If you ask me to bring dessert, it will be Rice Pudding.

If you ask me to bring dessert, it will be Rice Pudding, and you better not be dieting.

Rice Pudding is the combination of everything I love: BUTTER, WHOLE FAT, CREAMY MILK...EGGS...SUGAH!....VANILLA...and rice. I am not a fan of rice, but since rice pudding would be nill without it, I take it into my heart.

So, just make at least 3 extra cups of rice the next time you make dinner.

Here is the original recipe I used on allrecipes.com that serves 4. Below is my version, and it really only serves 4 of us, maybe 6 if you don't like big helpings :). The base recipe is really easy to double, and that is what I do when I take this to parties.

Ingredients

• 3  cups cooked white rice
• 3.5  cups milk, divided (keep out a 1.2 cup)
• 1/3 cup-ish white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2/3 cup golden raisins
• 2 +  tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Fresh nutmeg

In a clean saucepan, combine 3 cups cooked rice, 3 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg, and raisins; cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

If you can stand it, chill :). Sprinkle with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice once cool.

Voila! Heaven in a pot!  

The easiest sourdough bread in the world....really.

I love bread!

About two or three years ago, I found out that my body does not love bread. I began having all kinds of issues. I was tested, and I am not allergic to gluten, but something was making me ill.

I have since figured out that it is wheat that makes me ill. Not all wheat, but that is a whole 'nother post. Today, I want to introduce you my very simple sourdough.

You will need:
1 half gallon mason jar with lid (plastic)
1 glass bowl with tight fitting lid (Mine is a large Pyrex with a white rubber lid, like this one)
1 cast iron pot with tight fitting lid (this is what I use)
Time

To make a sourdough starter, you need a Mason jar, flour (I prefer organic unbleached wheat. I have tried with alternative flours, and it did not work for me), and filtered water. I use water from my tap, run through a faucet mount filter. It works.

Start by taking 1/2 cup flour, and about a 1/3 cup water and mix it on your mason jar. Put a lid on it, but do not screw shut. Now repeat this every 12 hours :)...yes, it is babysitting in the beginning, but it gets easier.  After two or three days, you should see bubbles. On day four, take out about 1/2 cup and discard, and add your new flour/water. In 5-7 days, you should be able to smell the "sour" smell. It smells good, like beer, not stinky. The starter should start rising pretty dramatically around day 4-5. You can see I have a pan under my starter...that is because they can explode out of the jar, and often do.

Once your starter is ready, it is time to bake!

In a glass bowel, mix 4 cups of flour, 1 cup of starter, 1 tblsp of sea salt. Mix with a spoon, just until it is moist. Put an airtight lid on it! Let is stand 8-10 hours, no more. I usually make mine at night and let it stand until morning so we have fresh bread.

Preheat your oven to 450. The pot & lid should be in the oven. Once it is hot, take it out, put your dough in, close, and put it right back in the hot oven. My dough is always a bit 'runny', almost like cake dough. I do not fold it, knead it, proof it. Nope. Right in the pot.

Let bake 30 minutes. Take off your lid. If your bread is still "white", leave it in the oven 5-10 more minutes to crisp.

This is what you get:

This bread keeps very well if it is not eaten, at least 5 days. I put mine cut side down on the board, and wrap a thick cotton towel around it. This goes on top of my oven. When the bread gets too hard, use it as crumbs, cubes for soups, breadpudding.....

Every time I use starter, I put back 1 cup of flour and a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water. You want it to be a bit soft. You should always have at least 1/2 cup left to mingle with your new flour. Sometimes, I feed it every day because I know my friends are coming over for some bread, and it is almost guaranteed that they want to make their own after that ;).

BTW...you may have noticed how I said I can't eat wheat :). Well, I can eat my own bread, not as much as I like, but at least 2-3 slices a day and I am fine. I get really good organic flour, and the ferment of the sourdough seems to help too. There you go, there are still miracles!

