Risengrød + Risalamande

When I asked s what he would like to have for Christmas dinner, he said risengrød (rice pudding). He's had it as school lunch a few times. It always sells out if they have it as one of the two options! They serve it with cinnamon sugar and butter on top, but it is served as their main course.

 

This actually perfectly coincided with one of my own Christmas food wishes, which was to make risalamande (literally: rice with almonds), my style. It is a mixture of rice pudding and whipped cream and toasted slivered almonds, served cold with cherry sauce as Christmas dessert. It is definitely my favourite Danish Christmas food that I have found so far - but I hate cream, so the best ones I have had were plant-based. So my idea was to make my own version and experiment with what to add to the cold rice pudding to make a good taste / texture - perhaps greek yoghurt, perhaps plant milk or coconut milk, or a mixture of those. I had even already bought the pudding rice...

 

I looked at the recipes for risengrød and risalamande on the back of the packet of pudding rice, and realized that the Danish version of rice pudding is actually unsweetened - just pudding rice, salt, water and milk. So then I thought perhaps we could eat it like we do pancakes on pancake date - have a savoury round then a sweet round, and just have the plain rice pudding as the main thing (like a risotto), with lots of optional toppings / mix-ins for both rounds.

 

For the savoury round, I slow-roasted some cherry tomatoes, idea being that these and some grated cheese could be a good combo. We also had some surprisingly successful salt-baked root vegetables, so we didn't eat much of this in the end.

 

For the sweet round, we mixed up the risengrød and risalamande combos - so we had skyr (usually have this in the fridge, don't usually have greek yoghurt), toasted slivered almonds, cherry sauce (bought in a little tetrapak - easy but I am sure you could make a nicer one with real cherries!), and cinnamon sugar.

 

For the risengrød:

200 ml pudding rice 

250 ml boiling water

1/2 - 1 tsp salt (to taste)

1 litre milk

 

For risalamande, my way: 

Skyr (I think Greek yoghurt might be preferable but haven't tried it yet)

Slivered almonds, toasted (I used 100 g total to make about 3 portions of risalamande)

cinnamon sugar

cherry sauce 

To make risengrød, put the rice in a big saucepan, add the boiling water and simmer for 2 min. Add the milk, bring to a boil, and simmer gently for approx. 35-40 min, stirring frequently. Add salt to taste. Let cool completely if using for risalamande - or reheat as needed.

To make risalamande, take a good amount of risengrød, mix with about 2/3 the volume of skyr or greek yoghurt, lots of toasted slivered almonds, and a bit of cinnamon sugar to taste. Chill for at least an hour, and serve cold with cherry sauce and cinnamon sugar.

Plain stovetop rice pudding

It was the last day of børnehave in s's normal place on Friday, before they move to the summer situation next week. I think everyone had picked up early - he was the only kid left when I got there. As we were leaving, one of the teachers came running after us with two full cartons of milk - she gave them to us, saying we should take them, otherwise they go in the bin. So we did. We don't usually have normal milk in the house (oat milk and powered milk), and milk doesn't keep well, so we've been on a mission to use up all the milk ever since... We're doing quite well! I have been making s lots of milkshakes (milk blended up with banana and other fruit)... and then S had the idea of making rice pudding... Which, the more I thought about it, seemed like a good idea! I roughly followed this recipe, adding more spices but otherwise keeping it quite plain. 

120 g pudding rice

800 ml milk

200 ml water

2 tbsp maple syrup

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp vanilla powder

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Put all ingredients in a big pan, mix, then heat gently, stirring occasionally, for c. 45 min - until thick and creamy but still with a tiny bit of bite in the rice. 

We ate it with the options of (1) chopped fresh mango (the great pakistani honey mango season is still upon us!); or (2) summer fruit compote with mainly cherries, apple, blueberries and pink currants. It was surprisingly good - although s refused to eat it.

 

Baked coconut rice pudding with mango

I liked the idea of rice pudding made with coconut milk instead of normal milk, and eaten with fresh mango. Right??? I approximately followed this recipe.

I also used coconut sugar, and tonka bean instead of vanilla. I bought the tonka bean a while ago but don't really know what to do with it. I was super curious about it because I first tried to buy it when we lived in the USA but couldn't, as it is illegal there! So when I saw it in the supermarket a spontaneous purchase happened... The internet suggests you grate it like nutmeg, and use it in places where you might use vanilla.

80 g coconut sugar (or normal sugar - golden caster)

800 ml coconut milk

1 strip lemon zest (optional)

about 1 tsp grated tonka bean (equivalent to seeds from 1 vanilla pod?)

