Rice Pudding

This recipe is one that my mom and I have been making together my whole life.  It is my grandmother's recipe (which I have tweaked a bit).  It is the definition of comfort food.  Last night I made the best one I have ever made.  I strongly encourage you to make some for yourselves.

It is not a "stirred" rice pudding so do not expect the stuff you might find in the dairy cooler at trader joe's.  It is a baked custard with a dense base of rice and sweet fruit and a light and silky custard at the top.

Whisk in a large bowl:

3 eggs

1/2 C. sugar (I suggest raw organic cane sugar for a caramel-ly taste)

1/2 t. salt

Meanwhile scald (bring just to a boil and then turn off the heat):

1 1/4 C. milk (2% or higher)

2/4 C. heavy cream (or some combination of dairy that equals 2 C.)

1/2 a vanilla bean scraped w/ seeds (if you don't have this just add 1 t. vanilla to the egg mix)

slowly whisk the scalded milk into the egg mix beating continuously.

add to this:

1 C. cooked rice

1 handful of chopped dried fruit (I like apricots and cherries)

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

pour into a buttered casserole dish (I like to use a souffle dish).

place this dish into a larger pan and add about an inch of boiling water to the big pan (not the pudding).

place into a 325 degree oven and bake until custard is set, about an hour.

Eat warm or cool.

Couscous patties with mint-yogurt

here is what you need for this vegetarian dish:

patties
1 cup couscous
fresh mint
olives
2 eggs

yoghurt
1 cup of Greek yogurt
fresh mint
cucumber
cumin
2 garlic cloves

Mix all the ingredients for the mint yogurt together, while your couscous is "cooking." Cut your cucumber lengthwise and scrape out the seeds, slice thinly and add to the yogurt. Add minced olives and mint to the couscous when done and let rest for a minute. Whisk an egg or 2 and add to the mixture, let rest again. Then form small patties and fry in some oil in a pan. Enjoy! n*

Potato Goulash

Potato Goulash. A vegetarian - what am I saying? - a vegan (!) classic (if you choose to not add any Franks to it, as is fairly common around here). But why should you? It's good as it is. It's also easy and cheap. Simply: it can't get any better. Here is what we need for a about 2 people:
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
5 potatoes
salt, pepper, marjoram, caraway seed AND paprika (hot or sweet, I go with sweet)
vinegar

Saute onions and garlic, add the peeled and cubed potatoes and paprika as you see fit. I personally go by color. The paprika quickly dries what's been going on in your pan so splash a little vinegar to cool it down. Then add the rest of your spices and cover the potatoes with water and cook until tender. You can balance the vinegar with a bit of sugar if necessary. In order to thicken it, I usually mash some of the potatoes. Done. Winter just got a little better.

PS: This is the fast little vegetarian sibling of the beef goulash, which needs a few hours for the onions to cook down until they are the sauce, basically. Next time, I'd like to try to give the sauce more time though and will add the potatoes after I've cooked the onions with the spices a little longer, similarly to the beef goulash!

n*

Roasted Tomato Soup

The extra time spent on roasting the tomatoes for this soup is worth the wait! the roasting brings out the sweetness in both the tomatoes as well as the garlic and your kitchen will smell heavenly, too. Here's what you need and what you do:

1 kg tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, minced
fresh thyme
1 onion
4 slices of country style bread, cubed
3 cups of stock
olive oil, salt, pepper

Cut your tomatoes in halves, core them if you like, and sprinkle with garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil and roast them in the oven for about 2 hours or until the skin bursts. Puree when done. I would skin the tomatoes next time, rather than fishing them out, as we did, but do as you prefer. Saute the onion and add the tomato puree, the stock, as well as the cubed bread, let simmer for a few minutes and mix with a blender. Season with (herb)salt and fresh pepper.

Additionally, you can top it off with this deliciousness: a blend of mascarpone and parmesan (equal parts of both mixed together).

n*

Mushroom Casserole

Hearty. Warm. Delicious.

Make 1 C. brown rice

Meanwhile...
Sautee:
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
apx. 2 C. chopped mushrooms
then add and wilt:
apx. 4 C. chopped greens (I used Kale)

In a large bowl mix:
1 C. Ricotta (or cottage cheese)
a couple big spoonfuls of yogurt
2 eggs
salt and pepper
a little cumin
a handful of grated cheese

Add the rice (or any other delicious whole grain) and vegetable mixure into the cheese mixture.
Pour into a casserole, top with another handful of cheese, and bake 45min -- 1 hour at 350*. It will be bubblly and golden.

you could also add some chopped cooked sausage.

t.

