Rice Pudding with homemade pudding, raisins and cinnamon

Rice Pudding with homemade pudding, raisins and cinnamon

Looks like Fall is here, and I'll have more time to post yummy recipes.  Might as well come out of the gate with a winner.  I have been battling Bronchitis for the last 3 weeks.  Finally went to the Doctor last Sunday where they loaded me up on medication that makes you feel worse, before it makes you feel better.  Since then, I was unable to sleep, or eat.  As I felt better, I wanted to eat, but everything hurt my stomach.  Tired of chicken noodle soup and crackers, I started combing the cabinets.  I ate a handful of raisins as I rummaged. Those were pretty good, but a bunch of those on a hurt stomach was not going to be a good idea.  Put the box back.  I found a bag of rice, made a mental note to cook some up for dinner the next day.  Then, WALAAAA, it hit me.  Mom used to make me rice pudding when I couldn't eat anything else.  I went on a hunt for a box of pudding mix, or a bag of the German pudding mix.  Nothing.  Then I remembered my Grandma's Jello Salad recipe.  Hold on, I know I said jello, but if you haven't tried this recipe you need to.  Grandma made a jello salad, then topped it with homemade pudding.  Since I always have eggs, milk, flour and sugar in the house, I knew this was the deal.  I fixed it, it was so good I nearly ate all of it.  It did make a bunch, so I couldn't eat it all.  I finished it off the next day. 
Things to remember.  The rice will absorb  the pudding, so it's best to double the pudding recipe if you are going to let it sit over night.  That way, it will still be creamy the next day.  

Rice Pudding with homemade pudding, raisins and cinnamon:

Cook rice according to package instructions.  
I used Sushi Rice, product of USA.  1 1/2 cups rice to 2 cups water

After the rice is cooked and fluffed prepare the pudding.  

1 cup of 2% organic milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup raisins (or more, I like more)
1 tsp. cinnamon (I like more with this too)

In a saucepan add all the ingredients, except raisins and cinnamon

whisk well & constantly to keep from burning.  

Once the pudding thickens, add the raisins and cinnamon
Take off the heat, stir well and pour over the rice.  
Mix well

You can bake it in the oven if you like a crispy topping to the rice pudding.  350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.  

I didn't bake it, I gobbled it up.  It's so delicious.  
As I said, I did have leftovers and I learned two things:

1) Already mentioned above, the rice absorbs the pudding
2) If you re-heat it in the microwave the rice becomes a little hard and crunchy.

SO, I did this:

1) I poured some milk into the bowl and heated it with a wet paper towel over the top.  This keeps the moisture in, and gives the rice some more liquid to absorb so it's creamy again.  
2) Made a note to myself:  next time double the pudding recipe.  

Sambosay Goshti Pastry with Chickpeas and Ground Beef

Shortly after I met my husband, he introduced me to Panjshir, in Falls Church Virginia.  It's fairly close to Washington, DC.  I was a little skeptical because I'd never had it, and I was afraid it would be very spicy.  It wasn't, it was so delicious.  Not too spicy, just right. We always get the appetizer, Sambosay Goshti.  Followed by Kebab-E-Murgh for me, that's an order of chicken kebab served with saffron rice and fresh Afghan bread. My husband gets the Combined Kebab, with lamb, steak and chicken, saffron rice, and bread.  We get the Muntoo for our little boy.  It's a dumpling stuffed with ground beef and topped with seasoned yogurt and meat sauce.  Our meal is then  finished off with a cup, or two, of Cardamon tea and an order of honey drizzled Baklava.  Can't be beat, it is so comforting.  I wondered if I could replicate the recipe, my husband assured me I could.  With that bit of confidence afforded me, I decided to give it a try.  I didn't want to deep fry them, I wanted to make a baked version. Success, it's very good!

Sambosay Goshti Pastry with Chickpeas and Ground Beef

1 lb of ground beef

1 large onion

1 cup of chickpeas (dry or canned)

1 table spoon coriander seed

1 table spoon fresh parsley

salt

pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cans of large crescent rolls

Prepare the dried chickpeas as per instructions on bag

Heat oven to 350

In a large skillet with a lid

Place hamburger meat (don't break up, take off meat tray and place whole in the skillet)

Fill skillet about 1/2 way up the meat and put the lid on, let boil until the outside is brown, cut in half and allow to boil until the middle is brown

Pour the water out (the oil will go with it, so there's no need to strain or use a paper towel)

Retain some of the water, about 3 tablespoons,

Leave the ground beef in the skillet and break into small pieces

add oil and saute the onions

While the onions cook and the meat browns completely:

Place the chickpeas, coriander seeds and parsley into a food processor, process until it is like a paste.