160 g pudding rice

1-2 fresh mangoes, peeled and chopped or sliced, to serve

Heat oven to 150C. In large oven dish, combine sugar, coconut milk and lemon zest. Grate in tonka bean. Add pudding rice (rinsed), and mix to combine. Place in the oven and cook c. 2 hours, stirring halfway through, until rice is tender and liquid absorbed. Serve hot or warm with fresh mango.

Rice and peas

I cooked some black eyed beans the other day to make a curry with butternut squash and coconut milk. Mysteriously, it tasted like peanuts, but that's another story.

As usual, I cooked a load and then froze most of them for future use. I got to thinking about rice and peas. We ate masses of it in Belize, and my friend Liz used to make it sometimes. I guess traditionally it's with kidney beans, but somehow I thought it might be good with black-eyed beans.

Actually, I liked the black-eyed beans a lot. They cooked up really nicely from dried. I guess they are in that sweet spot, size-wise, along with chickpeas - I find bigger beans often cook unevenly. They were hard to find though - didn't seem to be stocked in any of the supermarkets.

I adapted this recipe to make a version that uses pre-cooked beans. I guess cooking the beans in the coconut milk would maintain more flavour and the whole dish would taste more beany... but I just know I will never make it if I have to soak an exact amount of beans the night before.

1 tbsp veg oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger
5 thyme sprigs (used c. 5 tsp dried instead)
5 allspice berries (did not have - used 2 tsp ground allspice instead)
1 scotch bonnet pepper (used 1 dried chilli instead)
3 cups cooked beans (black-eyed, black or kidney)
1 400 ml can coconut milk
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups long-grain rice
550 ml hot water (or bean cooking water if you kept it)


Heat the oil in a large lidded saucepan. Add the onion and fry a bit. Add the spring onions, garlic and ginger and fry a little more. Add the thyme, allspice, chilli, beans, coconut milk, salt and pepper, and bring to the boil. Stir in the rice and add the water. Cover and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed - approx. 30 min. Remove from the heat, cover and let steam for 10 min before serving. Discard thyme stems, allspice berries and chilli before serving.


This made loads! A half quantity would be fine for us... But luckily it was a big hit with both S and s, so disappeared within a couple of days!

Baked mushroom risotto (dried ceps from late summer in Sweden)

I had a weirdo 24 hour illness - felt like a mild gastric flu? Anyway, I'd recovered enough by the following evening to be properly hungry again - I wanted real food, but something comforting in case my stomach was still a little sensitive. I consulted Delia, and this was exactly what I wanted.

We even had a handful of dried ceps lying around, left from Moss Woods Love, and the single beautiful perfect karl johans svamp (ceps) I found there, M dried, and we came home with part of. In fact, I thought we had all the ingredients... but it turned out we'd run out of onions of all the things, so I had to make a special trip to stock up. It was worth it! This precisely hit the spot.

In fact, so much so that I've made it twice in the last couple of weeks - once with dried ceps and a mix of fresh portobello and white mushrooms; and once with dried maitake and a mix of freshly picked (from a tree I found near our place) oyster mushrooms and fresh white mushrooms. I prefer the dark mushrooms to the oysters (I have some kind of prejudice against oysters I am trying to get over), but both were delicious.

10 g dried porcini mushrooms
225 g fresh dark-gilled mushrooms
60 g butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
risotto rice measured to the 175ml level in a measuring jug
150 ml dry Madeira (or white wine)
2 tbsp grated parmesan, plus approx. 50 g extra, shaved into flakes with a potato peeler
salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 150°C. Soak the dried mushrooms in 570 ml of boiling water for half an hour.

Meanwhile, chop the fresh mushrooms into 1 cm chunks. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, add the onion and cook over a gentle heat for about 5 min, then add the fresh mushrooms, stir well and leave on one side while you deal with the porcini.

When the dried mushrooms have soaked for half an hour, place a sieve over a bowl, line the sieve with a sheet of kitchen paper and strain the mushrooms, reserving the liquid. Squeeze any excess liquid out of them, then chop them finely and transfer to the pan with the other mushrooms and the onion.

Keep the heat low and let the onions and mushrooms sweat gently and release their juices – about 20 min. Meanwhile, put a large ovenproof dish in the oven to warm. Add the rice to the pan and stir it around to get a good coating of butter, then add the Madeira/wine, followed by the strained mushroom soaking liquid. Add 1 tsp salt and some pepper, stir and bring up to simmering point, then transfer the whole lot from the pan to the warmed dish. Stir once then place on the centre shelf of the oven without covering for exactly 20 min. After 20 min, stir in the grated parmesan. Put the dish back in the oven for 15 min, then remove from the oven and eat immediately, sprinkled with the shavings of parmesan.

