Chermoula Chicken Boulettes AKA Paleo Chicken Balls on Sticks with Magic Sauce

Chermoula sauce is like fairy dust of the kitchen, it turns all it touches into magic food. Chermoula is a North African blend of warm spices, citrus and herbs in oil which is drizzled on everything from fish to meat and veggies. It can be used as a marinade, or a dressing. And I always wish I made a double batch, so I can drizzle its magical powers on everything. 

The chicken meatballs are so simple it is almost primitive cooking, two ingredients. Without the chermoula sauce they are almost unremarkable. Organic turkey or chicken is a good choice for all the reasons we know, environmental, health,  antibiotics, nutrition and animal rights. But also know that the flavors of the poultry are highlighted here, and it is a good time to choose the most happy organic chicken. 

This is a great dish if you are feeding friends who may or may not be gluten free, egg free or dairy free, or paleo! Obviously not a dish for vegetarians, but if you were doing a big party, I would stick some mushrooms or tofu on other skewers and let the vegetarians get some chermoula loving too.

Ground turkey is easy to find where I live, ground chicken less so. Both work. A butcher will often grind it for you, or in a pinch use a food processor to mince larger pieces of meat.

Anyway, now you have your ground or minced chicken. Mix it with the salt and form compact 1.5 inch balls of the chicken mixture. Thread them on metal or soaked wooden skewers. Place them to rest on a foil lined baking tray to rest while the chermoula sauce is made.

Place garlic, cilantro or parsley, lemon zest, paprika, chili powder, cumin, and olive oil into a blender. A blender really does a better job here than a food processor. If you live an electronics free life, do it old school with a mortar and pestle, adding oil in bit by bit as the herbs get bashed up. The sauce is not an emulsion, spices and herbs will settle out to the bottom giving it a chunky look. The flavors will blossom over time.

Drizzle just a bit of the chermoula on the uncooked meatballs. 

If your outdoor grill is covered in a snowy glacier, cook them under the broiler in your stove. With the broiler on high, line up the chicken skewers. Turning as they brown, keep a close eye on them. If your wooden skewers begin to char, cover them with some foil. 

The balls take about 10 to 12 minutes to cook through. Baste them occasionally with more sauce, or scoop up the pan drippings and use that. A thermometer at the interior should read 170° when the balls are throughly cooked.  

Remove to a plate and drizzle that chermoula sauce over them like crazy. 

Note: For individual appetizers, these can be cooked under a broiler in the same manner without the skewers. After the balls are cooked, plate up with some toothpicks. 

Chermoula Chicken Boulettes

16 medium meatballs, 4-5 servings

For the chermoula sauce:

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup cilantro or parsley

zest of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 cup olive oil

pinch of salt

For the chicken balls:

1 pound ground or minced chicken

1 teaspoon salt

4-5 skewers (soak if wooden)

Find this and 101 other meatball recipes in my new book Global Meatballs! I know, that is seriously a lot of meatballs. 

Chorizo Meatballs Tapas Style

It's meatball season! Seriously, not only did my Global Meatballs cookbook come out on bookshelves and kindle this week, (buy it here!) but I have been seeing meatballs everywhere. On magazine covers, menus and all over twitter. Even my favorite Parisian chocolate king David Lebovitz is making meatballs this week.

Meatballs are economical comfort food, they both feed a crowd and make good leftovers. Meatballs are a canvas, easy to try some funky and try new things, but not too far out of a comfort zone.

In keeping with Sunday Night Football and the day when many of you make food for those who sit back and watch the AFC Championship, I give you these Spanish Chorizo meatballs. The meatballs are bite sized, use toothpicks or fingers, no forks necessary. They have a country style chunky texture and a smoky flavor that pairs well with chips, guacamole, wings and other game day foods.

The meat you will likely need to go to a store for, but all the other ingredients are simple and likely in most pantries. White wine, bread, paprika, parsley, salt, pepper. And an egg.  Note- you could use a light beer in place of the wine with good results!

