Tuesdays With Dorie

Well this was a disaster.  Thank God, I didn't take any pictures of my soup/fudge....that was supposed to be rice pudding.  Eeek.  This was FUBAR from the get-go.  

I'm going to preface this by saying that I did learn a valuable lesson in just my second TWD event.....read the comments section before you start cooking.  If I had done this I could have saved myself some time and frustration.

So here's what happened.....In my first attempt, I followed the directions to the letter (because I'm not a good enough baker to attempt any improv) and it turned out just as Dorie said it would.....

"The pudding won't be thick - that's ok (it will thicken in the refrigerator)."

So mine definitely wasn't thick.....it wasn't even a little thick....but I proceeded to put my chocolate in and divide it up in to individual ramekins (I was having friends.....operative word, friends....over after dinner for dessert), put it in the fridge for the six required hours and went out to dinner thinking I had this shizzle covered.  Ummm, not so much.  Good thing these "friends" liked me, because I served them chocolate soup with rice coagulated in the bottom for dessert.  Uh....yum....I'm sure they'll be back soon.  The one person brave enough to actually try it said that it "tasted good, but was a little thin".  Ya think?  I just gave them more wine.

So, I put all my ramekins back in the fridge and decide to check on them again in the morning to see if things had thickend up.  Nope.  So my stubborn side (which is actually three of my sides) kicked in and I decided to try again.  Sent Mr. B to the store to get more whole milk, (because who drinks whole milk anymore??) and proceeded to try again.  After I got the rice on to boil, I decided I'd check on-line to see if anyone else had had this problem....and it seems EVERYONE (close) had produced rice soup.  Lo and behold, there's a post from Dorie herself saying that there was a fatal error in the printing of the book and that the rice should boil for 50-60 minutes instead of the published 30.....well hot damn, that might make a difference.

There was also someone who said that she just put her original attempt back on the stove for a while and it thickened right up.  So I did that.....for obviously too long.....the consistency was fine while it was still hot, but after a few hours in the fridge, it turned to fudge.  Shit.  I threw it out.

That's my last attempt at rice pudding.  It's not my favorite thing anyway....just don't like the texture.....I like my pudding smooth.  But, I'm glad I tried. 

I'll be perusing the web site comments in the future before I set foot in the kitchen.

Thanks to Isabelle for choosing this recipe.  I'd tell you all to visit Isabelle's blog, but it's in French and I know the only French my readers speak usually needs to be pardoned.