Crunchy rice carpet with lentils, onions and pomegranate

I went to Cambridge to see Dad, S and B a couple weeks ago. I hadn't realised when I planned it, but it was so close to Christmas that it made a lovely Christmas warm-up. I got to have my first (probably only) mince pie of the year, and we ate well, played games and exchanged presents (still wrapped though!). I also got to buy a Saturday Guardian for the first time in years. This has been frustrating - it is available in Europe but they don't put the supplements in, so irritating. So anyway, I am still reading it on and off. And I came across a recipe for stuck-pot rice and thought why not just spend the afternoon making that because I can? I didn't really follow the recipe, but I liked my version.

rice:
180 g brown basmati rice, soaked for 1 hour
60 g butter
A few pinches saffron threads, soaked in 1 tbsp boiling water

lentils:
1 1/2 cups brown or green lentils
1 tsp allspice
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 cups water

onions:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
salt+pepper
1 tsp pomegranate molasses

to serve:
pomegranate seeds (optional but lovely)
yoghurt
chopped coriander (optional)

Bring a deep pan of salted water to a boil and cook the rice for about 15 min until al dente. Drain, then briefly rinse in water. Wipe out the pan, then melt the butter in it, and pour into a cup. Return the drained rice to the pan, stir in half the melted butter, then smooth the top of the rice. Pour over the remaining butter and saffron, cover with a clean tea towel, put on the lid and cook on the lowest heat for 30-40 min, until the rice is cooked, with a golden crust on the bottom.

While the rice is cooking, cook the lentils and onions. For the lentils, put them in a pan with allspice and bay, cover with water and bring to the boil, then simmer low until water is gone and they are done. For the onions, heat oil in a large frying pan, then add onions and cook medium-low for about 30 min, until they are brown and soft/crispy in places. Add pomegranate molasses and seasoning to taste.

To serve, put crunchy rice in a bowl and add lentils, onions, pomegranate seeds, yoghurt and coriander. Yum.

Simple fried rice

A very quick and easy, very tasty way to use up leftover rice. Taking advantage of yellow curry paste from our favourite Thai supermarket on Istedgade.

oil
spice paste (used yellow curry paste)
spring onions
cold rice
edamame

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add the spice paste and spring onions and stir-fry until onions are slightly softened. Then add the rice and edamame and stir-fry some more, until the rice is slightly crispy in places and everything is piping hot. Eat straight away.

Stuffed vine leaves

S+I used to make these a lot. We disagree over the origin - I remembered adapting them from a Delia recipe (where she made them similar to below, but then cooked them in tomato sauce which didn't work for us at all); he claims he's been making them since he was a kid from his German vegetarian cookbook. But then a couple of half-used packages of vine leaves languished in the fridge so long we didn't buy any more for ages. It's quite easy to find vine leaves in brine in Turkish shops. We also tried with fresh ones, and the process is similar - soaking in hot water to cook and soften a bit, rather than to rinse off salt.

We thought of these after feeling a bit like we didn't put in enough effort when we took cauliflower and breadcrumbs to the last work veggie lunch. Once a month we have a potluck lunch with other veggies in our Department. It's kind of a challenge thinking of something that is fun and tasty, travels well in a backpack on a bike, can sit in a box from the night before until lunchtime, and can easily be shared. Today's lunch was supposed to be a picnic, adding the extra challenge of eating outside, possibly without cutlery. These really rise to all those challenges! Sadly the weather didn't though - it looks like lunch will be indoors.

(makes about 30)

2 cups rice (any kind is OK), cooked in 4 cups water
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 mushrooms, roughly chopped
handful hazelnuts, roughly chopped
handful sunflower seeds
handful raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp dried oregano
handful fresh parsley, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
salt+pepper
About half a jar of vine leaves in brine

Cook the rice and let it cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook until starting to soften. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are browned. Add the hazelnuts and sunflower seeds and cook to toast a little. Add the cooked cooled rice, along with the raisins, cinnamon, oregano, parsley, tomatoes and tomato puree. Mix well and cook over a medium heat to try and get a little colour and crispy patches on the rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste (remember the brine leaves are well salty if they are in brine so don't go nuts with the salt). When done, remove from the heat and let cool about half an hour or longer.

When ready to assemble, fill a large bowl or pan with nearly-boiling water (just cool enough to put your hand in). Take vine leaves from the package, check they are reasonably intact, and soak in the hot water for five minutes or so to rinse off some of the salt. Then remove, lay flat on a plate or board, with the stem end nearest you. Dollop 1-2 tbsp (depending on the size of the leaf) just next to the stem, then fold the leaves around it at the base and roll up towards the leaf tip. You should end up with a neat cylindrical package. Repeat until you run out of rice mixture or of leaves. They will keep in a box in the fridge for up to a week, and can be eaten cold or at room temperature.