I laid out all the ingredients today and then realized the egg carton was empty! What a nasty trick, an empty egg carton in the fridge, and I had just been to the store. I heaved a sigh and pulled on winter boots, enormous parka complete with fuzzy hood, and mittens. In the 15° sunshine I walked down the road to my aunt's house to buy some of her chicken eggs. I found her chickens in a barn door  huddled from the wind and basking in a slice of strong sunshine.

Eggs resupplied, onward I moved with meatball making. 2 slices of bread soaked in white wine. All bread is good, but best to stay away from seeded bread here, and if the crusts are very tough, omit them. This time I used white gluten free white bread from Canyon Bakehouse and it worked great! Mince parsley and garlic. Crack in one egg and measure salt, paprika, and pepper. To this, add ground pork and chorizo removed from the casings.

Roll into balls smaller than golf balls, about 1 inch across, like a ping pong ball. After I roll about 8 balls the meat gets sticky on my palms. I find a brief rinse of my hands in cool water will stop the stickiness from happening.


As they are made, place onto a baking tray or two. Parchment paper or foil makes for easy cleanup, but is not necessary to avoid sticking while baking.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes.

When done the meatballs will sizzle on the pan, they will have tightened up, taken on a golden color, and an internal temperature of at least 160°.


Pile onto a serving platter with napkins and toothpicks nearby and watch them be enjoyed. I like a glass of crisp white wine with mine, but beer would is just as good, if not more appropriate for the Patriots vs. Colts and the Seahawks vs. Packers playoff games. It will be a tense afternoon.

Stay tuned for two opposing meatball recipes for Superbowl Sunday!

Chorizo Tapas Style Meatballs

• 2 slices bread (regular or gluten free)
• 1/3 cup white wine or light beer
• 4-6 ounces uncooked chorizo sausage 
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 egg
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°

Soak the bread in the wine for 10 minutes.

Mince garlic and parsley. Mix in a bowl with the egg, paprika, salt, black pepper and mushy bread and wine mixture.

Remove the chorizo sausage from their casings. Add the sausage meat and ground pork to the bowl as well. Using a hand, squeeze everything together over and over to combine it very well.  Bread, herbs, and meat should we well mixed, yes you can see the independent parts but they are evenly distributed.

Roll into ping pong sized balls (1 - 1.5 inches) place on a baking tray, bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350°. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Favorite Spiced Frikkadels, Meatballs of the Rainbow Nation

I have made and eaten a lot of meatballs by now. You see, I wrote a book with over 100 meatball recipes, and that requires eating hundreds of meatballs. I have many favorites, and sometimes they change, but these Picnic Favorite Spiced Frikadelles from South Africa are always in the top 10. Why are they called that, because they are loaded with fragrant spices and because of the nice crust, seem to be the type of food which would travel well. Bring them for picnics, lunches or healthy snacks. No sauces necessary.

I do think that these are one of my favorite meatballs my entire Global Meatballs book. They have an ideal texture, first we encounter a distinct crispy crust fragrant with spices. These spices foretel even more spices inside. The interior is tender with a perfect ratio of breadcrumbs to meat. A mixture of ground beef and pork is used. I like a 2:1 beef:pork ratio, for texture, flavor and fat. Similar to a meatloaf and stuffing but mostly they are unique. 

In writing the book we wanted a representative group of meatball from around the globe. I ended up with recipes from over 40 countries and cultures. In doing the research some were easier to nail down than others. Denmark's national dish is a sort of meatball sandwich (Frikadeller Smorrebrod), lamb meatballs from Greece or Sweedish Meatballs are all well known emblematic dishes of their countries. 

Some parts of the world have huge traditions of meatballs, where it is impossible to pick an iconic one of the many. This may be due to the tradition and popularity of the meatball as a foodstuff, but I note this tends to happen in to areas of the world where diverse cultures have coexisted (often not so peacefully) for years. 

This overlay of cultures and usually results in cooks borrowing the best things from different traditions, food fusions and blurry lines. Regions like the Middle East, the Americas, and South Africa have rich traditions of meatballs with blurry lines of where they "came from" resulting in some of the most innovative and modern recipes. 

