Vegan Coconut Rice Pudding.

Ed loves pudding so it is pretty difficult for him to decide which ones are his favourite, but rice pudding is definitely in his top 5. A lot of cow's milk doesn't really agree with Ed so he thought he would not be able to have rice pudding again. I tried to make him some with soya milk but it was a disaster, it just went brown and tasted funny. My mum had more patience with the soya version and had a lot more success. But I thought that coconut milk maybe a little easier to make rice pudding because it has more fat in it that soya milk, and this seems to make the rice fluffy and silky.

This rice pudding is absolutely beautiful, it's thick, smooth and the rich tasting coconut just transports it to heavenly pudding land. I used 1oz of sugar in this so it is sweet when the coconut is reduced down, as I don't have a sweet tooth I may reduce that amount next time. Ed is very happy with it though because he has a humongous sweet tooth. We usually have jam on rice pudding but I really don't think this needs it because it is like the little black dress, simple, chic and you don't need to accessorise with the right one.   

This recipe is in imperial because I stole it off my lovely mum, but it was my idea to use coconut milk so I'm not ripping it off completely. 

2oz Pudding Rice

1oz Sugar

1 Knob of butter (or vegan alternative)

1 pint of coconut milk (if you use a can just rinse the can out with water to make it up to a pint. You can also use soya milk or cow's milk depending on your dietary preference.

A generous flurry of Nutmeg

Just put it all in a saucepan and simmer gently for 20-25mins. Stir now and again to make sure the rice isn't sticking to the bottom of the pan, you will know when it is ready because the rice with be soft and it will have a beautiful pudding sheen. Now if you use coconut milk or cow's milk you can eat the pudding straight away because the consistency will be thick and moorish. If you have used soya milk it is best to leave it to cool then heat it up a while later, this will give you that nice consistency. I grate nutmeg in whilst I'm cooking and at the end because it reminds me of home, just taste as you go along and add as much as makes you happy.

This bowl of pudding with definitely cheer up a rainy, grey Saturday evening. Hope you are having a great one.

xkx 

Tuesday Teacup - Cosy Cuppa.

The weather has been so unpleasant this past week, Ed and I were hoping to get away in Doris (our VW T25 campervan) over Easter but it really isn't looking good at the moment. So to try and keep the faith that we will be Easter camping, we have been having our afternoon tea in our campervan mugs. My mum made me the tea cosy, I think it is possibly the cutest tea cosy in the whole world! Our chosen afternoon tea is loose leaf Gold Yorkshire Tea. This is a black tea that is super comforting and it is the perfect way to warm up and relax after a long days hard work.

I take my black tea with milk, no sugar. I sometimes have sugar if I am feeling like I want a nurturing treat. Having a cup of this tea with the perfect amount of milk is the perfect way to gather my thoughts, unwind and warm up. How do you like your tea best?xkx

My 2 New Chilli Plants and Lovely Market Food.

I am really lucky to live in a place where twice a month (on a Saturday) we have an abundant farmer's market. Today I was excited to see some new stalls, one was even selling unusual chilli plants. And here they are (well two of them), unfortunately I was too excited to actually write down the names of these two chilli plants so I can't introduce them to you properly.

I was drawn to the first one because I thought the colour of the flowers and the leaves are breathtakingly purple. 

I also admired it because this plant is not afraid to make it obvious that it is part of the Solanaceae family. So this beautiful thing is closely relation to the deadly nightshade plant and I think the flowers are nearly identical.

The second plant I bought because of my greedy side, I saw this plant groaning under the weight of all its baby chilli-peppers and I thought *yum*. I really love hot food and I can't wait for these little beauties to turn a blazing red so I can add them to my cooking and maybe even make some chilli oil and Harissa paste.

The stall holder said that this purple will fade to yellow and then ripen to a fiery red. 

I also picked up a few other bits and bobs from the market. I picked up some raw milk that is produced from local 'happy' cows. I like to try and support the local farms, one way for dairy farmers to make a decent living is to sell milk like this straight to the customer. Its been all in the news lately about how the money that farmers spend producing milk is actually higher than the price that is being paid for it, which in turn is slowly killing the industry. I was raised on raw milk so I know that it works for me fine (Ed can also drink this milk whereas he can't drink pasteurised). But you may want to do your research before trying it.

We bought garlic from the market too, this one is called Bella Italiano and apparently the flavour is really strong, it smells lovely and I have promised Ed that I will make some garlic bread with it, so we will probably be stinky after eating that.

You have got to love Wobbly Bottom Farm cheese. The name is just fabulous and always makes me smile and the cheese from here tastes so good that you could easily eat enough to make the name ring true. This is pesto cheese, I have never seen this before but the taste is amazing, it is really basilly and tastes like green (my friends always laugh at me for saying things taste like colours). I can't wait to try and cook with this lovely cheese, I bet it will taste amazing in summery salads too. Food always tastes a million times better from the market.

Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Strawberry Shake.

So lately I have had a massive craving for milkshake. But I find the syrups you buy in the shops can be too sweet for me, so I decided to make my own. So here is how I made my strawberry milkshake, it is super quick and easy!

I took 400g of strawberries and blended them up with a stick blender and then added 2 tsps honey (you could use maple syrup or plain old sugar if you wanted). You can add more if you like depending on how sweet you like it, just taste as you go along. Then just add milk to taste. I divided my strawberry goop up into two because Ed had a soya version. Just add your milk then blend again, this makes the shake thick and bubbly. Then pour into the drinking vessel of your choice. I dressed the glasses with a strawberry each and added a mint sprig to the soya version and a sprig of lemon balm to dairy one. Smelling the mint with the strawberry made me think that next time I might make a mint syrup to swirl in the top, I think it would add a slight kick of yumminess.