Oyster mushrooms

We went on a Musical Bike Ride the other day: starting at Longwood T, progressed from there to first music stop above Jamaica Pond, next JP Honk Band in the Arnold Arboretum, then a spot in Franklin Park overlooking the golf course, and finally the bear cages. We looped around Forest Hills Cemetery for a while on the way to the golf course spot, and I spotted at least two trees carrying oyster mushrooms. One in particular had masses (they looked exactly like the picture above taken from my mushroom book, even down to the delicate cobwebs), and I couldn't resist stopping quickly to grab a handful. Unfortunately they fell out of my pocket and I had to stop again and by the time we got going we'd lost everyone except a chap called Jonathan towing the music trailer...

Despite the drama we found the next spot (with music, thanks to Jonathan, even before everyone else), and the mushrooms made it home. We stir-fried them over high heat with garlic, chilli and soy sauce, and ate them with rice. I don't love oyster mushrooms. They are great in that they are substantial, have good texture, and come in large amounts, but the taste doesn't really do it for me.

My koji baby (for miso)

A gave me a koji / miso making kit. Exciting, but several days' work followed by a wait of at least a month to see if even the quickest kind of miso is good...

I wasn't sure when I would get around to it, but travel plans this weekend fell through, and S is away, so I thought: why not do it now? And, you know, I just realised, incubating the koji felt a little like looking after a pet or a baby. So, it kept me company!

The starter (and instructions) came from this awesome website.

6 cups of polished rice
2 tsp koji starter

Day 1 (evening):
Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Put in a large container, cover to double its depth with fresh, cold water and leave to soak for 6-12 hours.

Day 2:
Put ~1 1/2 inches of fresh water in the bottom of a large pan for steaming. Put steamer in it and line the steamer with a ~1 foot square of muslin or cheesecloth. Put the rice inside the muslin. Cover the pan and bring to a boil. Steam the rice for 50 min starting from when the steam rises through the rice as well as round the edges.

Meanwhile, toast 1/4 cup of flour in a frying pan to sanitise, then tip into a bowl and let cool. Add 2 tsp of koji starter to the flour and mix well.

Lay out two layers of towel in a 2 foot square, with another two layers of towel in the middle and a 2 foot layer of sheeting in the middle. When 50 min is up, lift the rice out of the steamer carefully along with the muslin. Carefully transfer the rice from the muslin to the middle of the sheet. Spread out to into a square about a foot long, about 1 inch thick, mixing the rice with your fingers (I wore fresh lab gloves anytime I handled the rice) to break down any lumps and spread out any pockets of wetness or stickiness.

Let the rice cool to ~ 40C, then wrap it up, first in the sheet, then in the towel layers. Transfer the bundle to a 30C incubator (I used my oven, which is gas and always a bit warm due to pilot light). Ideally you would wrap a thermometer in the middle of the rice so you can monitor the internal temperature - I only have a outdoor-style thermometer, so I monitored the temperature in the oven (typically ~32C) but not inside the bundle - tried to keep track just by comparing with body temperature using my fingers.

Every couple of hours, unwrap the rice, mix it and check the temperature. Continue for 24 hours - check it before and after going to sleep.

Day 3:
Check the rice when you wake up. Prepare a large (8x12x3 in) pyrex dish by washing in hot soapy water, pouring boiling water oven, then inverting and leaving to air dry.

When the rice has been incubating for 24 hours open it up and check on it. The rice should look as it is covered with white floury stuff. Mix well, breaking up any lumps, and transfer to the prepared dish. Spread out evenly, then create furrows 1 inch deep and 2 inches apart (to help it not to overheat in the middle). Cover with a 'lid' made of clingfilm, touching the surface of the rice to keep in the moisture. Wrap back up in the towels and put back in the 30C incubator. Check it every 4 hours, stirring and recreating the furrows each time. Modify the amount of insulation (and temperature if you can) if it is overheating. Check just before and after going to sleep.

Day 4:
Check in the morning and keep incubating until ~ 48h. It should look nice and white and powdery, grains should break easily and show the powderiness extending about halfway through. When it's ready take it out of the incubator and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Now it is ready for miso making!


Notes: I used the rice Anna left (cheap long grain). It was not cooked when I stopped steaming it - not sure if it should have been? I got a bit confused about steaming time, so... On Day 4 (48h) the powderiness did not seem to have extended all the way through the grains - perhaps due to undercooking rice? But it did smell good and look reasonably powdery so I decided to try some anyway. I set some miso up that day (used 3 1/2 cups), left the remaining koji @ 30C for another ~12 hours before setting up more miso (used another 3 1/2 cups), and after that stored the remaining koji (2 3/4 cups) in the freezer). So, total koji yield was nearly 10 cups - enough for approx. three batches of light miso.

