Rice Pudding for Jack!

My little man has become quite the connoisseur of food - I am sure this comes as no surprise to many of you, considering he is being led down the path of fine foods by his excellent palated older Sister, and food lover parents. One of his very favourite things in the whole world, is sticky rice pudding. We had a rotten rainy day today (still had quite a bit of sunshine too) and when he came home from school he started begging for his favourite treat. So, of course, being the indulgent mother that I am, I caved in fast and he and I made a yummy batch!

What you need:

· 3 1/2 cups skim milk
· 1 cinnamon stick (use a big one from your local Mexican/Brazilian market)
· 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped out
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 1/4 cups uncooked jasmine rice, rinsed and drained
· 3/4 cup sugar (I use unrefined brown)
· 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
· 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

How to make it:

In a large saucepan, combine milk, cinnamon, vanilla seeds and pod and salt. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Add rice, return to a boil, stirring so that the rice does not stick. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until all liquid has been absorbed by the rice and rice is tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Do not let mixture brown or burn. (If this happens - throw it out to the cat or dog - can't save burnt milk).

Remove rice from heat and immediately stir in sugar until dissolved. Mix in some whipped cream and lemon zest into cooled rice pudding. Yummy yum!

Now, one would think that would be enough to keep a Chef happy as an offering for dessert, but of course he had a better idea!

He takes the cold rice pudding and makes little rice balls out of them, rolling them in toasted coconut flakes (that all of you have laying around your pantry) then he does the unthinkable!

He deep fries them! Aaaaaaagh. This man is addicted to the fryer. However, after I finished ranting and raving I did taste a bite of this tempting dessert. He drizzled a little bit of freshly whipped cream and a blackberry honey we got at the market last week and yes, I have to admit, it tasted divine. That is what you get for making dessert around here - someone else showing up and stealing your idea and making something quite ordinary into something oh - so - NOT ordinary!

That is all the WiseWords I have for today!

WiseMóna