Horchata Pudding

I love the taste of horchata, and decided to try to mimic the flavor as accurately as I could into a rice pudding. This is the result of my experiment - the best rice pudding ever. E-V-E-R. It's insanely sweet and has that smooth milky taste you love, with slight whispers of vanilla, and caressing mildly spicy notes of cinnamon that follow. It's quite a rush.This stuff is also rich, as in if you fed it to a racehorse, it would die. Thus, proving the true yumtasticness of this rice pudding. I attribute it to the use of heavy cream and arborio rice. This is a recipe where the quality of ingredients will really make a difference. I used Mexican vanilla, and whole Mexican cinnamon sticks for a more authentic flavor. Almonds add a nice smooth flavor underneath it all. I know some people like a bit of lime in their horchata, so if you want feel free to garnish this with some lime zest.
All the time and effort that this recipe demands is worth it, and a great way to spend a long cold day when those come up. I just pull up a stool next to the stove, get a book and a glass of gin and tonic, and stir. It makes for a fragrant and relaxing respite in life.

Does it get any better than this? I think not.

Horchata Pudding
What You'll Need...
3/4 cup of arborio rice
1 stick of Mexican cinnamon
3 cups of milk
3 cups of heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, preferably Mexican, split lengthwise -or- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of sugar
large pinch of salt
1 cup blanched skinless almonds

What You'll Do...
1) Place rice in a small sauce pan with two cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then drain. Transfer rice to a heavy 3 quart pot.

2) Add 2 cups of milk, 2 cups of cream, sugar, cinnamon stick, and salt. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the pod to the milk and rice mixture. Place over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until milk has been absorbed by rice, about an hour. Rice should be tender and rice should be creamy.

3) Add another 1 cup of milk and cream and continue cooking for another 20-30 minutes. Stir often, if not continuously, to prevent the bottom from burning.

3) When it is done, you should be able to pull the spoon through the middle of the pudding, and the pudding take a second to fill in the breach. (It should be pudding consistency, albeit hot pudding.) Chop the almonds and fold into the pudding. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature and thicken.

4) Serve in small portions and garnish with ground cinnamon.

For a traditional horchata drink recipe, check out the recipe here at Life Begins at 30.

Feel free to use 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom in lieu of cinnamon and use in the place of vanilla rice pudding in the Cardamom Pistachio Cupcakes with Rice Pudding Filling recipe!

The Mothman Delicacies

Back when we were kids my mom would load my brother and me up into the old Volkswagen Camper, circa 1970-something, and take us on a month long camping trip around the U.S. I think over the many summers, we hit every state except Maine and Alaska.

They were always adventure filled with near death on stormy lakes, running through hail storms, getting incautiously close to live bison and their young, and riding possibly suicidal asses down into the Grand Canyon (donkeys, I am talking about donkeys). It was all great fun and very eye opening. I was a very lucky child.

One particular trip, my dad had joined us and we were somewhere in the southwest-ish. It was a desert and there were lots of rocks and boulders to go rock hopping on so that sounds right. Anyways, it was a grand ol' time, mom and dad could relax and stretch a bit after driving with the kids for 8+ hours. My brother and I often went off rock hopping long distances seeing if we could get lost or find a mountain lion den (mom must be so proud reading this).

After my brother and I morosely found our way back, sans mountain lion, we would all have a meal of spaghetti-o's, milk, and and canned green beans. the four of us then began to chat about our rock hopping adventures like we had found our way into a Joseph Conrad novel, and mom and dad would listen intently, enjoying their spaghetti-o's with gusto and listening with true interest.

We then would move on to joyful games of travel Clue or Mad-Libs. (It is still my firm belief that all sentences are indubitably better with the word "butt" inserted anywhere.) At some point in the night our conversation had somehow moved onto how bugs are eaten in other cultures.

You see where this story is going?

Dad said it wasn't anything big. I decided to call him on it, "Oh yeah? I dare you to eat that moth!" My hand thrust towards the unkowing hapless creature, hypnotized by the lamp light.

"How much?"

I was taken a bit aback, but only for a second. I studied his face - try to imagine me around the age of eight, and apply that sentence. "A nickel!" (Big Spender!)

"Deal." And he made me shake on it, the better to seal a deal with an 8 year old. Mom just kind of looked on, not knowing whether to stop it, or keep on watching because it was so joyfully voyeuristic. She smiled, my brother smiled, I smiled.

Dad reached for the moth and caught him in his hand. What would the moth care? He was busy trying to self-immolate himself, and diving head first into the glass. He opened his fist and picked the moth up by the wings.