Japanese chestnut rice (kurigohan)

We had one bag of chestnuts already. I cut crosses in them and roasted them. They were good, but also injurious. Bravely / foolishly S bought a second bag of chestnuts, and I prepared them.

I was at D+K's place right before prepping the first bag, and they also had some chestnuts. K was soaking them, which I'd never seen before. She's Japanese, so I wondered if it might have to do with some Japanese preparation... I stumbled across Kurigohan (Japanese chestnut rice) - basically just Japanese rice cooked with chestnuts - and figured since it was so simple it had to be amazing. Also, the soaking might help alleviate injury risk since the shells would be softened and perhaps easier to cut into? I used this recipe.

~20 medium chestnuts*
2 1/4 cups sushi rice
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sake (a gift from KC after my aerial performance - s+i drank the rest and it was truly delicious)
1 tsp salt
1 piece konbu (used half a sheet of sushi seaweed as that's what we had)
2 2/3 cups water

black sesame seeds
chopped spring onion greens

Soak the whole chestnuts in boiling water for about 30 min.

Meanwhile, rinse the rice and then soak it (separately) in cold water for 30 min.

When the chestnuts have soaked, remove them from the hot water one by one, score the shells and remove them. Take care to remove the whole of the inner shell layer even though it is tricky - it is bitter. If it doesn't come off easily put the chestnut (minus outer shell) back in the hot water for a few more minutes. When they are peeled put back in the hot water for a few minutes. Don't expect to complete this step quickly - it is slow and fiddly.

When the chestnuts are all peeled, rinse them and rinse the soaked rice and put the rice in a large saucepan. Add the water, soy sauce, mirin, sake and salt and mix. Put the chestnuts on top, then lay the seaweed on top of them, cover and simmer gently for 20-30 min, until the liquid is all absorbed and the rice is tender. Turn off the heat and leave, covered, to steam for ~10 min. To serve, sprinkle individual servings with black sesame seeds and chopped spring onion greens (if you want).

Note: We have figured out a more weeknight-ready version. For this, roast the chestnuts whenever you have the oven on, peel and keep in the fridge til you want to make the rice. Dispense with all the soaking. When ready to make, put rice, soy, mirin, sake (or more mirin), salt and water in a pan and mix; crumble chestnuts on top and lay seaweed on top of that. Cook as above (perhaps a little longer).


This is amazing. The rice acts as a vehicle to extend the wonderful sweet/nutty chestnut flavour, and the textures of the two together are really comforting and more-ish. The recipe made quite a lot but S loved it so that is not a problem... Note, the chestnuts tended to break up when I mixed it all together in the end, which I think is good as means better distribution of chestnut pieces - so it really doesn't matter if they break when peeling.

*I suspect the original uses Asian chestnuts, due to its origin... Apparently there are Asian, European and American chestnut varieties, and although all quite similar they are different. And the American chestnut is almost extinct due to a disease it caught from the Asian one (in Brookline?!). So these were probably 0European, possibly Asian. I need to corroborate all of this!

Spiced cocoa rice pudding

J left half a bottle of milk in the fridge. I wondered what to do with it, then thought I may as well cook with it. With the days getting crisper and the nights colder, rice pudding suggested itself. And, when it did, I couldn't resist putting all sorts of things in it - I guess I fancied hot chocolate or chai as much as I did rice pudding. I didn't feel like switching the oven on or waiting a long time so used a stovetop method, based on this rice pudding recipe.

150 g risotto rice
500 ml milk
500 ml water
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
pinch ground cayenne
pinch desert salt
1/8 cup raisins
1/8 cup toasted flaked almonds

Put rice, water and milk in a pan and bring to a steady boil. Boil (uncovered) for about 15 min. Add sugar, cocoa, spices and salt and simmer gently for another 15 min, until thick and creamy. Mix in the raisins and almonds before eating. Store in the fridge and eat whenever you like, warm or cold.


Well, it's what I wanted. All those spices and additions might not be everyone's idea of a good rice pudding but I'm enjoying it. I was thinking of the rice pudding at my first primary school - either chocolate (we loved the skin) or plain with jam swirled through (I ate some today with added plum jam). Probably the only thing I remember liking from school dinners.

Pistachio pesto rice salad

We had a lot of basil as part of our double-farmshare fest, so pesto seemed like an obvious choice. I really like pistachios right now, so I wanted to try making pesto with pistachios, and then realised how long it had been since I last ate pesto rice salad (a Delia classic, and one of my stepmother's signature recipes that I wrote down when I left home at 17), even though I love it. So here we are.

