Milo Pudding with Oreo Crumbs 美祿布丁

Does this look like a pot of plant to you? The plant is mint but its not sitting in a pot of soil. Take a closer look and dont be fooled. ;)



I had this idea for the longest time but never get to excute it because its not easy for me to get Mint Leave or any herbs.



This idea actually came from my daughter when I did Chocolate Milk Pudding. She said the pudding looked yucky :P and adding oreo on it will make it look like a pot of soil.



Since I now grow my own mint (please see photo at the end), I decided to put my plan into action. ;)  Adding the Oreo crumbs adds texture to the pudding. Crunch on every bite. :)

Ingredients (for 2 cups):

• 250ml Milo or Chocolate Milk


• 7g Gelatin


• 6 (single) pieces Oreo, crushed into crumbs


• 2 stalks Mint

How to do it:

1. Mix Milo with gelatin.


2. Heat mixture but do not boil, stir till gelatin melts.


3. Pour mixture into cups.


4. Chill in fridge till set.


5. Pour Oreo crumbs on pudding and stick in a stalk of Mint in the centre and serve.

Note:

• You can use jelly powder instead of gelatin if you like.


• Using 3in1 Milo will be easier. However, you are free to make the Milo to your taste.


• Do not include the cream in the Oreo for the crumbs.

This is my pot of homegrown Mint. You can try growing your own.



Get some stalks of Mint. Cut about 6 to 7 cm from the top. Remove all leaves except the top 2 - 4 leaves and stick them in the soil. Water regularly.



You are successful if they do not look wilted after a few days of constant watering. After that you can cut down on the watering and reduce to once a day or more on a hot day.

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Coconut Milk Rice Pudding with Fresh Mango – I Don’t Like Rice Pudding But I Love This!

I’m not a big fan of rice pudding, but curiosity got the best of me, and I needed to find out how much better/different a version would be that used Arborio rice, and the same basic technique as a savory risotto. 

In addition to trying out a new cooking method, I also wanted to sneak in some coconut milk for a little tropical twist, and I’m happy to report great success on both fronts. The Arborio produced a wonderfully creamy texture, and unlike tradition long-grain rice pudding, the grains of rice maintained a certain textural integrity, instead of just disappearing into one big, starchy mass.

The coconut milk gave the pudding another layer of subtle sweetness, and also inspired the fresh mango garnish, which really elevated these bowls of comforting goodness. Of course the mango is optional, and you’re welcome to take your chances with raisins, preferably golden ones. If desired, those can be added at the same time as the sugar and salt.

Speaking of bowls, I generally don’t make dessert for three (except this one time, at band camp…), but I had some new porcelain ones I wanted to use, and didn’t bother to check the volume before ladling in the sweet porridge.

Despite my “odd” yield, you should get four nicely sized portions from the amounts below. And yes, if you can’t find coconut milk (which you can), simply use all milk. I hope you give this coconut milk rice pudding a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

1 tbsp butter

1/3 cup Arborio rice (Note: I haven’t tested this recipe using regular rice, so no idea if that will work here. My instincts tell me, not nearly as well)

1 cup coconut milk

2 3/4 to 3 cups milk, or as needed

1/4 cup white sugar

1/8 tsp vanilla

salt to taste

1 egg yolk, beaten with 2 tbsp milk

For the garnish:

1/4 cup finely diced mango

pinch of Chinese 5-Spice

View the complete recipe

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Mango Pudding with Mango Ice Cream 芒果布丁

Mango Season is here again. I bought 5 mangoes for under $5 which makes it less than a dollar each. The last time when it was in season, I made homemade mango ice-cream.



This time, I using it to make the very popular, Mango Pudding. Im serving it will a cheat mango ice-cream done using vanilla ice-cream, with the texture like milky shaved ice.



You probably have your own recipe but if you dont, you might want to try mine out.

Ingredients:

• 2 Mangoes, 1 1/2 puree and 1/2 cut into cubes


• 100ml Mango Juice (Im using Peel Fresh)


• 100ml Whipping Cream


• 10g Gelatin Powder


• 50ml Water

How to do it:

1. Sprinkle gelatin powder on the water and set aside.


2. Warm mango juice but do not simmer or boil.


3. Pour it over the gelatin mixture and mix.


4. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.