You may have to add water to make it into a paste

Once the onions are clear, add the chickpea paste and mix well.

Open the crescent rolls and press until very thin, but not broken.  

 Then add a large spoonful of the Chickpea mixture and fold the crescent rolls around to form a pocket

 Place on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown.  Serve with saffron rice and saffron chicken.  Very good.  Very healthy.

Slow cooked Boneless Chicken thighs with Saffron rice and Glazed dill Carrots

Let me just start by saying, I love my crock pot. It's a fantastic way to cook a meal that makes your family think you slaved away in the kitchen all day. The first time I ever cooked raw chicken in it, I just knew we would all have salmonella. Thankfully, that didn't happen. What did happen? We had BBQ chicken drumsticks with the meat falling off the bone. It was so delicious. I've been experimenting with different ways to cook the chicken, flavors, seasoning, and things like that. Sometimes it's a hit, sometimes it's a big ole miss, but at least it's a try.


I don't understand how people are willing to sit on the side lines and watch, instead of try, because they are afraid of failure. That, to me, is the ultimate failure, not even trying. I love to ski. I use to work at a ski resort as a ski instructor. Sometimes, when I didn’t have a class to teach, I’d go on a “clinic” with a more advanced skier, to better my skiing ability. Before we started went down the run, we were discussing the last big fall we had. I proudly said I hadn’t fallen all season. To which the Clinic leader promptly answered, “Then you haven’t been trying hard enough.” I was shocked, I thought the idea was not to fall. He went on to say that the only way to improve is to give it 100%. No one learns on the first try, but you can’t get better if you don’t push past your fears and limits. That means don’t be afraid to fall, it’s not a badge of shame,  it’s merely gravity reminding us what happens to objects that go up. Speaking of objects that go up, another good piece of advice I learned: Be careful who you step on going up the ladder of success, you might just have to pass them again on your way back down. So I learned it's ok to fall, it's just not ok to stay down.

My husband and I love to eat at a little place in Falls Church, VA. Panjshir, they serve authentic Afghan food, which is delicious. Great atmosphere, wonderful service and the food is always wonderful. We always get Sambosay Goshti, which is a deep fried pastry filled with ground beef, chickpeas and parsley for an appetizer. For my main course I get the Kebab-E-Murgh, which is chicken kebab served on a bed of saffron rice. The food leaves me full, not stuffed, with warmth all over from the wonderful mix of flavors.

For some reason, cooking with saffron has always been very intimidating to me. It’s very expensive, so I don’t want to experiment with it, not knowing how it will turn out. So it sits in the cabinet where it will end up being thrown out when I clean my spice racks out. That makes no sense, instead of trying (for fear of wasting it), I let it sit in the cabinet where it, gets wasted. Time to get up and try. I got on www.FoodNetwork.com and typed in Saffron Rice, one of the first recipes that came up was from Paula Deen. I didn’t need to look any further. Recipe from Paula Deen, *win*. Saffron Rice with a few ingredients, *win*. Level listed as easy, *win win*.



Saffron Rice
By Paula Deen, 2007
http://www.foodnetwork.com/search/delegate.do?fnSearchString=saffron+rice&fnSearchType=site




 
Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter

¾ cup diced onion

1 cup long-grain, white rice

3 cups Chicken stock

Pinch Saffron threads

Salt and freshly ground black pepper



Directions:

In a large saucepan or pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions while stirring in the rice to coat with the butter. Pour in the chicken stock, saffron, salt and pepper. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Cover, turn the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork before serving.








Slow cooked Boneless Chicken Thighs:



Large package of boneless, chicken thighs

1 package onion soup mix

1 carton organic chicken stock mix

1 low sodium chicken bouillon cube

1 cup water

2 cloves garlic minced

2 Stalks celery, rough chopped

1 tbsp sage

1 tbsp thyme



-Best to start this in the morning, so it will be ready for dinner and the house will smell delicious-



Pour chicken broth and water in slow cooker

Add the bouillon cube, onion soup mix, garlic, celery, sage and thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Put the lid on and turn to low leave it alone until it’s almost time to eat



Carrots:



2 cups chopped carrots

1 tbsp dill

2 tbsp brown sugar

3 tbsp butter

Salt to taste



Gently boil the carrots until they are soft, drain water

Melt butter in sauce pan coating the carrots; add the brown sugar and dill

Cover to keep warm and set aside.


Dinner was superb, if I say so myself.  The Carrots are my Moms recipe.  They are so delicious!!
Have a super dinner!!!