Torta di Riso al Profumo d' Arancio

I un-ashamedly lifted this recipe straight from another blog


I saw it posted the other week and it just sounded so lovely, that I not only had to give it a try, but share it with all of you too.

Don't worry though, I did ask permission first!

Bizzy Lizzy's Good Things is a great blog written by a fantastic foodie and fellow Canberran who shares her food, philosophy and photographs with such style and enthusiasm, and generosity too! Thankyou Lizzy!
http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/2/post/2012/10/torta-di-riso-al-profumo-d-arancio.html#comments


Lizzy has said that this recipe reminded her of her childhood, and a similar recipe her mother made. My memories of rice pudding are the traditional type, made of rice simmered with milk and sugar and flavoured with nutmeg instead of vanilla or orange; My hubby remembers only cooked rice mixed with sugar and cream to a wet type of dessert with no nuances of flavour at all; My kiddies are more familiar with our own family version of rice simmered with pandan and cardamon with a palm sugar syrup... I guess however you make it, a memory is only a taste away.....

I certainly was impressed with the idea of this dish. I'm always looking for desserts that would translate well to catering/ cafe menus, and I think that a slice of this torte is much more elegant that a sloppy pudding in a bowl indeed- no matter how nice it tasted!

Torta di Riso al Profumo d'Ara
 or: Orange Rice Cake

1.7 lt lactose free Milk
1 Vanilla Pod
rind of half a Lemon
1 cup White Sugar
300gr Aborio Rice
6 Eggs, separated
1/4 cup Orange Liquor
1/3 cup Raisins
zest of one Orange





For the flavourings, peel the lemon thinly in nice big strips to make it easier to fish out of the pot later, and scrape all the lovely little seeds from the vanilla pod

Combine the milk, vanilla seeds and pod, lemon rind and sugar in a large sauce pan and bring to the boil

Add in the rice, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring constantly- like a risotto- until the rice is just softened and the milk mixture is nice and creamy.
Pull out the vanilla and lemon strips, then let the rice cool

Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks

Mix the egg yolks with the orange liquor until creamy looking, then stir into the rice mixture. Make sure it gets really well mixed through as this is the 'glue' for the whole cake

See how fine a microplane can zest an orange? So beautifully without any of the bitter white pith at all. I much prefer using one of these than a zester or grater

Toss in the orange zest and raisins and give it another really good stir

Add in about a quarter of the egg whites and mix through to lighten the mixture up. Then carefully fold through the rest of the whites, making sure you don't get carried away and knock all the air out of the mix.

Gently pour the mixture into a lined 24 cm cake tin.

Bake at 180*C for an hour, covering the top after about halfway through so it doesn't over brown

Let the cake cool in the tin and rest overnight in the refrigerator for it  to firm up and for the flavours to really settle in

Now for a bit of extra yumminess!

I really didn't want to waste that poor little nude orange, so while the cake was baking I made so candied orange slices.


I cut the orange into thin slices, then popped them into a very small saucepan with an obscene amount of sugar- about 1 1/2  cups, and just enough water to make sure the slices were covered.
Stir it around for a while to make sure the sugar is dissolved properly, then leave it on a gentle simmer for the hour or so until the slices and their skin are translucent and have that shiny, glossy look that says they've absorbed about as much sugar as they can handle. You might have to put a little more water in now and then, or at least turn the slices over to make sure they're all getting their share of sweetness.




Place your cake on a serving platter, top with the candied oranges or dust liberally with icing sugar, and enjoy!

Such a lovely moist cake that still holds its shape perfectly and slices beautifully- just use a wet knife to help things along
The vanilla and lemon add a solid grounding for the risotto, with the orange giving it a stronger scented flavour that is just lovely and sweet

I have to admit, that I had wondered if all the mucking about to make a perfectly good rice pudding into a cake was going to be worth it- but it certainly was indeed, and I'll be making this a regular for sure

So Dear Readers, what type of Rice Pudding do you remember from your childhood, and does it differ greatly form your family favourite now?









.

In My Kitchen Garden

Slowly, ever so slowly, Spring is creeping into my garden


Canberra is a tricky place in Spring. Late frosts burn off early seedlings, and it's really not worth planting tender little lovelies until October.... until this year that is, when Winter returned with a vengeance last week leaving snow on our ranges and sad little spots where my veggie seedlings used to be before dying of frostbite.

Despite all this, there is some rustling in the undergrowth as a weekend of gorgeous sunshine has bought out the best of my rhubarb and my strawberries are covered in blossoms with the promise of fruits to come.

Would you like a tour?




Unfortunately everything is fenced off as much as possible due to a veggie loving German Shepherd :) There are also many wine barrels, pots and even old car tyres scattered around so I can take advantage of as much space as possible.

I don't aim to be totally self-sufficient with my garden, my arms are just not up to it I'm afraid. I certainly grow enough in the warmer months to stop us buying much, and then I process and freeze as much as I can for the rest of the year, but it's just to cold and frosty here to grow much over Winter at all.




Here are my three raised beds, I rotate the plants each year. At the moment there is some little lettuces, carrots, silverbeet, perennial spinach, leeks and cabbages hiding in them- plus little pea and bean seedlings at the base of the green arches.

