Rice Pudding

Let’s celebrate the holiday season with something sweet: rice pudding. This simple dessert plays a special role during the Christmas season around the world, particularly in Northern Europe. My favorite version comes from Guy Savoy: Simple French Recipes for the Home Cook [2004] by Guy Savoy. His recipe epitomizes homemade comfort food: short-grain rice simmered in a pot of milk and cream seasoned with vanilla and sugar. Savoy’s light and refined rice pudding makes an excellent dessert for a special meal or Christmas feast.

Guy Savoy: Simple French Recipes for the Home Cook follows-up his La Cuisine de mes Bistrots [1998]. In his Introduction to Simple French Recipes, Savoy writes: “I felt the need to reintroduce the art of home cooking. And just like my previous book, this one teaches how to succeed at what is simple….” Savoy’s presents his take on bonne femme classics: Dandelion Salad with Poached Egg; Swiss Chard Gratin; Roasted Chicken with Mashed Potatoes; and Veal Kidneys in Mustard Sauce. Savoy also includes recipes with a modern bent that embody the spirit of simple food: Cold Carrot Soup with Star Anise and Mozzarella; Scallops in a Lemongrass Nage; and Grilled Pork Ribs with Peaches.

I think the best dish in this worthwhile cookbook is Savoy’s outstanding Rice Pudding. Its creamy rich flavor yet surprisingly light texture makes his version a standout when compared to other rice puddings. It tastes as sophisticated as it is simple. Savoy writes: “For me, this is the dessert par excellence. It took me thirty years to come up with the nerve to put it on my dessert menu.” Here is his recipe.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes + 2 hours for chilling

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Serves: 4

½ cup short-grained white rice

2½ cups milk

1¼ cups heavy cream

2 vanilla beans

¼ cup sugar

Place the rice in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and drain into a strainer.

Return the rice to the pan and add the milk and cream. Split the vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape the seeds with the tip of a paring knife. Add the pods and seeds to the saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Stir in the sugar and simmer for 10 minutes more. Pour the rice pudding into a small serving bowl, discarding the vanilla beans. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Serve the pudding at room temperature.

Savoy’s Rice Pudding is one of many excellent recipes in Simple French Recipes for the Home Cook. If this simple, straightforward cooking appeals to you, take a look at Vegetable Magic [1987], another strong Savoy cookbook. It is full of satisfying dishes in the style of Simple French Recipes for the Home Cook. Although not a vegetarian cookbook, vegetables play the starring role throughout.

With your rice pudding made, you are ready for the holidays. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Robbie Lobell Mixing Bowl

I have a crazy,

crazy love of things.

I like pliers,

and scissors.

I love

cups,

rings,

and bowls­ –

…

“Ode to Common Things”

By Pablo Neruda

If you spend any amount of time poking around this site, you will come across a handsome, sturdy ceramic bowl made by the supremely talented Robbie Lobell. After reading Paul Bertolli’s Cooking by Hand [2003] I began—and now prefer—mixing pasta dough ingredients in a bowl instead of on a wooden board. I started out using a blue Emile Henry bowl, but I worried that its rim might break off in my hand while pulling together a hard dough. This concern put me on the hunt for a suitable mixing bowl. It couldn’t be too deep and it needed to be really beefy.

Although my recollection isn’t perfect, I think I first learned about Robbie’s work while going through some links on the website of another supremely talented potter, Ayumi Horie. I owned one of Robbie’s lasagna pots, which possess all of the qualities that I wanted in a mixing bowl: simple, solid and functional.

After a conversation, Robbie created the perfect bowl for my needs. It’s a workhorse that I use each time I make pasta and whenever I bake. If you are looking for beautiful, rugged, reasonably-priced ceramic ware, I recommend looking at Robbie’s work.

Best Cookbooks of 2012

It’s time to look back over 2012 and share my picks for the five best cookbooks of the year. As with 2011 (here), my list contains a mix of books published in England and the United States. So, without any further ado, and in alphabetical order, I present the five best cookbooks of 2012.

