Monday, March 9, 2015

Rice Pudding

Rice Pudding is a comfort food. It is a satisfying dessert that can double as a breakfast treat. My inspiration for this dish came from encountering CHERRY MAN maraschino cheery jars at the Natural Products expo in Anaheim on Friday. The company had sample jars and I took one. I was eager to come home and start recipe testing!

A TIME SAVER tip for making rice pudding is to start with LEFTOVER rice, yes, leftovers! If you start with leftovers the dish will come together in 30 minutes. If you do not, it could take up to an hour.

As with all my recipes, I will give you variations to customize the recipe.


Base Ingredients:
Rice - white or brown
Milk - cows or almond (coconut or cashew will change the flavor profile)
Vanilla
Sugar
Dried Cherries
Maraschino Cherries

HINT:
Reduce the volume or increase depending on how much you wish to cook!

Instructions:
Add two cups of cooked rice to a pot with 2 cups of milk. I prefer to use ALMOND MILK.
Add 1/4 cup sugar (less if you use vanilla flavored almond milk),2 TBSP vanilla, and 2 TBSP butter to the pot.
Add 1/2 cup dried cherries (try to find organic)

Bring to a boil, reduce, simmer and stir from time to time. JUST before the liquid is fully absorbed, add diced maraschino cherries and take the pan off heat.

Serve warm and garnish with more maraschino cherries or store in an airtight container and serve chilled.


HINT: Save the maraschino cherry juice for use in another recipe.

OPTIONS:
Add a 1/4 cup of coconut or use coconut milk for more depth of flavor.
Swap raisins for cherries
Add maraschino cherry juice as well and reduce sugar...great for a red tint for Valentine's Day!

Serve warn or cold with coffee or tea. I suggest a Green Tea from Teas' Tea.