For the pesto:
~2 large bunches of basil
1 small clove garlic, peeled
2-3 tbsp shelled, unsalted pistachios
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
~1/2 tsp salt

Additional ingredients for the salad:
risotto (Arborio) rice, measured to 8 fl oz / 225 ml in a glass measuring jug
16 fl oz / 450 ml boiling veg stock
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
whole basil leaves
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1-2 tbsp shelled, unsalted pistachios
salt+pepper

First, make the pesto. Wash the basil leaves and put them in a blender cup. Add the garlic, pistachios, olive oil and salt. Blend until pretty much smooth. Taste to check salt and oil, add more if needed.

To make the salad, add ~2 tbsp pesto to the rice in a measuring jug and mix well. Transfer to a lidded frying pan. Measure the stock in the same jug, swirling around to wash in any pesto that is sticking to it, then add the stock to the frying pan. Add ~1/2 tsp salt, then stir and bring to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat, and simmer for exactly 20 min. When ready, transfer the rice to a serving bowl. Add 4-6 more tbsp of pesto, the lemon juice and olive oil and mix well. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with torn basil leaves, chopped spring onions, and pistachios, and serve (if serving cold, do this step immediately before serving). Equally good warm or cold, or as leftovers in the following days.


I still love this salad. I find it hard to stop eating it. I also thought this was a really good pesto - the basil was fresh and good, which was helpful, but I also think the pistachios work very well. Possible I even like this vegan version more than the original - at least as much.

Bowlful of fiddleheads

Yesterday, via Alvin's CSA, I came by a little bag of beautiful fiddleheads. These things are perhaps the cutest food ever: little dark-green scrolls, each one a developing fern leaf, wild harvested. This variety is, I believe, a Northeastern speciality: they only grow in the region (think they are these). So we are lucky.

I'd eaten these only a couple of times before. The first time we just boiled them (in Keane, NH). This time I decided to blanch them with steam and then fry them with garlic. When I tasted them I immediately thought of peas, so decided to eat them in a sort of Spring-filled rice bowl, with peas, mint and dandelion-ramp miso (ramps aka wild leeks being another Northeastern Spring speciality).

(this quantity about right for 2 people)

For the fiddleheads:
1 small bag of fiddleheads (about 2 cups)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
salt+pepper
lemon juice

The rest of the bowl:
1 cup brown rice, black barley and radish seed mix, cooked
1 cup frozen peas, cooked
2-3 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted
1-2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
1-3 tsp dandelion-ramp miso (to taste)

Clean the brown stuff off the fiddleheads and trim off any brown patches. Put them in a steamer and steam for 10-12 minutes, until any bitterness has gone (but they are still green and have some bite). Remove from the steamer and plunge into cold water, then drain / dry out as best you can.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, then add the garlic and fry for a few minutes, until just starting to brown. Add the fiddleheads and fry on medium-high until any wetness has evaporated and the garlic and fiddleheads are starting to brown around the edges. Turn off the heat and add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

For each serving, assemble a mixture of fiddleheads, rice mix, peas, toasted seeds, mint and miso in a bowl, in whatever proportions you like, mix and then eat.


The fiddleheads have a fairly subtle, green taste: they are very nice. And they look so pretty and interesting. I like how the flavours go together but remain distinguished in this mixture. And I like being able to assemble it to taste per bowl: you can use as little or as much of the other stuff and mix it up as much or as little as you like, so that you can always have some mouthfuls where you have nothing but fiddlehead and others where you have the whole interesting lot.

The fiddlehead cooking method worked well. Think you could use asparagus chopped into 2 inch pieces instead of the fiddleheads, if fiddleheads are not available. And use any kind of miso (preferably aged).

Onigiri

As we planned our GF baking day, I remembered about K's awesome onigiri, and asked her to teach us how to make those at the same time... Excitingly, she agreed. We made them first, and ate them for lunch. They were a lot of fun to make and damn fine to eat too.

1 1/2 cups sushi rice (brown or white), cooked in 2 cups water until al dente, unseasoned
~ 10 full sheets of toasted nori (the same seaweed as used for making sushi)
sea salt

Any or all of these fillings / seasonings:
umeboshi plums*
pickled shiso
sesame seeds, black and white, toasted
chickpea miso
brown rice miso
umeboshi-sesame-shiso seasoning for rice

Wet your hands and rub them with a pinch of sea salt. Fill your left palm with a clump of cooked rice: about 4 tbsp. With your right thumb, make an indentation in the middle of the rice. Put a plum and some shiso, or a tsp of a mixture of miso and sesame seeds, in the indentation and then close up the rice over and around the filling so it is buried in the middle.