Have fun, let me know how it goes!
Much love,
Heike

Lamb Balls - Bliss stuffed with cheese

I love, love, love shopping at ethnic stores. Not just because they remind me of home, even if they are not my "native"  culture (growing up in Germany, we become very culturally diverse), but because the prices are so much better than a regular store. I do not shop at regular grocery stores very often anyways :).

I am fortunate to live in a city that is culturally diverse. I regularly go to the German butcher, the Russion grocery store, and the Halal market.

On my recent visit t the Halal market, I purchased the following goodies hat made tonight's meal a jiff:

• Medium CousCous (ready in 5 minutes!!! All you have to do is cover with hot water, and wait!)
• Sadaf Kebab Seasoning (the seasoning packets are divine at the Halal store. And they are cheap!)
• Tahini (OMG>...never, ever buy this at the health food store!)
• Bulgarian Sheep Cheese (I had this already, I always by a big block at CostCo, cuz' I love it! You can get this tart, firm sheep cheese at both the Russian store open, and the Halal market has it too. Or CostCo.) Cut & crumble in a small bowl.

and you will need: 

• 2lbs of ground lamb (I purchased mine from a friend. Kissed that lamb, and know how lovingly it was raised. Get your meat local if you can!)
• Green mixed salad
• 1 egg
• 1 onion.

Heat up your big cast iron pot with olive oil.  Slice 1/2 large onion, fry in pot.

Boil some water for couscous.  When it boils, cover couscous with water and cover.

Mix the seasoning into your meat with 1 egg.  Form medium sized balls, make an ident, fill with sheep cheese, and close. Once the onions are brown, begin putting the balls into the pot.

As you lamb balls brown, start making the tahini sauce according to the recipe on the jar :). Or buy prepared Tahini sauce.  Wash & drain salad, mix with Tahini sauce (I use my hands, the sauce is thick).

Turn your lamb balls. They should be crispy on the outside, it takes about 15-20 to be done.

Fluff your couscous and add some butter!

Arrange couscous, salad, and balls. Drip some Tahini sauce on the lamb balls and ENJOY!

Pumpkin & dark chocolate

I am not a chocolate fan.

Yes, I know that is weird, and whenever I say: "I don't like chocolate." I get very strange looks.

:)

A few days ago, I asked on Facebook for people's favorite pumpkin recipe.  This morning I woke up, and my first thought was "Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies"! Yes, it is a strange world (and I wonder what I was doing n my dream??).

So, as you can see, every blue moon I will get a craving that must be satisfied. And it has to be dark chocolate.

Thankfully, my house is always stocked with important essentials such as pumpkin & chocolate chips :). 

Here you go (original recipe from Food Network) :Yes, my cookies are always BIG :).

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2  cup white sugar
12  cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cups  spelt flour (all-purpose flour is fine!)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 heaping tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cups (12-ounce bag) dark chocolate chips ( I use less than the recipe because they are dark, and I don't like them oozing all over the cookie)
Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, spices. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

Pair this with a fantastic "healthy" version of a Pumpkin Latte (recipe can be found here). BTW, I am a simple girl and just heated the milk, added the pumpkin & spice and very strong coffee. No blending, because I hate doing dishes :)....Voila!

From bowl to table, 40 minutes! Spelt Soda Bread

I am always in a pinch. I am not sure why I have this talent, but rising of bread usually occurs while we are already chompin' away at other bread.....we just can't wait.

This bread is easy & quick. I have adapted a recipe and just made it my own. Play with it! Spelt flour
is temperamentful, experiment!

Preheat your oven to 450F. Put a dutch oven or other covered baking dish in to heat up. Make sure it is greased. I use a cast iron dutch oven that is well seasoned.

Mix

4.5 cups of white spelt flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking SODA*
1 tblsp Cream of Tartar
2 ish cups of buttermilk or kefir (I use the latter)

Mix the dry ingredients well.
*Baking Soda and salt can make this very salty if you use too much. If you get baking soda streaks in your bread, sift the dry ingredients to ensure they mix well!

Add milk or kefir and stir. Do not stir with machine. You don't want to overmix, but stir until the flour forms a wettish ball. Spelt flour is funny, sometimes I need more liquid than the recipe calls for, sometimes I don't!

