Wednesday, April 15, 2009

RICE PUDDING!!!!

Before I cut dairy and soy from my diet, I was a total rice pudding junkie. I made it several times a week and ate it for breakfast, dessert, and snacks. I was addicted. And my favorite (only) version was Dave Lieberman's. So when I had to stop eating diary and soy, I searched and searched for a decent rice pudding recipe that I could substitute nut or coconut milk in. Saddly, nothing compared to my good Dave Lieberman standby.
Now fast foward to a recent Whole Foods shopping trip....while in the "dairy" section, I came across a product I hadn't seen before...MimicCreme.
The product claims you can substitute it where ever you would use cream...in your coffee, in recipes, to make ice cream, etc. It's made from almonds and cashews, but unlike the other nut milks, it doesn't have a strong nut flavor (in my opinion). I got the unsweetened, but it also comes in sweetened and sugarfree sweetened.
Last night I tried my Dave Lieberman rice pudding recipe, subing equal parts unsweetened MimicCreme for the milk. It came out GREAT! My only complained about MimicCreme is it's color...it's a bit dirty looking, and my rice pudding ended up looking a bit gray...but it tasted FANTASTIC!

Here's the recipe, with my minor modifications for a dairy/soy-free diet...enjoy!

Dave Lieberman's Rice Pudding

1 cup water
Pinch salt
1/2 cup Arborio rice
2 cups unsweetened MimicCreme
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Few dashes ground cinnamon
Plain rice milk, for thinning (if serving cold)

Directions
Bring water and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the rice, return to a boil, and then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Shake the pan occasionally and cook until rice has absorbed the water but it still al dente, about 15 minutes.
Bring MimicCreme, sugar, vanilla, and a few dashes of cinnamon to a simmer in a separate saucepan. Add the cooked rice and cook at a simmer over medium-low heat until rice absorbs most of the liquid and mixture starts to get thick and silky, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Transfer pudding to a large bowl and cool to room temperature. Place in refrigerator until cool and set. Pudding will thicken in the fridge - so thin it with some plain rice milk when you're ready to eat it. Tastes great served with fresh raspberries or blueberries (or mix in some frozen ones). YUM!

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recipe -- do we cover the pan or no?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a rice pudding recipe for you to try. It uses hemp milk which I find to be good when cooking. Nice and creamy.

    Dairy Free Maple Rice Pudding
    SERVINGS 5
    INGREDIENTS
    • 3/4 cup uncooked rice; try Arborio, Jasmine, or brown
    • 1 1/2 cups water
    • 2 1/4 cups Plain Hemp
    • 1/4 maple syrup
    • 1/4 cup white sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1 pinch ground cloves
    • 1 pinch cardamom
    DIRECTIONS
    1. Combine the rice and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cover, and bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer over low heat for 12-16 minutes, or until all of the water has been absorbed stirring occasionally. Brown rice may take longer. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes, covered.
    2. Stir in milk alternative, sugar and maple syrup, bring to a boil, and let simmer over medium to low heat for about 15-20 minutes, or until thick and creamy; stirring frequently. Mix in the spices. Cook stirring over low heat for another 5 minutes. Pour into serving bowls, and let stand for 5 minutes before serving. This can be served cold also. Try adding nuts or fruit for a great breakfast.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well try being allergic to dairy,soy,sugar,gluten,,,,I'm fifty and can't catch a break with allergies, I think I will try your rice, and will try natural coconut water, I can have flax seed , do I need that to thickened .

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is just what I've been looking for . will it work without the cream

    ReplyDelete