Portuguese Style Rice Pudding (Arroz Doce)

It was my grandfather’s birthday last weekend so the whole family got together at my
grandparents house on Sunday afternoon for a big meal. When I say big, I mean we had trouble fitting all of the dishes on the table. But that’s my grandma when it comes to food, ‘go big, or go home.’ Everything she made was really good, as usual, but she is known for a few dishes and makes them every time the family is together. Arroz Doce, Portuguese style rice pudding is one of them. I thought I would try my hand at making some myself and bring it to lunch for an informal taste test. So after everyone was done their main course, dessert plates were brought out and the tasting began. I should mention that this wasn’t a controlled tasting by any means. Everyone knew which version was mine and which dish was my grandma’s, and did I mention that we were in my grandparent’s house? Needless to say that I didn’t stand a chance, but I still received some accolades for my interpretation of arroz doce; better than ‘boos.’ Here’s the recipe I used and below you’ll see some key tips to making your arroz doce a success.

Ingredients:

4 cups of water
1/2 tsp. of salt
2 cups of short grain rice (like the kind for risotto)
4 cups of milk
1 cup white sugar
1 tbsp. butter
1 or 2 cinnamon sticks
zest from one lemon
cinnamon (to decorate)

1. In a large pot, add the water, lemon zest and cinnamon sticks and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Let the lemon and cinnamon infuse the water for about 10 min.

2. Meanwhile, in another pot, add the milk and warm it up so that it’s ’scalded’ not boiled.

3. Remove the cinnamon sticks from the water and bring the liquid to a rolling boil and add the rice and salt. Be sure to mix it a big so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the
pot.

4. Cook the rice for about 15 minutes, or until it looks like most of the water is absorbed,
then add a few ladles of the scalded milk. Stir occasionally to incorporate the milk.

5. Once it looks like the rice has absorbed the milk add another few ladles of milk and
repeat until you’re left with your last few ladles of milk.

6. Before you add the last bit of milk to the rice, add the sugar to the pot.

7. Finally add the last of the milk. The rice should look very creamy and thick.

8. Pour the dessert either into a large serving platter, or you can use individual ramekins.
Decorate with cinnamon either with designs or just sprinkled on top. Let it set at room
temperature or in the fridge.

Important things to remember:

I think there are a few key things you have to remember when making this dish. One, although most recipes I found call for 1 cup of sugar or less, it tastes better if you add closer to 1 1/2 cups. I think this has to do with the fact that one usually serves this dish at room temperature or slightly chilled which tends to make it taste less sweet than when it’s on the stovetop. Two, make sure the rice is cooked all the way through or the milk and sugar won’t penetrate the the rice. Lastly, avoid stirring the pot too much or you’ll end up with a gooey mushy dessert. Low heat and occasional stirring in the key.

Saffron Scallop Rice with Asparagus Wrapped in Presunto

I was probably 16 or 17 years old when I first tried scallops. One of my friends ordered scallops wrapped in bacon when we went out for dinner, and after taking a few bites I fell in love with yet another type of seafood. When I went home that night, I remember asking my Mom if she had ever tried scallops and she said she had, but never really liked them. I was slightly annoyed at having been kept in the dark about scallops, just because my Mom, the everyday cook at our house, didn’t like them, and so, didn’t bother buying them. In hindsight, (brought on by my years of wisdom of course ;) I realize that Mom probably didn’t and still doesn’t like scallops because she didn’t grow up eating them. This may sound like a weak argument, especially when you consider that I didn’t grow up eating sushi, Indian, Thai, or lots of other things that I eat, but the difference is that I truly adore food, and my Mom, not so much. In any case, I’m pretty sure she would like this, especially if it meant that she didn’t have to cook

So that was my scallop history, now onto why this recipe. The Liquor Stores in Ontario have this AMAZING magazine that is published quarterly (I think) and always have really cool recipes for food and drink. I think that’s what the magazine is called, how original Anyways, I picked up the latest issue, along with a small bottle of Bailey’s that is now gone and saw this beautiful photograph of pan seared scallops on a bed of something yummy. All day at work, I kept thinking about scallops and trying to remember what the recipe called for (besides scallops) but couldn’t. So then I googled ‘food & wine’ which brought me to a similar magazine based out of Australia (if you’re interested) but alas, no scallop recipe. I finally threw my hands in the air (well in my head, not literally, because I’d look funny doing that at work) and visited my trusty food tv website. I typed in ’scallops’ and came up with a few pages of hits….scroll, scroll…’what’s a reduction?’, ‘edame…I don’t think I can get those in this town’, ‘ Scallops, Tapas style’, BINGO! The original recipe didn’t call for rice, just the scallops in the saffron white wine sauce. It didn’t say to add red pepper or garlic either. And the asparagus wrapped in presunto (Portuguese version of proscuitto), well I needed to get my greens in somewhere

Ingredients (Yield for 2)

For the Saffron Scallop Rice

1/2 onion, chopped

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 red pepper, julienned (fancy word for cut in thin strips)

8 scallops (the bigger ones)

1/4 cup white wine

a few threads of saffron

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup of long grained parboiled rice

Ingredients for Asparagus Wrapped Presunto

6 stalks of asparagus, washed and stems removed

6 thinly sliced strips of presunto (cured ham)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F to prep it for the asparagus

2. Get a small pot with water for boiling the rice. Follow the instructions on the bag.

3. Heat some oil in a medium sized sauce pan and saute the onions and garlic for a minute or so. Add the red peppers.

4. Push the veggies to one side of the pot, add a little more oil to the empyu side of the pot and add the scallops. They’ll start releasing their juices, so let them do their thing for another minute or so

5. You want the scallops to get a pretty brown caramel colour, so start mixing the veggies (which are probably carmalizing a bit) with the scallops so that all the juices mix and the scallops start to gain some colour. Remember to turn the scallops so that they cook evenly.

6. There should be a little sauce being created at the bottom of your pot. Now add a pinch of saffron and season with salt and pepper.

7. Get a baking sheet and your asparagus wrapped in the presunto. Add a little oil to the baking sheet, arrange the asparagus so there is space between them and put them in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until the asparagus is soft and the presunto sizzling.

8. Once the scallops look cooked (about 5 minutes or so) turn up the heat and add the wine.

9. After a minute or so, add the cooked rice (it should be done by now or just about) and carefully incorporate the scallop mixture.

10. Cook a few more minutes and serve with the asparagus