5. Pour into cups and chill to set.


6. Best served chilled with condensed milk or a scoop of ice-cream.

Note:

• I did not add any sugar as the mango I used was sweet and I added mango juice to it as well. In addition to that, I served it with a scoop of ice-cream.


• If you prefer it a little sweeter, melt some sugar with the mango juice in step 2.


• You can replace the mango juice with water.


• However, you will have to add sugar for sweetness.


• Melt about 50g sugar or to taste when warming the water before adding to the the gelatin mixture.

For cheat ice-cream:

1. Mix 500ml vanilla ice-cream (Im using Nestle) with half of a mango chopped into bits.


2. Add in 3-4 tablespoon of mango puree if you like too.


3. Do not stir the mixture vigorously. Use a fork to gently stir a little to make it airy.


4. Return to the freezer and repeat every half an hour till the ice-cream is frozen again.


5. The end results of the ice-cream will look rough and messy. Almost like granules sticking together.


6. To scoop, you can loosen it with a fork or bring the ice-cream out of the freezer for a minute before scooping.

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Black Pudding Profiteroles

August 2011

This recipe was originally posted in December 2009. Its been fully updated, and new photos are included.

Remember the Chorizo Choux Puffs? When I published the recipe on my Estonian site, then one of the readers, Ilse, suggested using our Christmas favourite, finely chopped black pudding instead of chorizo. I liked the sound of that, so nicked the idea, adding a spoonful of roasted onion flakes for an extra depth of flavour.

The result? Soft and Christmassy choux puffs with character :) We shared these with some friends, who were just as keen on these large profiteroles as we were. Definitely a keeper and a great addition to any Christmas buffét table. You could even dip them into lingonberry jam - thatd be even more Christmassy!

This recipe was also included in my latest cookbook, Jõulud kodus ("Christmas at Home"), published in Estonian in November 2011.


NOTE that this recipe would work just as well with Blutwurst, morcilla, sundae, boudin noir, blodpudding, beuling, bloedworst etc.

Black Pudding Profiteroles
(Keedutainapallid e. profitroolid verivorstiga)
Makes about 24 large profiteroles


December 2009

175 ml water
75 g butter
0.5 tsp salt
120 g plain flour/all-purpose flour (200 ml)
3 large eggs
100 g black pudding, finely chopped (and skinned first, if necessary)
1 Tbsp roasted onion flakes (I like using Meiras)

Remove the skin from the black pudding sausages (not necessary, when theyre thin-skinned) and chop finely.
Put water, cubed butter and salt into a medium saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Take immediately off the heat and stir in all the flour. Return to the heat and "boil" for about two minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, until you have a smooth paste that leaves the sides of the saucepan.
Remove from the heat and cool for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the eggs one at a time, wholly incorporating the first egg before adding the next one (this is best done with electric beaters). The resulting paste should be glossy and slowly drop from a spoon.
Stir in the finely chopped black pudding and the dried roasted onion flakes.
With a help of two tablespoons or a cookie scoop, place small heaps of choux paste onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 180 C/375 F oven for about 30 minutes, until the choux puffs are nicely puffed up and golden brown.


August 2011

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Things to do with Estonian black pudding aka verikäkk

Someone left a comment on my blog this morning:

Just brought back home from Estonia some Verikäkk and still wondering what to do exactly with it :D Aitäh also from Spain for your blog ;)

I thought Ill help Enlil out and share some of the recipe ideas and photos with him :)

Verikäkk is basically a dense black pudding (also known as blood pudding or blood dumpling). Its a mixture of (usually pigs) blood, flour (rye, barley or wheat), fried onions, lard/bacon and seasonings. Here in Estonia its sold widely, and it comes in large dumplings, weighing about 450 grams. Traditionally it was made in late Autumn/for Christmas, but is now available throughout the year. I personally dont think of verikäkk as a Christmas product at all (as opposed to verivorst or black sausages), and happily buy it all year round.

Here are some of the ways of consuming black pudding.

Fried black pudding with sour cream:



1 black pudding
lard, butter or oil for frying
250 g sour cream

Cut into thick (about 1 cm) slices, fry in butter until browned and crisp on both sides. Pour the sour cream on top at the end and heat gently. Serve at once.
Pickled pumpkin salad and lingonberry or cranberry jam/sauce work well as condiments.