Then shape the onigiri. To make a triangle shape, simultaneously squash the rice gently between the base of your left thumb and your left fingers (to make the flat sides), and bend your right hand over the top and squash the rice gently between your bent right hand and your left palm to make a point of the triangle (see (1) in the photo above). Flip the rice and squash gently on all three sides to make a triangle until the rice is holding well together (see (2), above). Continue until all the rice mixture is used up. If you like, you can mix seasoning (the umeboshi-shiso-sesame one was delicious) through the rice at some point to make a variation.

To cover the onigiri, crease the seaweed sheets and split in half (see (3) above). Take one half and place the rice triangle in the middle. Fold the seaweed up around it (rough side in) and use to cover the whole surface (see (4) above), tearing the seaweed to fit and removing pieces if necessary. Repeat for all rice triangles.

At this point you can eat straight away, or keep them covered or wrapped in cling film for up to half a day.

*If you don't have umeboshi make a cheat version by soaking halved, dried, non-sulfur apricots in a warmed half-half mixture of rice vinegar and umeboshi vinegar (or just rice vinegar with a good pinch of salt) for about 10 minutes (or longer).

Colourful, robust winter salads

We ended up eating at / from Whole Foods quite a lot while we were out West. It was S's idea. We arrived in Vegas and had one very uninspired meal with awful service, and then he had the idea of looking for local Whole Foods (apparently his buddy who runs learning-to-play-poker courses there stocks up at Whole Foods before getting going on the poker). We found a huge one in Henderson, and that was us sorted for the next few days.

A recurring Whole Foods salad theme was mixed grains and pulses. Which put me in the mood for more on our return. Here are a couple of variants:


Giant couscous, lentils, rice, cranberries and pumpkin seeds

3/4 cup giant / Israeli couscous, cooked in 1 cup water with 1/4 tsp turmeric for colour
1/2 cup brown and/or wild rice, cooked in 1 cup water
3/4 cup brown lentils, cooked in 1 1/2 cups veg stock with a bay leaf
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
~8 salty black olives, chopped
~2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt+pepper
wholegrain mustard
maple syrup

Mix olive oil, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup and seasoning in a medium bowl to make the dressing. Add the cooked, cooled couscous, rice and lentils and toss. Add the cranberries, pumpkin seeds, olives and coriander and mix up again. Taste to check seasoning / that there is enough dressing.


Massive couscous (moghrabieh), chickpeas, beetroot and sesame

3/4 cup moghrabieh, cooked in 1 cup water with 1/2 tsp turmeric for colour
1 cup chickpeas, cooked and defrosted
2-3 medium beetroot, boiled until tender, cooled and diced into ~1 cm dice
~2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 tsp white sesame seeds
1 tsp black sesame seeds
1/2 tsp nigella seeds
juice of 1/2 lime
olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt+pepper

Put the pre-cooked and cooled couscous, chickpeas and chopped beetroot in a bowl, add the seeds and coriander and toss. Then add the dressing ingredients: oil, vinegar, lime juice, salt+pepper, quantities to taste (use plenty), toss and eat.

Mum's 'Red Dragon' bean pie

This is sort of a veg shepherd's pie. Grandma looked out the recipe while I was in Edinburgh and made it for me. She had got the recipe from Mum. In fact, as she looked through her recipe folders she found that she had got the recipe from Mum twice: she had two different copies, both handwritten by Mum. Seeing Mum's handwriting is one of those things that makes her seem so near yet so far - I remember tearing out and keeping all these little bits of paper where she'd signed my schoolwork: I didn't want to forget what her writing looked like, same as I didn't want to forget anything else about her.

The pie was really tasty - a bit 70s perhaps, but lovely. Grandma gave me one copy of the recipe and I've brought it back with me: I made it for S today (with black eyed beans) and he liked it.

For filling:
4 oz aduki beans (or similar)
2 oz wheat grain or rice (used rice)
1 onion, chopped
8 oz grated carrot (used about 5 medium-small ones)
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp mixed herbs (used mix of oregano, basil, thyme)
1/2 pint bean stock
salt+pepper

For topping:
~4 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed with
-marg, olive oil, fake milk, salt+pepper to taste

Soak the beans overnight, then cook. Cook the rice. Cook the potatoes separately, then mash with oil/marg, milk, salt+pepper (we used a mixture of potato and celeriac and it was yum).

Fry the onion and carrot. Add the rest of the filling ingredients to the onion and carrot and simmer until thickened.

Put the filling in an ovenproof dish, top with the mashed potato, and bake in a 400F oven for 20-30 min until the top of the mashed potato has started to brown and the filling is bubbling.

Note: I followed the recipe fairly approximately - used ingredients as above but just guessed quantities.