Stamppot

.
Let me introduce to you the finest that dutch cuisine has to offer... well traveled as you are, dear reader, you might think of frikadellen, kroketten or - what the heck - hash brownies. But let me tell you, if there is one thing worth recreating it is stamppot: a refined dish made of mashed potatoes and a green vegetable of your choice. traditionally green cabbage. we used spinach.

1/2 kg of potatoes
1 kg of spinach
salt
nutmeg
butter
bouillon
flour

Make mashed potatos: Bring water with potatoes to a boil, peel them, mash them, add some heated milk, butter, salt and a dash of nutmeg. Meanwhile wash the spinach and sautee it briefly. And now... mix it all together. fun!

Traditionally, stamppot is topped off with some gravy and served with rookworst. We used organic bratwurst instead, which was a fine substiute.

To make the "gravy", I simply melted some butter, stirred in flour and bouillon until it had the right consistency.

Great comfort food!

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Soup is comfort, soup is easy and in the season of pumpkins... Pumpkin Soup. (Kürbis) I chose to use a soup-friendly pumpkin here in Vienna known as the Ambercup, but I also like Hokkaido. Ambercups are smallish, orange and have a dry, sweet taste.

Preheat oven to 400° F, and get yourself these things:
1 Pumpkin (~1 lb or medium sized), halfed and seeded
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Celery Stalks, roughly chopped
2 Carrots, roughly chopped
1 Shallot, roughly chopped
1 Garlic clove, minced
1/2 Tsp. ground Nutmeg
3 - 4 cups Broth
*Heavy cream, Apple cider (optional)

Slice the specimen in half, spoon out the guts and place cut-side-down in a cassarole dish. Fill the dish with about a cup of water so that it does not dry out or burn. Bake at 400° F for around 45 minutes, or until a paring knife glides through the thickest part. Let cool (or treat yourself to a game of hot potato) and scoop the flesh from the outer skin. Set roasted pumpkin aside.



In a large pot heat olive oil, and cook shallots for 5 min. Create a hot spot in the pot by pushing the shallots to the side, and add minced garlic. Cook for 1/2 min (do not burn garlic). Add carrots, celery and sauté for 5 min. Add 3 cups of broth, bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until soft. Add pumpkin/salt & pepper/nutmeg. Puree until smooth. Add more broth if soup is too thick.

*You can also add a bit of heavy cream and apple cider for a more sweet and creamy soup.

Garnish with pumpkin seed oil and serve.

Vegetarian Moussaka

We had a beautiful eggplant at home and as always some lingering potatoes, so tonight's dish had to be a vegetarian moussaka. the greek interpretation of a lasagne. or is lasagne the italian interpretation of moussaka? regardless.

1 eggplant
1 medium onion
2-4 garlic cloves
7-8 smaller potatoes
6 tomatoes on the vine
salt, oregano and nutmeg as you wish
butter, milk and flour for béchamel with no measurements


I salted the eggplant slices and left them for about half an hour before I patted them dry. I then roasted them in the oven for a bit. I can't say, if this actually did anything special to their flavor, but I felt fancy doing it. If nothing else, it did dry the eggplant for sure.

Meanwhile, I boiled the potatoes for a few minutes. Once I drained them, I prepared a simple yet delicious tomato sauce by sautéing one onion and a couple of garlic cloves, adding fresh tomatoes and some (greek) oregano and salt. After about ten minutes, I liked the consistency of it. After greasing the pan, I layered first potatoes, then eggplant, then the tomato sauce, repeated the layers of potatoes and eggplant and finished with a simple béchamel sauce (add flour to melted butter, whisk, add milk, don't forget to whisk, salt, whisk, nutmeg, still whisking, pour before it gets too thick!).

In the oven at 180 C for 40 minutes at least. At some point I added a little bit of water and covered the pan with some aluminum foil. Before serving I sprinkled some feta cheese on top which was probably my favorite part of the dish. K made a fabulous green salad with my

favorite shallot dressing.

voila! there it is! n*