Foodie Friday: Nicole Young on Rice Pudding

[image: photography by Edward Pond, props by Madeleine Johari]

We are thrilled to have food stylist Nicole Young writing for us. Nicole's mouth watering images have been seen in many magazines and soon she'll be off to India to work on a cookbook. In the mean time, you can check out more of Nicole's work here nicoleyoung.org.

I love Halloween. I love the process of decorating the house and getting all the costumes together. We usually visit a pumpkin patch and everyone gets to pick one to carve. If I’m feeling ambitious we’ll get a few pie pumpkins for soups, stews and roasting. The seeds are seasoned and baked for snacking and salads. Halloween night is generally a simple affair of black bean soup or chili with cheesy biscuits—so the neighbours can drop in and grab a cup while they chase after the candy-laden munchkins.

Taking inspiration from the current issue of Covet Garden, and in keeping with the spooky season, I’m sharing a recipe for black rice pudding. The black rice is a special variety called Black Japonica that you can get in bulk stores and the health food section of your grocery store. It has a rich, nutty texture that holds up well in this creamy dessert. It's equally delicious in savory applications too. Try using it to make sushi!

Black Rice Pudding

2 cups (500 mL) milk

1/2 vanilla bean pod

½ tsp (2 mL) cinnamon (cardamom is nice too)

1 cup (250 mL) cooked Black Japonica rice

¼ cup (50 mL) pure maple syrup

1 tbsp (15 mL) salted butter

In a large saucepan, heat milk, over medium heat. Scrape the seeds of the vanilla bean into the pan with the tip of a sharp knife (add pods to milk too). Add cinnamon. Heat milk for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 20 minutes.

Remove pods from the milk. Stir in rice and bring to simmer over medium heat. Stir in maple syrup. Cover, stirring often, until almost all the milk has been absorbed and rice is very tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in butter and serve warm drizzled with a little cream if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

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