Chard, caraway and pomegranate molasses

One way or another, we came by a lot of chard recently - from Ang+Brian's Yard Birds; from Alvin's CSA extras and generosity, from my balcony pot...  My go-to, quick and tasty approach to any dark leafy greens (chard, spinach, beet greens etc) is to saute them with some garlic, but having gone through a few bunches like that I was feeling some variations.  Caraway was calling (probably partly because of this recipe), and I was thinking of making a chard, caraway and rice filo package (similar to this one), but then thought 'hang on, that would mean switching on the oven, bad move, how about I just do the rice and chard and not bother with the filo or oven?'.  So that's what I did.  The pomegranate molasses was a last-minute thought - I feel like chard needs a hint of something sweet-tart to bring its flavour out (could also try tamarind, or lemon/lime juice, or balsamic vinegar).

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 bunch chard, stalks separated from leaves and both chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp caraway seeds
salt+pepper
2 tsp pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp toasted flaked almonds (optional)

Prep the vegetables then heat the oil in a large frying pan with a lid.  Add the onion and chard stalks and cook at medium with the lid on for a few minutes until they start to soften, then add the garlic and caraway seeds and cook for a few more minutes, until it is all quite well softened.  Remove the lid and cook for a minute or two more to brown a little.  Then add the roughly chopped chard leaves and salt and pepper, cover again and cook for a few more minutes, removing the lid after the chard begins to wilt and continuing to cook until the chard is all wilted but still a good strong green colour.  Finally, add the pomegranate molasses (and almonds) and taste for seasoning.



I made some basmati rice (1 cup) as I cooked the chard.  I bunged some cumin and anise seeds into the rice as it cooked, because it sprang to mind how much I liked the cumin in the rice from the Indian take-out place we always go to in Concord NH when we are up there at Pete's.  I also added a little (~2 tsp) coconut oil to the rice at the end of cooking.  Both seeds and oil worked well, and the chard / caraway / pomegranate molasses / rice mixture was definitely a winner, flavour-wise.  I did wonder if it could do with something a bit crunchy, so I'm thinking the filo package version could be bang on (almond addition also working on this).

Basic stir-fry

It's been killer-hot for a while now, so we've got a little tired of only eating bread and salad and have been running through our repertoire of quick-hob-cook, simple dinners.  I used to do quick stir-fries like this often, don't know why I stopped, they're good:

(for 2 people)

2 portions of noodles or rice (any kind will do: have done with udon noodles or sorghum noodles recently - for a real quick-cook obviously noodles are quicker than rice)
1 1/2 tbsp veg oil plus 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 in piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
sesame seeds
firm tofu, ~1 cm dice
1 onion, finely sliced (or 3 spring onions, roughly chopped)
some combination of peppers, mushrooms, carrot, courgette, all finely sliced into matchsticks or so
spinach / chard, roughly chopped
beansprouts
fresh coriander, roughly chopped
soy sauce
sweet chilli sauce
lime juice

Really, anything goes on this one - all it takes is veggies and a pan.  First, get the rice or noodles cooking - keep an eye on them and drain when done - do this in parallel to prepping and cooking the veg.

Heat the oils together over a med-high heat, then add the garlic and ginger.  Stir fry a few minutes then add the onion and any harder veg like carrots; also add the sesame seeds.  Fry a few more min then add softer veg like courgette, pepper or mushrooms; also add tofu.  Next add the green stuff that cooks really quick - beansprouts, spinach, chard and stir fry for a few more minutes.  At the last moment you can stir fry in an egg if you like: clear a space in the pan and break the egg into it, then move the egg around against the hot pan as it cooks to break it up and mix it into the veg.  Turn off the heat and add the coriander, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and lime juice to taste (more can be added at the table).

Either serve the stir fry over the rice / noodles or mix the rice/noodles into the stir fry in the pan and re heat a little.

Citrus rice pudding

Noted this recipe a while ago: from the Guardian, by Nigel Slater.  It sprang to mind when thinking about gluten-free things to make.

Serves 4-6

150 g pudding rice (or any rice that will go slooshy, e. g. risotto rice)
500 ml water
500 ml fake milk
3 tbsp candied peel
1 lightly heaped tbsp orange zest
1 lightly heaped tbsp lemon zest
4 tbsp sugar

Put the rice in a heavy-based saucepan, pour in the water and milk and bring to the boil.  Turn the heat down so the rice simmers gently and leave for 15 minutes, with the occasional stir.  Add the peel, the finely grated zests and the sugar.  Partially cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Keep a check on the liquid – it should be thick and creamy.  Pour into a dish and leave to cool, then chill thoroughly for a couple of hours. Check for consistency and add more milk to make it good, if desired.


Looked kind of gross - became a kind of orangey-brownish colour.  But tasted good: pungently citrussy and not too sweet.