South Africa has an fascinating history, local tribes, tribes from further lands, spice traders, displaced people from India and East Africa, the Dutch and English colonists, and more, making up the people of this southern cape. Imagine all the different types of food they liked to eat. But I swear, all of them probably had some type of meatball tradition. 

In my research I found that the people of South Africa have as many favorite meatball recipes as there are cooks. I find this Spiced Frikkadel recipe emblematic of the Rainbow Nation, the taste, ingredients and and how it is made is made, is from everywhere and nowhere in particular. Could we go so far to call it a democratic meatball? There are European, African and and Indian elements in this one delicious food.  

You will find they are flexible at the table, I like them served alongside a big green salad. Or a rice pilaf, cous cous, potatoes, or a pile of cooked vegetables would support them well. Use leftovers in a sandwich the next day. They are equally good eaten hot or at room temperature.

(Note about temperature: The jury is still out about pork, the FDA recommends cooking ground pork to 160° and that what I put in my book. A lot of cooks say 145° is good, this is a hamburger cooked at Medium. I cook mine to 145°. You can Google it and make your choice. I take no responsibility for your overcooked, undercooked, or unnecessary fears of meat.)

Holler back if you try them and tell me what you love about them! I would like that.

Favorite Spiced Frikkadels
22 large meatballs, 5 servings

• 1 cup (115g) unseasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup (115g) plain yogurt
• 1.5 (680g) ground beef and pork
• 1 egg
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 yellow onion, minced
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 
  
• 1/2 cup chickpea flour
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2+ tablespoons safflower or canola oil

Combine the breadcrumbs and yogurt in a bowl. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes. Add the meat, egg, garlic, onion, cilantro, coriander, chili powder, salt and pepper to the bread crumbs. Using your hands incorporate all together. Add the meat and incorporate into the bread mixture.

In a shallow dish, mix together the chickpea flour, turmeric, paprika, and a pinch of salt. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350° (180°C) Line a baking tray with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Heat a frying pan on medium high with the safflower oil.

Wet hands will keep the meat from sticking. Form 2.5 inch (6 cm) balls in by rolling them in between your hands. Roll each in the chickpea flour, covering the surface. Place in the hot frying pan and cook the balls in batches. Shake the pan a few times, to brown the surface all over. Cook for 5 - 7 minutes, remove to the prepared baking tray. Repeat with remaining meatballs. 

Finish cooking the meatballs in the 350° oven, 10 -14 minutes should cook them through. A meat thermometer should read 160° for well done meat. (The jury is still out about pork, the FDA recommends cooking ground pork to 160°, a lot of people say 145°. I cook mine to 145°. You can Google it and make your choice.)

Tropical Coquito Eggnog hold the lactose, go with Goat!

For the backstory on Coquito read about it here. All the same applies to the goats milk version, creamy coconut and rum eggnog without eggs from Puerto Rico. First, I made it the traditional way with cows milk products. Along the way I wondered if I could make a convincing recipe using goats milk. I made a few tweaks to the traditional recipe to make a safe version for the tummies of me and other lactose challenged folk!

It worked, and we may all drink to our hearts content. Beware it is as rich and strong as it is festive.

Coquito de Cabra

• 10 oz goats milk
• 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 can evaporated goats milk
• 1 can coconut milk
• 3/4 can coconut cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 375 ml white rum

Mix the goat milk and sugar in a saucepan. Heat on low, stirring occasionally, just until the sugar dissolves. No need to heat the milk further. Mix this in a blender with the remaining ingredients. It may take two batches of blending to fit all the liquid. 

Coquito, Tropical Coconut Eggnog from Puerto Rico

Coquito is spiced, creamy, and full of rum. This Caribbean version of our traditional eggnog hails from Puerto Rico where it is a must have for every party during Christmas time.

Also now a must have at my house, everybody who tries it falls in love! Coconut, sugar and dairy products create a creamy base for rum. It is the tropics and christmas of memories all in a glass. (FYI, if you are lactose free, check out my recipe for Goat Coquito!)

Rich and strong, it can surely be dangerous if not drank from small glasses or at least in short pours. The richness will likley stop you before things get out of hand, If it is to be compared to anything else, it might be coconut custard, or melted ice cream.