Fried black pudding:




1 black pudding
lard, butter or oil for frying

Cut into thick (about 1 cm) slices, fry in butter until browned and crisp on both sides. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and/or lingonberry jam. (If you forgot to buy that in Estonia, then head to your nearest IKEA food isle).

Fried black pudding crisps:



Ive already blogged about this, see recipe here.

MÕNED EESTIKEELSED VIITED:
Ülle tore ood verikäkile
UMA MEKK video verikäki tegemisest

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Puff pastry pinwheels with black pudding and lingonberry jam

Black pudding (aka blood sausages) with lingonberry jam are one of the staples on Estonian Christmas table and I like using these two elements in other dishes as well. Heres a small pastry that Ive been baking for 5 years already. The initial idea isnt mine. Back in November 2008 I took part at a two-day cooking course ("Modern Christmas menu") at one of the vocational training schools here in Tallinn, and we had a brain-storming session with other participants trying to come up with new twists of old favourites. One of the other participants mentioned using black pudding and lingonberries for making small pastries - I cannot remember any longer, if she was talking about something she has made already or something that could be made, neither can I remember if she was talking about the idea in general or making puff pastry pinwheels in particular. In any case, Ive been rolling puff pastry sheets with crumbled black pudding and lingonberry jam and some dried marjoram ever since (heres a photo evidence from November 2008, another one from December 2008 and heres one from October 2010).

So if youve got some black pudding and lingonberry jam left over after the Christmas feast, then you can use these two to make some delightful puff pastry pinwheels. And let your guests guess whats inside - most of them seem to think its raisins ;)

Puff pastry pinwheels with black pudding and lingonberries
(Lehttainarullid verivorsti ja pohlamoosiga)



puff pastry - either regular or yeasted puff pastry
lingonberry jam
dried marjoram (oregano will do as well)
black pudding

For brushing:
egg, whisked with some water

Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle about 3-4 mm thick.
Spread with a thin layer of lingonberry jam, then scatter the crumbled black pudding on top. Sprinkle with some dried marjoram.
Roll tightly, starting from the longer end, into a long "sausage". Cut into 2 cm lengths. Place into paper muffin cups and transfer onto a cooking sheet.
Brush with eggwash and bake in a pre-heated 225C/435F for 10-15 minutes, until the pinwheels are nicely golden brown.

Serve either warm or at room temperature.

This recipe was also included in my latest cookbook, Jõulud kodus ("Christmas at Home"), published in Estonian in November 2011. 

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Pineapple pudding Ananasfrómas

A decorated pineapple fromage

Light and frothy cold puddings made with egg and thickened with gelatine are known as "frómas" in Icelandic and as "fromage" in Danish. Those who know their French will realise that this is the French word for "cheese". How it underwent the change in meaning from French to Danish is not known.

This recipe is in all likelihood originally Danish. This is a popular dessert in my family that my mother makes  for special occasions. With a bit of adjustment, it can be adapted to other kinds of flavours. For example, I adore the lemon version.

Ingredients:

250 g sugar
5 eggs, whites and yolks separated
12 sheets of gelatine
2 cups double cream or whipping cream
2 small cans (8. oz.) pineapple rings in juice, cut into small chunks (retain 2-3 rings for decoration)
Pineapple juice from the can
juice from 1 lemon

Method:
In separate bowls, whip together the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy, whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks, and whip the egg whites until stiff.

Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water for about 10 minutes, remove and squeeze out the water. Put about 200 ml (4/5 cup) of pineapple juice in a saucepan and add the gelatine. Over low heat (or in a water-bath) melt the gelatine in the pineapple juice, stirring well to eliminate lumps. Cool to room temperature (plunge the bottom of the saucepan into cold water to speed up the cooling process). Pour through a sieve into the egg and sugar mixture, stirring constantly and carefully to mix. Add the lemon juice and stir in carefully. Fold in the cream and then the pineapple pieces. Finally fold in the whipped egg whites.

Pour into bowls and allow to set. These can be either a couple of big serving bowls, or individual serving bowls or dessert glasses. Decorate with remaining pineapple rings and whipped cream. Red cocktail cherries can be added for a bit of colour.

Serve cold, with or without whipped cream.

This pudding makes an excellent filling for sponge cake. To use, allow to set enough to be spreadable without running, and smooth on top of one cake layer, allow to set and top with another cake layer.

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