The English Patient

My husband had to have a mole removed from the bottom of his foot this morning so I thought the best way to help him feel better was to make his favourite childhood dessert: rice pudding. Just what the doctor ordered! I love the creaminess of this pudding. There's a lot of ingredient variations you could use in rice pudding, but I sometimes feel that simple is best. I only say this because I remember when we were dating and Michael told me he liked rice pudding. Of course I couldn't just make a basic version so made one with coconut milk and lime zest. Michael looked at it rather suspiciously as it wasn't recognizable to him. I think at that moment I filed away a little note to self to not mess with rice pudding.

The version I made for tonight included plumping up some thompson raisins (3/4 cup) in a splash of dark rum (1 tbsp), then cooking some basmati rice (3/8 c.) in salted (1/4 tsp) water (3/4 c) for about 8 minutes (bring to a boil, then cover and simmer. Next add whole milk (2 c) and a little sugar (1/4 c). Boil then simmer until the rice is really soft (about 25 minutes - and don't forget to stir often to prevent sticking and scorching). Next add a lightly beaten egg for the final minute of cooking; then remove from the heat and stir in a splash of vanilla extract, some more milk to thin it out a bit, and the rum-soaked raisins. Stir it up well, pour it into a bowl, then cover the surface of the pudding with some cling film (to prevent a skin forming). You can serve it warm, at room temperature, or keep it in the fridge and serve it cold -- whatever is your liking.

For the record, we didn't just eat dessert for dinner. Our main course was a tempeh noodle bowl.

I recently purchased the cookbook "Refresh" and they have lots of rice bowl ideas, which you can easily swap out the rice for noodles (my personal favourite). And seeing as how we were already going to be consuming copious amounts of yummy rice for dessert, noodles it is! Soba noodles to be exact. The noodle bowl also includes bean sprouts, cilantro, cucumber, carrots, and marinated tempeh -- all topped off with a generous ladle of Thai Peanut Sauce. (Tempeh is fermented soybeans for those who are uninitiated. It's more nutritious than tofu and much easier to digest. A great source of non-animal protein for those trying to incorporate a few more vegetarian meals into their diet. You can purchase it plain or marinated and it's usually found in the refrigeration area of the supermarket next to the tofu. However, some markets - like Nirvana Organics at the bottom of No. 2 Road sells it frozen. The only other place that seems to have it now is Whole Foods, Capers, et al in Vancouver. The Save-On Foods in Richmond used to sell it, but stopped a number of months ago -- clearly I wasn't buying enough of it!). Please give it a try. I always buy the plain type and marinate it myself. I start by steaming the tempeh in the top of a double boiler for about 10 minutes. This just seems to "relax" the tempeh and set it up to absorb all the great marinade. Feel free to use your favour marinade. The one I made tonight includes tamari, balsamic vinegar, sesame oil, olive oil, ground anise, garlic powder, and black pepper. Just put the tempeh in a dish and pour over your marinade. The idea is to cover the tempeh with the marinade after it's finished its Swedish steam bath. Let it sit for at least an hour or so before you bake it (325 degrees for 15 minutes) BUT seeing as how this is a raw or BBQ only summer for me, I'll be opting to pop it onto the barbie just long enough to let it pick up some grill marks. Then I'll cut it into cubes and add it to the noodle bowl. Is there anything more fun than slurping noodles?