Give it as gifts, or to bring to parties, typically it is put into reused liquor or clear wine bottles with stoppers. This has a cute DIY homemade feel to it as a gift.

These are my adorable bottles all filled and ready to gift away. I am now so enchanted with them it will be tough to part with them.

(Just note, it should remain refrigerated.)

Coquito, when looked up in the dictionary, translates not only into "eggnog" but also:
1) A small coconut.
2) Grimace to amuse children.
   (hacer coquitos)
3) A turtle dove of Mexico, having a song like the couckoo's.

Much like traditional English eggnog there is milk, cinnamon, and sometimes eggs, but not in mine. The eggs are not necessary to give it thickness and body, the coconut does that work. I have to say it is terribly easy to whip up with a blender, as most of it comes from cans and it is a matter of pouring, blending, tasting and serving it up in a pretty way.

In each bottle or jar place a cinnamon stick. When you go to shake it up before pouring, the cinnamon stick bangs around to help mix it up.

Coquito, made without eggs, could last in the fridge for likley a long time. However, good luck keeping it around longer than a week. You would have to hide it in the back of the fridge. Delicious!

Ceylon cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla comprise all the spices. The three of them are complex all together and people can't easily place what they are drinking, which is fun. I used a vanilla bean powder, but extract or a real bean would be great.






Cinnamon is a key flavor here, and for best results use real Mexican cinnamon, (aka Ceylon cinnamon, soft stick cinnamon, or canela.) The flavor is less aggressive than the typical cinnamon we find in the states. It smells heavenly, has notes of citrus and is very complex. I am lucky to be treasuring a small stash of cinnamon sticks from Granada brought to me as a gift. This seeming the perfect time to use them I blitzed them to dust in my spice grinder (right...coffee grinder.)

This is freshly ground cinnamon. And then all the spices laying atop the coconut milk.

Coquito 

• 1 can condensed milk
• 2 can evaporated milk
• 1 can coconut milk (unsweetened cooking variety)
• 1 can coconut creme (coco lopez)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 375 ml white rum (Don Q or Bicardi)

Simply open all the cans, measure the spices and rum. Using a blender, whip it into a frothy wonderland. In my regular sized blender is two batches of blending. Have a larger container ready to mix the two batches together before pouring them into bottles for gifting and serving. Store in the refrigerator, where it will have a chance to thicken up.

Serve cold in small amounts over ice, or not. For best results drink and share with friends in festive atmosphere.

Check out my Coquito de Cabra if you prefer goats milk to cows. It works and is just as yummy.

Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes with Cranberries and Apples

Ok, so I have been on hiatus from writing for a week or two. Life got busy and between running from jobs to projects, getting to the gym and back, and lets be honest- Netflix, the blogging lost out. I have been cooking a lot, things like soups which turn out well, but I took no photos of the process because...its just a soup and I was hungry. So I am back, and here is a weekend pancake recipe to kick off the Thanksgiving week with ingredients like cranberries, pumpkin and spices. Happy weekend before thanksgiving, which means menu planning and planning all the planning ahead we can do. Like, what day should I make my pie crust? As of now, still undecided. 

It is paleo, and thus low sugar. Wanting more sweetness in the pancakes, but not having any sort of sweet juice in the house I used an unusual technique of soaking dried fruit to extract some of the sugary flavors. Prunes, figs, or dates work well as they have a high sugar content. I used prunes here. So take about a 1/4 cup of dried fruit (9 prunes) cover with boiling water, let steep for 5-10 minutes, while you whip together the rest of the pancakes. You will want 1/4 cup of this fruit juice to put into the pancakes, the now soft dried fruit can be eaten or used on oatmeal tomorrow, or chopped up and put into quickbread, stuffing, or whatever!

So grab a can of pumpkin, some coconut oil, eggs, and your favorite "milk" product and lets go. Melt your coconut oil, I throw the jar into the microwave for 30 seconds and that does the trick. Whisk the eggs, pumpkin, "milk", and oil together.