The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz. Chelsea Green Publishing.

Edible Selby by Todd Selby. Abrams.

Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop. Bloomsbury Publishing.

SPQR by Shelley Lindgren and Matthew Accarrino with Kate Leahy. Ten Speed Press.

You’re All Invited by Margot Henderson. Fig Tree / Penguin Books

So why these books?

The Art of Fermentation passionately examines fermented foods and beverages (e.g., pickles, meads, beers, wines, breads, and cheeses). Katz’s book inspired me to look beyond vinegar-based pickles and to explore a broad range of fermented vegetables. As I write, I have a jar of lacto-fermented okra in the refrigerator and two jars of sauerkraut bubbling away on my kitchen worktable. In response to Katz’s infectious enthusiasm, I even purchased an authentic onggi from Adam Field Pottery to try my hand at kimchi. It’s only a matter of time before I start in on mead and rice beer…

Some might argue that Todd Selby’s Edible Selby isn’t really a cookbook at all. (What is it then? A style, travel or design book?) I get inspired every time I flip through this visually stimulating work and want to rush into the kitchen and cook something. (Isn’t that what a good cookbook should do?) Does it contain recipes? Well…yes, some. But I don’t think anyone will buy this book for its recipes. (In fact, some are pretty much impossible to read.) Buy this book to enjoy Selby’s incredible eye, sense of style and playful creativity. Edible Selby profiles chefs, bakers and other culinary artisans, including a slew of my food and wine favorites: Arianna Occhipinti, an outstanding young Sicilian winemaker; Russell Moore, chef at Camino in Oakland, California; Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt (here) of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. And there’s even a section on Margot Henderson (of You’re All Invited fame, below) and her husband, Fergus Henderson (here) of St. John in London. Cookbook or not, it makes my list.

In Every Grain of Rice, Fuchsia Dunlop focuses on Chinese home cooking and basic kitchen techniques. Her previous cookbooks, Land of Plenty and Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, present recipes from the Sichuan and Hunan Provinces, respectively. Every Grain of Rice covers home-style dishes from these and other regions across China. If you want a primer on simple and comforting Chinese food, I highly recommend this excellent book. Do try Ms. Dunlop’s recipe for Silken Tofu with Pickled Mustard Greens. (And yes, you can pickle your own mustard greens. It is really easy.)

As a follow up to A16, an excellent 2008 cookbook that interprets Southern Italian cuisine, SPQR presents its take on Northern Italian food. Matthew Accarrino, the chef of San Francisco’s SPQR restaurant, joins Shelley Lindgren on this new book. Working from classic Northern Italy’s food—think Ragù Bolognese from Emilia-Romagna and Sardines in Saor from the Veneto—Accarrino offers his refined, modern (yet respectful) interpretation of traditional dishes using local ingredients. Lindgren expertly covers the wines of Northern Italy. As a subscriber to SPQR’s wine club, I can personally attest to her incredible taste. SPQR’s pasta dough recipes deserve special recognition.

Last but not least, You’re All Invited takes The Grand Prize as my favorite cookbook of 2012. This delightful book features recipes from Margot Henderson’s work as a caterer for Arnold & Henderson and restaurateur at London’s Rochelle Canteen. The book is subtitled “Margot’s Recipes for Entertaining” and who could ask for a more gracious host. I want to cook everything in this brilliant work. I keep coming back to a couple of recipes in particular: Bacon and Egg Pie, which she describes as “an old school pie from New Zealand”; and Sausages and Parsley Liquor, a braise of naked (i.e., peeled) sausages served with mashed potatoes. Need to serve 4, 10, 20 or 30? Not a problem! Ms. Henderson has graciously scaled many of the recipes in her book. Perhaps the before and after photographs that grace the front and back of the book’s slipcover encapsulate the spirit of this collection: comfortably gracious and charmingly playful. Buy this cookbook!

If you decide to add any of the above books to your collection or to give them to friends or family during these holidays, please do consider buying your copies from a friendly, independent bookseller. If we don’t support them, they might just disappear! And where would we be then?!