January is waving goodbye. Christmas and New Years Day are a distant memory. Diets and to-dos are dissolving. Winter is still here. There is an upside to this all - it's still cold enough to overindulge and rationalise that the excess is necessary. Sometimes you just need that comfort from something. We each have our own little secrets. Mine is this rice pudding. I guess it's no longer a secret. Creamy, rich and totally comforting. This is one of those desserts that's simple and decadent. You can serve this with whatever topping you'd like. I opted for caramel but I also really like this with fresh berries. For someone who claims to not have a sweet tooth I seem to be blogging exclusively about desserts. I guess the blog reflects how our diets change over time.

Ingredients
125g short-grain rice (I used arborio)
100g caster sugar
1 litre full-fat milk
1 vanilla pod
150-200ml double or whipping cream
3-4 tablespoons icing sugar
dulce de leche

Method
Pour the milk and sugar into a saucepan and heat up. Add the split and scraped vanilla pod/beans to the milk and continue to heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the rice and simmer for up to 30 minutes or until the rice has expanded and completely cooked through. Take off the heat and let it cool down completely. Take out the vanilla pod. Whisk the double cream with the icing sugar. Fold the cream into the cooled rice. Spoon into bowls and add as much dulce de leche you would like to each serving. You could add bananas if you want but it's not necessary.

The Lebanese way of living dictates that food plays a central part in everyday life, social occasions and revelry. Celebrations are especially grand affairs where families, friends and neighbours come together to not only salute the happening of a certain event but to also indulge by eating lovingly prepared food. Something in the Lebanese psyche equates food and love and nowhere is that better shown than during a celebratory event, be it a wedding or otherwise.

One of the most elusive but enticing celebratory dishes is something known as meghli, a spiced rice-based dessert made to commemorate the birth of a new child. It is one of the things I most look forward to during family gatherings and on occasion have made it as a dessert on a regular week-night. Some things are special and as such are reserved for befitting occasions but I believe we can elevate meghli into becoming a quintessential Lebanese dessert. Flavoured with caraway, anise and cinnamon and topped with a multitude of optional extras, meghli is a real show stopper.

Ingredients
200g rice flour
2.5l of water
200g of sugar
20g caraway seeds (ground)
10g aniseed (ground)
10g cinnamon (ground)

optional extras: dessicated coconut, blanched almonds, pine nuts, pistachios and sultanas.

Methods
Pour two litres of water in an adequate saucepan, reserving 500ml in a glass jug. Add the sugar to the pan and heat up to boiling point (making sure the sugar has dissolved). Mix the remaining ingredients into the reserved water making sure to mix through thoroughly. Add the mixture to the sauce pan and once again bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and let the pan simmer, whisking as it cooks. This will keep bubbling for 30-45mins until the rice flour has thickened the meghli considerably. It sounds like hard work and I guess it is but it'll be so worth it. The cooked mixture will yield twelve small bowls/pots which you should fill as soon as you turn the heat off. Cover the tops with cling film to avoid the meghli forming a skin. You can eat it warm but generally it's eaten colder. Sprinkle with any of the optional extras and tuck in! Addictive, isn't it?

When I first started learning how to cook one of the dishes I'd frequently revisit (and exhaust) was the classic Milanese dish of risotto. It soon became my calling card; I knew how to cook a decent risotto. But by the twentieth time of cooking a risotto I suddenly had an epiphany...I'd become a one-dish wonder.  That realisation forced me to change tact and to save the risotto for special occasions. I had to learn how to cook something else. Over the years I revisited the risotto several times but the more I cooked it more adventurous I became. 

This specific recipe isn't the most adventurous of my attempts but it has an immediate visual impact and a wonderful sweet, earthy taste from the beetroot. The fresh goats' cheese turns this from a good risotto into a very good one (if I say so myself). When I brought this out for my Mum to try she was taken aback by the colour but she had something on her mind. She first stared at the risotto and then inspected the dish before exclaiming that there was something quite devilish about the colour and to a superstitious woman like her it was quite alarming. She did try it and I'm glad to say she loved it (and there were no ill effects nor any sign of an antichrist). 

Ingredients

1 cup Egyptian short grain rice (or Carnaroli)

2-2 1/2 cups of chicken stock

1 stalk celery

1 large onion

2 small cloves of garlic

1 dessert spoon olive oil

a splash of a dry white wine (optional)

3 medium sized beetroots - grated

2 tablespoons of parmesan

1 tablespoon of good quality butter

1 block fresh soft goats cheese (I used a variety from the Poitou-Charentes region)

salt and pepper (careful on the salt, there's stock and parmesan in this)

Method

Sweat the diced onion and celery in the olive oil until soft and translucent. Add the garlic for no longer than half a minute. Add the rice and make sure that every grain is coated in oil and fry for a minute. Add the wine if you're using it or proceed ahead if you're not. Add the beetroot and stir in and then ladle on the first spoonful of stock. Try to stir this as few times as possible. You only want to stir to stop it from sticking. Add a ladleful of stock at a time until the rice has increased in size and is tender to the bite. You want to make sure not to dry out the rice too much so it's best to add a little more stock after your rice is cooked to your liking. Add the grated parmesan and butter and stir. Cover and leave to rest for one minute. Cut the goats' cheese into chunks whilst you wait. Spoon on the risotto and layer with some goats cheese and a splash of olive oil. Then it's time to eat!