Coconut Cardamom Rice Casserole – from Cook’s Illustrated

Here’s another recipe I used in my Cuban Christmas menu – it’s a good one, especially if you want to serve rice to a big crowd. Nothing worse than fiddling with food on the stove at the last minute. This goes into a casserole and then into the oven.  Super easy and perfect with my Ropa Vieja.  I did not garnish this with cilantro and lime because I also served a mango salsa which was loaded with both cilantro and lime. The cashew topping on this dish was outstanding! I would never have thought of this! Crunchy and salty and buttery.

Here's my Cuban Christmas meal. Ropa Vieja. Mango Salsa.
Cardamom Rice. And off to the side- Pineapple Coconut Layer Cake
with Pineapple Curd. 

Cook’s Illustrated has the very best recipes and methods, in my opinion.  The research that goes into every recipe is incredible and I can’t even imagine how many repetitions they must do to get the perfect end product.  If you’ve ever seen their TV show then you know that they treat every recipe like a mini science experiment, explaining how every protein, fat, spice and temperature contribute to the recipe.

I found this recipe in a huge hard cover cook book called “Cover and Bake,” but I see it all over the internet also. This makes a huge 9x13 casserole, so maybe cut everything in half if you don’t want too many leftovers.

Here’s what you need:

For the topping:

1 C roasted, unsalted cashews

4 slices good white bread, torn in pieces

2 T melted Earth Balance non-dairy butter

For the rice:

2 T Earth Balance non-dairy butter

1 medium onion, minced

2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced

1 T fresh ginger, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t cardamom

4 C vegetable broth

4 C coconut milk (Silk brand beverage)

2 C water

3 C rice

Salt and pepper to taste

(cilantro and lime for garnish)

Here’s what you do:

Process the cashews in a food processor until crumbly – not too long. Add the bread and melted Earth Balance and process until crumbly.  Set aside.

Melt 2 T Earth Balance. Saute the onions and jalapenos until soft, but not brown – about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cardamom and ginger and continue to cook for a few minutes. Add the broth, milk and water. Bring to a simmer. Add the rice, salt and pepper. Return to a simmer, lower heat, cover and cook for about 20 minutes – stirring often. Pour creamy rice mixture in a prepared 9x13 casserole. Top with cashew bread crumbs. Bake 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

(printable recipe)

For the rest of the recipes, click below:

Ropa Vieja,     Pineapple Layer Cake with Pineapple Curd,     Simple Mango Salsa. 

Cardamom Shortbread Cookies

One of the many hats I wear is 8^th grade American History teacher at a small Lutheran school. This role came to me late in my teaching career, and at first, I was intimidated at the depth and breadth of the topic. So, in my usual fashion, I determined to do the best I could; I took many, many history classes, read everything that came my way, upped my teaching certification, and voila! I now teach 8^th grade American History! Not only do I teach it, I LOVE it! Just ask my students.

Organizing and chaperoning a biennial (“happening every two years”… had to look that one up in the dictionary….) trip to Washington DC is a highlight of the job. To get there, we need money, so another hat I sometimes wear is Fund Raiser.

My annual Cookie Walk is an excellent way to earn funds – it’s pure profit. Click here to see last year’s event. To make it successful, I need lots and lots and lots of cookies. Today I share my first batch: Cardamom Shortbread Cookies, now all tucked away in my freezer for the big day.

Here’s what you need for the cookie:

1/3 C sugar

1 C butter – no substitutions here

1 t vanilla

¼ t almond

2 ¼ C flour

2 t cardamom

 Here’s what you need for the glaze:

1 C powdered sugar

½ t vanilla

1/8 t almond

1-3 T milk

Here’s what you do:

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and almond flavors. Mix together the dry ingredients and incorporate them into the butter mixture. Line two 9-inch pans with foil and spray the daylights out of them. Make sure the foil is hanging over the tops because you will need to be able to grab on to it in order to lift the cookies from the pan.

As you can see, the dough was dry and crumbly, but it seemed OK. Use your hands to press the dough into the two pans. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool for 10 minutes. Lift gently from pans with the foil ‘handles.’ Cut them into 16 wedges while still warm.

When completely cool, drizzle glaze over them and CAREFULLY separate. There were some broken ones, but they went quickly into my mouth.

Delicate. Spicy. Buttery. 

spice rack challenge – cardamom

I recently stumbled upon a fellow Michigan food blogger -Mother's Kitchen -  who has designed a really fun project called ‘Spice Rack Challenge.’ I’m on board a few months late, but excited to participate. Currently, there are 25 of us participating. Each entry must be posted the third week of the month, so you can look forward to reading about my spice adventures then.

Since I decided to join this group on the spur of the moment and the deadline for posting was looming, I went with something very easy and obvious for my first challenge – Cardamom Coffee Cake from the Moosewood Cookbook. I have made dozens of things from all the Moosewood cookbooks, but never this coffee cake before. Killed two birds with one stone on this one.

(you know the Julie and Julia movie, where Julie cooks every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook, well I could do the same for the Moosewood cookbooks……. Do I hear another challenge?)

Here’s what you need – and don’t blame me about the pound of butter!

4 sticks of butter

2 C packed light brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

4 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 ½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 T cardamom

2 C sour cream

For the nut mixture:

¼ c light brown sugar

1 T cinnamon

½ C chopped nuts (I used pecans today)

Here’s what you do:

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. I used the standing mixer for this part of the recipe only – the rest is better done by hand to avoid overbeating.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cardamom. Add this dry mixture to the butter mixture alternating it with the sour cream. (half the flour then half the sour cream, etc) Don’t overdo the mixing.

Spread 1/3 of batter in a well-greased bundt pan – I always highly recommend Pam for Baking! One of my favorite products on earth – and that’s a lot of products……

Then sprinkle half of the nut mixture over the batter. More batter, more nuts, end with batter….

Bake in a 350 degree oven for at least 1 ¼ hours. Cool in the pan before attempting to remove it. Some comments on the internet mentioned that the cake dries out all of a sudden if over baked, so watch it closely.

Place a baking sheet in the oven one rack lower than the coffee cake – it overflows while baking!!

I love bundt cakes and here’s the proof:

Blueberry Pound Cake

Spiced Rum Cake

Pumpkin Butterscotch Bundt Cake

(printable recipe)