Measure the arrowroot and almond meal into a bowl, break up any lumps before adding it into the wet ingredients. Add the spices and other dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture. (spices from top, clockwise are: cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and clove.)

Then add anything we missed, like maple syrup, prune juice, vanilla and apple cider vinegar. The batter is thick and custard-like.

Fresh cranberries are easily run over with a knife for chunks and bits which cook quickly in the batter. I always have some fresh cranberries in my freezer, which can easily be sliced up while still frozen. Stir the beautiful red berries into the batter and away we go.

I find success in a medium low heat, number 3 on my stove. And in my cast iron griddle pan which takes up two burners. I use coconut oil to grease the pan, since there is already coconut oil in the pancakes themselves. And because it is tasty and makes pancakes brown nicely. (Yes, butter is awesome too, I'll leave this choice up to you.)

Pour batter onto the griddle in 2"-3" rounds. If it does not flow easily, add more "milk". Cook slowly, bubbles will appear across the surface of the pancake when it is ready to flip. These can be delicate and my favorite tool is a fish spatula, it has an angled tip and is very thin, so it slides right under the pancakes. 

Once flipped over, they PUFF up, and when the pancakes reaches a puffy stage which is at the maximum puffyness and just before it begins to deflate...this is when it is done. Remove the pancakes from the griddle and begin to pile them up. Pour, cook, flip, cook, pile up. Repeat until done. 

Call everyone to the table and serve pancakes with maple syrup and cut apples.  

Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes with Cranberries and Apples

Serves 3-4

Wet ingredients: 
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin
2.5 T coconut oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or 1 packet stevia)
1 t vanilla
1/3 cup fig juice (something sweet)
1/2 cup hemp or almond milk (more as needed)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup arrowroot flour (or potato starch)
1 cup almond meal (or quinoa flour)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 t salt

Fruit:
1/2 cup of fresh cranberries
Sliced apple for serving
maple syrup for serving


Enjoy! ;)

Warming Sweet Potato, Cabbage and Black Bean Vegan Casserole

Aren't sweet potatoes the most pleasing things? Comforting, soft, warm, bland but not tasteless. And they come in different colors, I got orange ones and white ones with purple skins for this recipe. They look stunning in alternating rows. This recipe takes just a bit of roasting, and is so pretty presented on the table. I made a southwestern inspired casserole here, some chipotle, some wine, some beans. All the good stuff. 

Savoy cabbage waits next to a bowl of sliced sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper, sage and mexican oregano. This way they are nicely coated with oil to brown up in the roasting of the casserole process.

One head of savoy cabbage is sliced up into roughly 1/2" - 1" wide pieces. Rustic is ok! White wine, olive oil, and a sprinkling of chipotle powder are added into the pan for flavor. Lets begin the roasting, 350°.



Look, after 15 minutes or so in my convection oven the cabbage is won over. Wilted into silky strips, with charred tips which say lots of flavor.



The sweet smokey cabbage is placed in the bottom of my most beloved baking pan. (Anthropologie makes the craziest dish-ware, I love it!)
What is a casserole anyway? Instead of describing the food, its comes from the French word for the pan itself, used in both the oven and serving of the food. Casserole meaning both the very cool cookware one receives as awesome wedding gifts, and of the vegetables layered inside of it. Clearly casseroles have an image problem in popular culture, but I have no problem with them. I think anything baked together is probably better than baked alone!



Spoon a layer of black bean on top of the cabbage. Next time I make this casserole I will experiment in putting the beans at the bottom and cabbage on top of them. I feel it would make the beans more succulent. You could try it either way. So, about beans, I made mine using a dried heirloom variety, soaking and then cooking in my pressure cooker for 20 minutes. You can use black beans or pinto beans out of a can, that is easy. Remember to rinse them.



Sprinkle some chipotle on top of the beans if you are in the mood. Next comes the very fun part. Craft time with food! Arrange the slices of sweet potato in scolloped rows, alternating by color.




Bake entire cassarole in a 350° oven for 30 - 45 minutes. Crisped sweet potatoes and warmed through.