Cover and bake for 35 minutes.

enjoy!!

What to do with too much KEFIR???

I make my own milk kefir.

Not that it is warm, my kefir grains are on overdrive, and it multiplies like crazy. Since my kids are striking on kefir at the moment (weird. One day they LOVE it, the next day they HATE it.), I have found a way to make it irresistable!

Popsicles.

Seriously, kefir popsicles are the best.

All you need is some popsiscle containers (or you can get crafty with small, rinsed out joghurt cups), kefir, and any kind of yummy fruit. I put in some raw honey too, that makes it magic.

BLEND!!!!

Put in containers and freeze.

Voila!

Rhubarb: A serenade & a muffin

Rhubarb cake & rhubarb compott, both bring instant happy childhood memories :).

Rhubarb is a pretty hardy plant that is easy to grow, and often grows in masses. You would not know it here in California, where Rhubarb is priced as if a truffle pig had to scout it out. Last year, I decided to plant my own in my front yard, where I am slowly removing the weeds lawn to make way for food. I do not water things I cannot eat. Even though rhubarb thrives in cooler climates, I decided that "I" am going to be a pioneer woman and grow rhubarb anyways....even if my summer average is a smoldering 100+ degrees. My plant actually grew, but my neighbor, whose over-sprinkling seemed like a blessing at first (I generally forget to water),  sprinkled too much and the plant literally drowned.  So in January I planted two new plants and a wall to safe guard them from the killer sprinkler, and by the end of January I saw the little heads of my old plants come back! EUREKA!!!

Rhubarb should not be harvested until the second year, so I am now harvesting my old plants :). I

have green rhubarb, just so you don't get think I am confused when you see the pictures! Today I got a big batch that looked like it wanted to get out of the heat.  You can store fresh rhubarb in a bucket with some water, just place it with the "root" side down in the water. I would not keep it this way for longer than a day. If you need longer, cut and put in the fridge in airtight containers (a few days), or freeze.

Since we are road tripping tomorrow, I made muffins. While looking for recipes, I found the coolest site, all about rhubarb and fittingly named Rhubarbinfo.com! I used their Rhubarb-Buttermilk recipe, but adapted it to fit my food:

WARNING: If you do not eat sugar, or butter, my recipes will offend you. I eat both. They make me happy.

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salad oil coconut oil (I don't even know what that is.)

1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract (I used home made Bourbon Vanilla! Yum! Just soak 

pods in bourbon or rum!)
1 cup buttermilk kefir (I make kefir, always use it in lieu of buttermilk)
1 1/2 cups finely diced rhubarb
1/2 cups pecan pieces almond slivers. I did not put them in the mix, 

sprinkled them on top for crunch.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour white spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Topping: I completely omitted this. First, I only use butter. Second, I rather put the butter on my 

mmuffin :)

1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp melted margarine

Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 24 18 medium-sized muffin cups.
• Combine in large bowl: brown sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Stir into mixture buttermilk, rhubarb, and pecans.
• In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add this mixture all at once to rhubarb mixture and stir until all ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.
• Fill prepared muffin pan 3/4 full with batter.
• Quickly combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of batter in each muffin cup.
• Bake in preheated oven on center shelf 15 to 20 minutes.

YUM!!!

I also chopped up some rhubarb for compott. Easiest thing in the world, and tastes great on joghurt, pancakes, oatmeal, etc.

Chop rhubarb in 1/2 inch pieces. Put in pot, cover the bottom with a bit of water. Add some brown
sugar (to taste!), a cinnamon stick, and some cloves. Simmer until the rhubard is soft. Do not overcook, or you will have jam! You can add strawberries to this, they work nice together!
Put it in a mason jar, and store in the fridge for easy access!

Rhubarb freezes well too! Just chop in small pieces, and freeze. I like to write how many cups are in the bag on the bag. This way I can use it to make rhubarb jam (delicious, and a family favorite) in
the winter. Or I will just heat it up for compott or pie filling. 

So here is my muffin, my wine, my computer :). The perfect late night study snack. Happy Solstice to you!

Much love, Heike