What a beautiful cabbage indeed! They were very slow growing over winter, but just about ready to eat now

Various strawberries popping up all over the place

One of my many wine barrels. This one is planted out with a Green Tea Camellia with some ornamental kale and pansies at the base. I like to think that Kitchen gardens should be beautiful as well as useful, but everything out there is edible- just in case :)

Horseradish emerging after it's long winter nap

A blueberry plant and raspberry, with strawberries on the ground

The tiny tip of galangal! Hopefully it will like our climate and grow well over the hot months. I'm also planting ginger and turmeric..... it's worth a try anyway

Pots of potatoes and peanuts

Another barrel with a tiny cold climate Macadamia tree in the middle, surrounded by pretty pansies, and today's ingredient: Rhubarb. I have three other plants in the ground that are very generous and vigorous, but are sadly green stemmed.Yuck. I have solved my food fussiness by planting out these very red stemmed red beauties so I can mix the two together and overcome my colour issues

I also have growing:
Olive tree, kaffir lime tree, orange and lime grafted tree, lemon tree, finger lime tree, elder tree, carob tree, curry leaf tree, loganberry, blackberry, youngberry, asparagus, globe artichokes, garlic, giant garlic, celery, broccoli, kale, onions, leeks, jicama, rosemary, culinary lavender, rose, corriander, mint, basil, basilmint, laksa mint, chocolate mint, bay tree, curry bush, lemongrass, chives, calendula, parsley, pineapple sage, thyme, violets and violas. I think that's it? But of course I've only just started my Spring planting... there are all the veggies to go in yet!



The first rhubarb of the season, a mix of green and red stems. So many delicious choices, but I decided to make Pepperpot Fruits. I know I have teemed rhubarb and strawberries many times before, but they really do go so well together and are ready to pick at the same time- always a winner!

Pepperpot Fruits


Nice bunch of Rhubarb
Couple of handfuls of Strawberries
1/4 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup liquid (juice/wine/water)
1/2 teaspoon Black Peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon Shichuan Peppercorns










Trim and tidy up the rhubarb

Slice large strawberries in half, but leave smaller ones whole

Mix fruits together and toss with the sugar so the lovely juices start to draw out of the fruit

Pretty little peppercorns

Place the two types of peppercorns into a small mortar and pestle, and grind until fairly fine

Pop the fruit, liquid and peppers into an oven proof dish and toss them all around to mix through well

Cover with foil, and bake at 180*C for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the fruit is cooked through without being smushy. Don't stir to check, instead stick a knife tip or fine skewer into a piece of rhubarb to see if it's done.

This is one of those desserts that is better served cold. The flavour of the pepper is a lovely back note to the sweetness of the berries and the earthiness of the rhubarb, giving a tingling hint of mystery to the dish.
It can be served simply with some (lactose free) cream or ice cream, or I actually like to serve little pots of it with a few lovely cheeses. The pepper helps it match well with the savoury without being overpowered by the sweet.

So Dear Readers, how is your Spring shaping up, and what do you have growing in your kitchen garden?







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Chocolate Cracklies

This week my little friend E is having a birthday




It's going to be huge, with Super Heroes, games, a Jumping Castle, and lots of friends- the only trouble is that some of his friends are InTolerant like me.

Not that this is a bad thing of course, but his Mummy has come to me and asked me to help her out with a few ideas that will make party food not just fun and yummy, but safe too. He also needs a treat for school.

Our schools are trying to create a safe environment for kids with allergies and InTolerances by banning peanuts and other nuts, and often not allowing special treats in the classroom that might contain dairy, eggs or gluten. That's great, but the good old birthday cupcakes are nearly a thing of the past. So many Mummies just don't know what else to offer. In E's class cupcakes have been replaced with birthday fruit- not as exciting when the kiddies have a mandatory fruit break anyway, with plain flat gf pancakes- no topping, not even jam, and veggie sticks- not always popular with the 4yr old crowd. I wanted to create something that fun, excitingly delicious for the littlies and still resembled a birthday cupcake. Yummo right?

I thought back to typical kids parties when I was little.....
Cake, jelly (jello), chips, lollies, red and green cordial, little cocktail franks, chocolate crackles- That's it! Chocolate Crackles! Just one little change and I'm good to go

Now as my regular Dear Readers might know, my blog is about food that is normally easy to source. I don't use patented flour blends, or fancy-pantsy stuff that you can only get at just one shop in the whole city, I want to make it easy for everyone. If you live with InTolerances you source out specialty items anyway, but when I blog I mostly use ingredients that can be found at the two biggies Coles and Woolies, to make my recipes easy and non-threatening for those just starting out or those like my friend who want to make a special treat for someone with InTolerances like me.

