Cinnamon-Sugar Rice Pudding with Bourbon-Soaked Raisins

In my experience, there are certain foods that most people strongly like or dislike, with very little middle ground. Avocados, anchovies, mayonnaise, mushrooms, and olives all seem to fall into this category. I happen to love all of those foods, and I'm willing to bet that all of you reading have a strong opinion one way or the other about each of them as well. You never hear someone say that they could take or leave anchovies. Either you love 'em, or you don't.

This post is not about anchovies - it's about another food that is oftentimes polarizing. Most people either love rice pudding, or are completely put off by it. I've always been a fan, and when I was trying to think of a dessert to make that hadn't yet appeared on A Bitchin' Kitchen, rice pudding was one of the first things that came to mind.

I adapted a recipe from the Joy the Baker Cookbook, and threw in some raisins that I soaked overnight in bourbon and vanilla. If you make this, try and avoid eating too many of the booze-saturated raisins before adding them to your dessert. They are super-duper delicious, and I kind of wanted to just eat them as a snack...

Here's what you'll need:

For the pudding: 

1/2 cup raisins
Bourbon
Vanilla extract
2 cups water
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup long-grain white jasmine rice
3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the topping:

1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Extra grated orange zest (optional)

The day before you want to make this, add your raisins to a small bowl. Pour bourbon over the raisins until they're just covered, and add a splash of vanilla. Stir to combine, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside somewhere away from curious pets and children. Warning: your home will kind of smell like a distillery until you're ready to use these.

When you're ready to make the pudding, drain raisins and set aside. Rinse the rice thoroughly (I swish it around in a big bowl of water, pour it through a fine mesh sieve, and repeat a couple times until it's no longer foamy.) In a large saucepan over medium heat, boil 2 cups of water. Add the orange zest, salt, and jasmine rice, and stir. Return to a boil, and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Turn heat to simmer, and let the rice cook for 15 minutes (until water is absorbed) without opening the lid or stirring.

Remove the cooked rice from the saucepan and set aside. In a new saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, and cinnamon. Heat over low until the milk is warm, and the sugar dissolves, whisking occasionally.

Add the cooked rice to the pot, and stir often until the milk reduces, and the texture becomes creamy and pudding-like, 20-25 minutes. It will look like there is a lot of liquid in the pot for the first 15 minutes or so, but trust me - it will thicken! If the mixture starts to bubble too much at any point, turn the heat down to simmer. Right before you're ready to remove the pudding from the heat, stir in the butter until it melts, and add in the drained raisins.

Allow the pudding to cool and thicken for 10-15 minutes before serving. This can also be served cold, but you may need to add a little milk after removing it from the fridge to loosen the consistency.

To make the topping, mix together the cinnamon and sugar, and sprinkle on top before serving.

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Source: Adapted from Cinnamon-Sugar Rice Pudding, via the Joy the Baker Cookbook

Green Chili Cheeseburgers

Hellooooooo, new favorite burger! For a long time, this blue cheese burger was number one in the place in my heart reserved for burger love. While it will always be a favorite, it has been bumped to make room for this.

What you see here is a perfectly seasoned burger patty with cheese and chilis mixed right into the meat, topped with a big hunk of monterey jack, and finally a honey-lime-green chili mixture. Usually, I like a lot of condiments on my burger - ketchup, mustard, mayo, and sometimes even ranch dressing makes an appearance. This doesn't need any help from condiments. The flavors are so spot-on that adding ketchup would be downright sinful...and not in the good way.

This recipe makes 4 burgers. I froze 2 of them for future dinners, an am trying to decide what to do with the rest of the green chili sauce. Thoughts anyone? I'm thinking it might be good in an omelette with some of my leftover Monterey Jack cheese.

Here's what you'll need:

1 pound ground beef (85/15 or 80/20)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chilis, divided 

1.5 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, cut into tiny cubes, plus more for topping burgers 

2 teaspoons honey 

Juice of half a lime

4 tablespoons grapeseed oil 

4 Kaiser rolls, toasted

In a bowl, gently combine ground beef, salt, pepper, cumin, onion powder, garlic cloves, half a can of green chilis, and cheese cubes. Form into 4 even patties, wrap individually in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

In a small bowl, combine the remaining chilis, honey, and lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use. 

To cook the burgers, heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook burgers to desired doneness (mine took about 8 minutes to be medium-well/well-doneish), topping with cheese and covering pan with lid during the last minute of cooking. 

When ready to serve, top burgers with green chili sauce, place on a toasted bun, and enjoy! 

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Source: Adapted from How Sweet It Is

The Honey Badger: A Cocktail

Who here remembers the hilarious Honey Badger viral video from early last year? It's one of my favorite things on YouTube, and I highly suggest that you take a look if you are currently scratching your head, and wondering what the heck the title of this post is all about. (Warning: not safe for work, due to some fresh language.) 

No lie, I probably watch this video about once a month. As goofy as it sounds, I think that the honey badger's scrappy, fearless nature is something we should all strive to emulate. The honey badger doesn't see a challenge and back away - it just scrambles up a tree and takes what it wants (in its case, a cobra for dinner.)

While browsing through Pinterest a couple weeks ago, I came across a cocktail called "The Honey Badger." Obviously, I wanted to make it. I don't make a lot of mixed drinks at home - I mainly drink beer and wine, and the occasional bourbon and ginger-ale. My liquor collection is more often used for cooking than for drinking. Fortunately, I got some good news in my life last week that called for a bit of celebration - and what celebration is complete without some bubbly?

Even if you don't have something to celebrate at the moment you should make this drink. It's sweet and refreshing, and makes an excellent summer cocktail. Now that I have a mason jar full of honey syrup and a bottle of St. Germain at my disposal, I see myself making this many more times in the near future!

Here's what you'll need for 1 cocktail:

2 tablespoons honey syrup (see below)
2 tablespoons elderflower liqueur (I used St. Germain)
1 orange slice
Chilled Prosecco

To make the honey syrup, combine 1 cup honey and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. Let cool completely, transfer to a container, and refrigerate. Bonus: making honey syrup makes your kitchen smell like heaven.

In a champagne flute*, pour 2 tablespoons of honey syrup. Next, add in 2 tablespoons of your elderflower liqueur. Squeeze an orange slice into the glass, and drop it in. Top off the glass with Prosecco, stir gently to combine, and enjoy! You will have enough honey syrup and champagne for many more cocktails.

*In case you're curious, my stemless champagne flutes came from here. I love them. I'm a klutz and they help prevent spills!

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Source: Adapted from Design Love Fest