The potatoes retain their color difference after roasting, although I lack a really good photo because the evening lighting in my house is lacking and it didn't look pretty the next day. We had devoured it and it was a mangled mess of leftovers. We will make do with this one until I make this again!  Or you make it and send me the photo perhaps?

It was really impressive looking. Dinner party or pot luck worthy. Even Thanksgiving perhaps? We ate it along with salad and mustard on top. It served about 6  portions that way. Next time Ill take better measurements in the kitchen, but honestly it was really good, just wing-it, you can't go wrong.

Warming Sweet Potato, Cabbage and Black Bean Vegan Casserole

4-6 sweet potatoes
1 savoy cabbage
1 1/2 cups cooked pinto or black beans
1 teaspoon dry sage
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
olive oil
salt pepper
1/3 cup white wine
1 teaspoons chipotle powder

I do Sophie Dahl's Cardamom Rice Pudding and make it Vegan

This is a story about the rice pudding I made for my culinary book club night, which was all I felt like eating because I have had a toothache for a week and today after having my tooth fixed, I get to eat the leftovers which will be perfect because it is soft, warm and feels like a hug from the inside which is exactly what I need. I would like to thank Sophie Dahl for giving me an excuse to make a delicious and enormous pot of pudding, and for my flakey book club where only half of us showed up, which means, more pudding for me! 

Sophie, if you ever read this, I really loved your book. Voluptuous Delights, was...perfectly delightful. Good storytelling must run in the blood, I found the chapter intros a wonderful read, loaded with imagery. The recipes are simple in a familiar way, a nice twist on ideas here and there, rifs on comforting foods. Our book club dinner was yummy, on one of the first chilly evenings of fall our menu was perfect! Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese and Harissa, Grilled Croquettes and Aubergines (zucchini and eggplant) with Halloumi cheese, Veggie Lentil Pie with Champ, and Cardamom Rice Pudding. All Ms. Dahl's recipes went well together, making a lovely dinner to ring in the fall season. And notably all vegetarian, hoorah! 

For those Americans who aren't aware, Sophie is the grandaughter of the beloved Roald Dahl. Ms. Dahl is known in the UK as having an enviable career modeling, blogging and food writing. However, she is quite lovable, and I think we would be good friends.  

Back to the rice pudding. 

Sometimes rice pudding is cooked in a pot on the stove, sometimes it is an oven affair. Ms. Dahl does hers on the stove. I very nearly followed the recipe. I tried, but now that I am counting up my changes, there are many. Im hopeless! So, my recipe here is based on hers, she uses cows milk and white basmati rice, and the mace was my addition. And she uses raisins but I had run out and used dried apple instead. 

Nobody noticed the hemp milk instead of cows milk. The end result was heavily spiced and warming. Raisins would be nice, as they are more juicy than apples. But apples are all about fall. Try it with both!

Cardamom Rice Pudding

8-10 servings

5 1/2 cups unsweetened hemp milk (or almond milk)

1 cinnamon stick

1 blade mace

1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, or seeds from 1 vanilla pod

8 cardamom pods

1/3 cup organic sugar

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup dried apples

1 cup water (if needed)

The process is quite simple. Heat the milk, cinnamon stick and mace to a simmer in heavy bottomed 6 or 8 qt pot. Stir in the rice and vanilla extract. Keep at low heat for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and that the milk does not boil up. 

Crush the cardamom pods, discarding the pod and keeping the seeds. When the rice, as Ms Dahl puts it, "looks like a soupy milky risotto" stir in the sugar, cardamom seeds, almonds, and dried fruit. 

Cook on very low heat for another 10 minutes. If it gets too dry, add water or more milk. The rice will be tender when done. Past the al dente stage. If it still has a bite, it needs more cooking. 

It is lovely served on its own, or with fresh fruit or even jam. 

This is a very lovely desert since you can make it ahead, and keep it in the oven or on top of the stove and heating it up when dessert comes around. It also makes a good breakfast. 

This pudding is so yummy, I had to resist eating it all while I was taking these pictures before book club. I wish Sophie was my friend, if you are looking to make somebody a friend, you made them some rice pudding, it will win them over. Seriously.