into a small pan and heat until boiling. Let bubble away for about three minutes without colouring until you have a clear syrupy mixture. Remove from the heat and allow cool for three or four minutes. Add the Cointreau and stir through gently. Add the segmented clementines and set aside to cool. Once cool, cover with cling film and refrigerate until required.
For the pavlova discs:

2. Preheat the oven to 140C/Fan Oven 120C/Gas Mark 1. Mark out three 18cm circles on three pieces of non-stick baking parchment and place each piece of baking parchment on a baking tray.

3. Place the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl and whisk them until they are standing in soft peaks in the bowl. Gradually add the caster sugar and whisk well between each addition to ensure that the sugar is fully incorporated.

4. Divide the mixture evenly between the tree circles and using the back of a metal spoon, spread out to form three discs, using the pre-drawn circles as a guide.

5. Bake for 90 minutes until the meringues are crisp and dry. Turn off the oven and allow the pavlova discs to cool, with the oven door slightly ajar for about an hour.

To make the meringue kisses:

6. Pre-heat the oven to 140C/Fan Oven 120C/Gas Mark 1. Line three baking trays with fresh non-stick baking parchment.

7. Following the method given above, place the egg whites in a bowl and when you have reached the soft peak stage, gradually incorporate the caster sugar.

8. Once the meringue is made, spoon it into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe out approximately 60 meringue kisses about 4cm in diameter.

9. Place into the preheated oven and bake for an hour. Again, turn off the oven, leaving the door slightly ajar and allow to cool for about an hour.

To assemble:

10. Whip the cream lightly until it is standing in softly billowing peaks which just hold their shape. Place one of the pavlova discs on your serving plate and top with a layer of cream about 1cm deep.
11. Scatter over a third of the Cointreau soaked clementines. Place the second pavlova disc on top and as before top with a layer of cream and one third of the clementines. Top with the remaining disc.

12. Cover the side of the pavlova with the remaining cream and then gently press the meringue kisses into the cream so that the peak of each is pointing out. Top the pavlova with the remaining clementines.
 

Serves 8-10.