Friday Night Dinners

One of the best things about our new locale has to be the Friday night dinner. When we first arrived in Australia our house wasn’t quite ready yet, so we stayed with a family from church. These wonderful people opened their home to us, fed us, and showed us around for the better part of a week. They have three beautiful daughters who are so kind, helpful, and fun (they could have just been on their best behaviour while we were there but I absolutely adore them!).

While we were staying with them, they told us that every Friday night they fire up the barbecue and cook burgers (which is actually never hamburger – instead we’ve had chicken, steak, pork, lamb, and even kangaroo). They also said that we were always welcome to join them on Friday nights, and so we have. 

Their hospitality is overwhelming, so I’ve tried to bring dessert each Friday night. I’ve brought chocolate chip cookies, a strawberry cake, chocolate chip cookie bars, and, for tonight, chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches.

I used the Smitten Kitchen recipe here, but added two whole eggs instead of one egg and a yolk. And then I watched this Martha Stewart video on how to make an ice cream sandwich, even though I probably didn’t really need the instruction – it seems pretty obvious.

And here was my end result. Can’t wait to share it at dinner tonight!

-C

Converting Fahrenheit to Celsius and a Rice Pudding Recipe

Of all the things I wish I would have learned (better) in school, it would have to be the metric system. Since we’ve arrived, I’ve been doing more cooking and baking than I had been doing in the US. Perhaps it’s because I’m still technically on my summer holiday and I’m always looking for something to keep me occupied.  Or it could be because Pinterest just has so many good recipes that I want to try. Either way, I’ve been spending lots of time in the kitchen over the past month. I’ve found that it’s good to have my iPad with me so I can consult the recipes I find online and also Google things like “What is 375 degrees fahrenheit in celsius?” or “How many grams of butter are in a cup?” Thank you, internet, for answering all of my questions!

Last night I decided that I was in the mood for baked rice pudding. It is winter here, after all. So I began my search on Pinterest to find a good baked rice pudding recipe that a) required eggs (I like a custardy pudding) and b) required that the rice start out uncooked (who has time or the willpower to make a whole batch of rice and then wait to bake the pudding? Not me.) I couldn’t find out I really liked, so I improvised.  This is what I came up with based on the ingredients I had on hand.

Baked Rice Pudding with Coconut Cream

1 cup of uncooked, white rice
1 cup of coconut cream or coconut milk
3 cups of milk
3/4 cup of white sugar
2 tablespoons of butter
2 teaspoons of vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C or about 300 degrees F

Butter an ovenproof casserole dish – I used a round one but a square or rectangle one would work just fine.

Combine the coconut cream and milk in a microwaveable bowl and microwave until hot – almost scalded.

Pour the cream and milk into the casserole dish and add the rice, sugar, and butter.  Stir until sugar is dissolved and butter has melted.

In a separate bowl, whisk the two eggs and then add a couple spoonfuls of the milk mixture to the eggs and whisk together – this will acclimate the eggs to the temperature of the custard without them turning into scrambled eggs.  Add the egg mixture to the casserole. Add the vanilla. Stir to mix.

Now you just have to wait for it to cook.  Bake the entire dish for approximately 1 hour (I use a forced air oven; if you use a different kind of oven, it might take longer) but stir the mixture every 15 minutes or so to keep the rice from sticking together.

When it’s done, cool on the counter and serve it up when it’s at a temperature you like.  If you are impatient, like I was, you probably will eat it when it’s still pretty warm.  It’s also good refrigerated the next morning for breakfast, which is how I had it today.  I think the addition of the coconut cream (which I had leftover from some green curry I made the other night) really made it fantastic. The bit of sweetness and the smell of coconut was just what I needed on a cool winter night.  If I had had some sliced almonds, I would have sprinkled those on top to give it a bit of crunch. Raisins or sultanas don’t appeal to me that much, but you could add those if you like that kind of thing.

Enjoy! I know I will!

-C