Dairy Free Rice Pudding

My youngest son has a dairy allergy, which can be quite a challenge when I'm in the mood to cook. Do I only make things he can eat, or leave him out when it's time to serve? Most often if I'm really wanting to make something with dairy in it, I'll make whatever it is, plus something he can have.

The first time it occurred to me to make rice pudding, I was watching Mr Roger's Neighborhood. He took a tour of a bakery that makes it, so I decided to give it a try. It's very simple to make and changing up the flavor is easy too. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger or cardamom, throw in some raisins or other dried fruit when you cook the rice, or try some grated orange zest and a little orange flavoring with the vanilla extract (orange would be great with a tad of cinnamon and some cardamom!). After Ian was diagnosed with the milk allergy I stopped making rice pudding because it contained milk. Recently I modified my recipe and Ian is now a huge fan!

Dairy Free Rice Pudding

3/4 c rice
1 1/2 c water

1 c rice milk
1/3 c sugar
1/4 t salt
1 t cinnamon

1 egg, beaten
1/2 c rice milk

1 T margarine or non-hydrogenated spread
1/2 t vanilla extract

1. Bring water to boil and add rice. Just before all the water is absorbed, add milk, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Continue to boil on low until thick and creamy.

2. Combine beaten egg and rice milk. Add to rice mixture and stir continually until the pudding is very thick.

3. Remove from heat and add margarine and vanilla. Dish into serving bowls and serve warm, or cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge. Serve cold.

Makes 4 servings.

For the dairy containing version, click here.

Lemon Poppy Seeed Muffins

Another recycled post from my old blog. I'm making these today and probably won't take any pictures.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

2/3 c sugar
Grated zest and juice of one lemon
2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 salt
3/4 c sour cream
2 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 T poppy seeds

1. Rub lemon zest into sugar until well blended. Whisk in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In separate bowl, mix together sour cream, eggs, vanilla, melted/cooled butter and lemon juice.
3. Add liquid mixture to flour mixture and stir only until just blended. Stir in poppy seeds gently.
4. Divide between prepared muffin tins and bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes or until golden.

For icing:

1.Mix together 1 c sifted confectioners sugar with 2-3 T lemon juice or water. Drizzle over muffins when cooled.

Source: Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan

~Reese

Chocolate Earl Grey Cookies

A recycled post from my old food blog:

I read last year about how chocolatiers were mixing chocolates with tea and it struck me as absolutely brilliant. That led me to popping a dark chocolate Dove into my mouth, followed quickly by sip of strong Earl Grey tea. Delicious! I also experimented with hot chocolate mix dissolved into brewed Earl Grey tea, but with very little success. Maybe I should have tried steeping the tea in full-strength hot chocolate... Anyway, it's been awhile since I discovered the intriguing flavor combination and it had slipped my mind. Today I was posting at Poetical Curiosity when, for some unknown reason, it came back to me. Right about the time I hit "Publish" lightening struck my brain and within an hour we were munching on Chocolate Earl Grey Cookies.

Chocolate Earl Grey Cookies

1 c butter or margarine
1 c sugar
2 T pulverized loose Earl Grey tea
1 t vanilla extract
2 eggs

2/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 c flour
2 t baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Pulverize tea in a coffee grinder or food processor.
2. Cream together butter and sugar. Add pulverized tea and vanilla extract.
3. In separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
4. Add flour mixture to creamed ingredients. Mix well.
5. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen cookies. The cookies are very soft and brownie or cake-like.


~Reese

English Scones

My son returned from UK Day at school, raving about some English scones he had eaten. I asked him to bring me the recipe, which he managed to do, and it is that recipe that I followed to make my scones. The recipe says it is from an English cook, passed down from her Aunt Bridie.

They are unlike the Irish and Scottish scones I've made, which are usually cut into triangles before baking, or a large circle of dough scored into wedges and baked then broken into triangles. These are much more like American biscuits, only heartier. I think it's because of the bread flour that is used. They are almost like dinner rolls in texture.

This is the first time I've come across a recipe that calls for baking powder and a rising or resting period before baking.

English Scones

• 3 1/3 c bread flour
• 2 T baking powder
• pinch salt (I must confess to using about 3 large pinches! A pinch doesn't seem like enough for 13-15 scones.)
• 1/4 c margarine or butter
• 1 1/4 c milk

~Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
~Add margarine/butter and fine to a fine texture (I try to make the butter pieces vary from the size of raw rolled oats to small peas.)
~ Mix together to form a soft dough. You may need to add a feel drops of milk to pull it together.
~ Cover with a tea towel and let it rest for 20 minutes
~On a lightly floured surface, roll to about a 3/4" thickness. Cut out with 2" cutter and place on nonstick baking surface.
~Brush each scone with beaten egg.
~ Leave to stand for 20 minutes.
~Meanwhile, preheat over to 450 degrees.
~ Just before putting the scones in the oven, brush each one more time with the beaten egg.
~Bake for approximately 15 minutes.
~Makes 13-15 scones. Excellent served piping hot with butter and honey or jam.

~Reese

Irish Potato Bread Recipe

At Carol's request:

From The Easy Way to Artisan Breads and Pastries by Avner Laskin.

Irish Potato Bread

1 1/4 c water
1 T dry yeast
1 T sugar
1/2 c boiled and mashed potatoes
3 1/2 c bread flour
2 t salt

Additional flour for assorted tasks


1. In the bowl of a standing mixer with a dough hook attached, mix water, yeast, sugar, mashed potatoes, and flour for 3 minutes at low speed. With the machine running, add salt, switch to medium speed, and knead dough for an additional 6 minutes.

2. Place the dough in a large floured (or buttered) bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Let rest for 1 hour.

3. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and flatten it with the palm of your hands to remove the air pockets ("punching down").

At this point, the recipe directs you to divide the dough in two and roll each half into balls. You flatten each one to about an inch thickness, then fold the top and the bottom and each side inward to make a 8"x8" square. After it rises for an additional 50 minutes it's cooked on unglazed ceramic tiles or on a pizza stone at 400 for 30 minutes.

I doubled the recipe and cooked both loaves in bread pans, following the same basic instructions, but putting 2 squares in each greased bread pan. I baked them at 425 for about 45 minutes. I covered them with foil toward the end of the baking time so they wouldn't get too dark. Next time I will make a conventional loaf (no weird shapes!).

~Reese

Triple the Ginger Cookies

I'm finally feeling well enough today to make a batch of ginger cookies. For the recipe, click here.

Happy Sunday!

~Reese