The smiles vanished into stares. Dad opened his mouth, and popped the moth in. He took a bite or two, and swallowed. No flinch, no emotion, just swallowed the poor creature that the universe, with my help, had deemed to die.

There were roars of disgust and pleasure from three of us, all applauding dad. Back then it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen, and in retrospect, it still is.

Vanilla Olive Oil Ice Cream

Now that my vanilla bean infused olive oil is finished, I've begun putting it to work. It's already been drizzled over freshly cut papaya and avocado for an simple afternoon snack, but today I really wanted it to shine.

If you've never had olive oil ice cream, it's quite a treat. It's very smooth and creamy, and a perfect chance to really allow any designer olive oils you might have on hand to shine. Regular olive oil is fine, but the vanilla infused olive oil creates an aromatic ice cream that matches perfectly with freshly cut peaches.

Vanilla Olive Oil Ice Cream
What You'll Need...
1 1/2 cups of whole milk
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup of vanilla olive oil
(Optional: If you don't have vanilla infused olive oil, 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract can be added)

What You'll Do...
1) Warm the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk together the yolks in another non-reactive bowl.

2) Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the yolks while whisking constantly. Afterwards, pour the eggy milk mixture back into the saucepan and put over medium heat. Stir with a heatproof spatula and keep scraping the bottom and sides to ensure nothing becomes too solid.

3) When the custard mixture can coat the back of a spoon, pour the mixture through a wire mesh and into a new bowl set in a larger bowl filled with ice water. Add the cream while whisking furiously. Add the vanilla olive oil and whisk until fully incorporated.

4) Allow to chill in the fridge, then pour into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions.

Garrett's Inferno - Part II

The next installment in a little creative writing project I'm playing with that parodies Dante's Inferno. Constructive criticism and feedback always welcome. Will be back to normal stuff tomorrow. Hope you enjoy.
________________________

Further below we went and with each step, the shudder of sobs reverberated the unearthen walls that enclosed the abyss. When we reached the second circle, new torments and new tormented souls surrounded me no matter when I set my gaze.

Here the air was stiff and bitter, and all around us lay the naked souls of those damned with their insistence of pedantic, inspid ideas on food. They believed cheese could be made from coconut milk, or carrots grew upon tress and bushes. They were brash and foolhardy when confronted with the truth and refuted it. They spat upon those who would show them in kindness their errors.

Their eyes, which refused to see the truth, had been not only removed from their place, but from their existence entirely. Only skin could be seen where eyes and sockets once were, as if flesh had simply filled what would have been two piercing cavities.

Each was set upon the task to unearth a proof they could not verify in life. They were tormented to prove what they so furtively believed, and with each failed attempt the trauma of seething electricity scorched through their minds, scathing every recess with pain. Punishment for refusing to educate themselves to the reality of their culinary enigma.

In the far distance was Cassandra, who showed her disdain at her position as keeper of The Inane, through her impassive stare and slightly discernible scowl. My guide raised her hands and waved her off, telling her that cupcakes were baked in their papers; an assertion to the cursed oracle that we were not under her charge.

We made our way through the pit as one suddenly raised himself to sit, quickly as he saw us passing before him. “Those you see here were foolish to those who tried to guide them right, in life they were idiots and fools. Here I will prove fish can be considered truly vegetarian! Do not judge me, for I will show you the truth. The rest are constantly shilling their ridiculous claims. I know I am right! Unlike those who are strewn about and wailing, I will be vigilant in my science, and bring certainty to my claims!” He gripped his head recoiled and face contorted as he then proceeded to attend to his pointless endeavor.

And I knew that he, like his tormented kin, would wallow down here in their darkness and pain, unable to abate their foolish theories and accept the most base and simple truths of the world.

This is what awaits, and with that we descended…

To be continued...
Read Part I

My Cupcakes on TV!!!

So I dunno if you use BakeSpace that much. It's like AllRecipes.com, but without the stuffy rules and ads and other crap. Over the past year or so Babette, the owner of BakeSpace, and I have had a nice dialogue and friendship going, even though we've never met face to face.

While normally I am kinda possessive about where my recipes get posted, I am more than happy to share them on BakeSpace. Babette ensures that BakeSpace doesn't own the recipes submitted *cough cough AllRecipes cough*. Plus, there is a bit more connection with the other bakers and cooks out there.

Well, during an TV news story about BakeSpace, guess whose cupcakes, name, and blog got mentioned? And then syndicated over 150+ other markets including NYC, LA, and Chicago?

Oh yeah... it was me. The Chipotle Cinnamon Chocolate Cupcake is a star now. BakeSpace's B-day is coming up, so be sure to check out what they have there. It's pretty awesome and a lot of fun. If the video doesn't work for you, click HERE.