A quick look at the supermarket shelves produced a great basic start to any kiddies party:
chips, salsa, chipolatas, lollies and chocolate - all definitely gluten, dairy, egg and nut free, and delicious too. I would also include jelly cups, lovely fresh fruits and other naturally friendly foods- I don't worry about it being too healthy overall as Party food is 'Sometimes' food, not to be eaten all the time but enjoyed as a special treat- like a Party!
I grabbed Plain Smiths Chips, Old El Paso salsa, Woolworths Select Party mix, Coles brand Pork Chipolatas, and Sweet William chocolate- the only item I got in the specialty 'Health' area ,but there are actually so many choices hiding on the shelves, if you just have the time to look.





Now for the main event, the Chocolate Cracklies

Every ingredient readily available. The only 'special' ingredient was the Rice Puffs that were in the health food aisle, normal Rice Bubbles contain barley malt as an ingredient and aren't gluten free

When shopping, check the ingredient list on the back or side of the product. Every ingredient must be listed, and Australian products also have allergen listings as well.
I got items that had no allergen issues with gluten, dairy, eggs or nuts and avoided any that said 'may contain traces of....' The only product that I didn't like so much was the cocoa that stated it was 'packed on equipment that also processes products containing milk' but the web site states that the product itself contained no dairy products.


Chocolate Cracklies

(I thought I'd better change the name as these ones are gluten free unlike the original crackles)
All the ingredients are conveniently listed on the back of the Copha packet

1 block Copha (solid hydrogenated coconut oil)
4 cups Rice Puffs
1 cup Pure Icing Sugar
3 tab Cocoa
1 cup dessicated Coconut






Melt the Copha

Mix all the other ingredients in a large bowl

Add in the Copha, and mix until it's all thoroughly coated

Scoop the mix into paper patty pans/ cupcake papers and chill in the fridge until nice and set

Now for a pretty little touch of Birthday Bling I added some sprinkles. These ones were all allergy friendly as well and found in the baking section

See, so pretty!

Easy Peasy Party Food

I quickly poached the chipolatas, just for ease but you quickly fry them instead, and otherwise just ripped open a few packets for a great choice of Party Fun

Happy Birthday E!

So Dear Readers, what is your favourite Party Food, and has it really changed much from when you turned 4?

.

Sublime Honey Sorbet

Have you heard of Capilano Honey?


Capilano Honey is the market leader of honey in Australia, packing premium quality honey produced by Australian beekeepers. They are a fantastic Australian company that have been having a bit of a tough time lately.

Last week there was a fire in one of the sheds at their main site in Brisbane, and earlier last month Capilano co-founder, Tim Smith sadly passed away.

Tim and his brother Bert began the business around Brisbane back in 1953, and the business name Capilano comes from the Capilano district in Canada where Tim met his wife Jill when he was stationed there in WW2  and later proposed to her on the Capilano Bridge- how romantic!

Happily there is still some great stuff going on at Capilano, where they have recently launched their first Australian Certified Organic Honey.
Capilano's normal premium blend is pure natural honey from Australian hives, but consumer and professional demand for Organic goods has led to the Australian Organic Certification for this delicious product.


When I first heard about this honey, I thought about my parents farm on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, which is also certified organic. Knowing  how tricky that is to maintain, I wondered,  how on earth do you track thousands of bees each and every day to know where they fly off to?
Well, apparently all hives must be organic, and only exposed to natural environments including the exclusion of all pesticides for pest management and crops, within 5km of surrounding land. The native flora the honey is extracted from, right down to the diet of the bees themselves needs to be certified organic as well. You must be pretty dedicated to take on that job!

I was lucky enough to be sent a lovely bottle of delcious organic honey to play with, and wanted to come up with a recipe that would show off it's flavour as well as using it's great health benefits to shake off my lingering Winter flu/lurgy.

I didn't want to actually 'cook' with the honey as heating it can destroy some of it's health giving properties, which are quite antibacterial, and Capilano purposly doesn't pasteurise the honey either as it just isn't necesary with such a great natural product.


Through my flu-ridden fog, somehow I came up with Honey Sorbet.

Perfect! It would show off all the fantastic qualities of the honey, only used 3 ingredients, was delicious, easy, and nice and soothing to swallow. Win Win for me!

200 ml Capilano Organic Honey
50 ml-ish Liquid Glucose
500 ml Water

Honey is just perfect for sweetness and flavour, you need extra for a frozen dessert. The glucose is to keep the ice crystals nice and small. You also need as much air incorporated into the mix as possible for a lovely smooth end result

For a few tips on making great sorbet, check out this earlier post :
http://intolerantchef.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/seasonal-cheer.html





Put the glucose and water into a saucepan and heat until just boiling, stirring now and then to melt the glucose

Let it cool, but while still fairly warm, stir in the honey, and keep mixing until it's totally dissolved

Pour into a shallow container and chill throughly

Churn the lovely liquid mixture in an icecream machine- I used my Kenwood IceCream Bowl Attatchment-  or pull your bowl out of the freezer and whisk from time to time as it's setting to avoid large ice crystals forming and to keep it fluffy and light

Look how gorgeous this is!

Serve your sublime Honey Sorbet as a lovely light dessert- secure in the knowlege that it's fat free, delicious, organic, and good for you. Guilt free eating at it's best!

So Dear Readers, are you more inclined to buy a product if it's certified Organic?






Disclosure: Honey was gifted by the lovely people at Capilano. Thanks guys!


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