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Saturday, January 20, 2007

Mastering the art of perfection – Riz au lait parfumé à la vanille

I am a real perfectionist; the kind that would throw away a sheet of paper whenever something looks wrong: either the writing, the colours... just about anything in fact.
I’ve been known to remake things entirely for un petit rien [barely anything] from school notebooks to cakes; from paintings to recipes.

Indeed when it comes to recipes I’m rarely satisfied. It has to and it needs to be P-E-R-F-E-C-T.
Though, sometimes it clearly isn’t. But in this case, I could do anything to achieve perfection; and if it involves staying, covered with chocolate, flour and sugar, in a kitchen all night, then I don’t mind.

Riz au lait perfume à la vanille
It took me a long time to find the perfect recipe for riz au lait à la vanille.
Indeed, I did find my redemption in riz au lait au chocolat, but really wasn’t satisfied with the white kind of riz au lait.

It’s something quite tricky: too much rice and it’ll end up rock-hard; too much milk and what you’ll get will be looked over as a soup.

This riz au lait is just as it should be: creamy, beautifully flavoured and very comforting.
What makes it special is its cooking technique inspired by the lovely Dorie Greenspan. Parboiling the rice in water makes for an almost starchless grain which is unlikely to get sticky resulting in a perfectly balanced ratio of 'rice grains' and 'vanilla cream'.

For extra comfort, you can have it while it’s still warm. And then, you’ll understand what perfection really means.

Riz au lait parfumé à la vanille

serves 2

75 g arborio rice
400ml water
350 ml milk
1/2 vanilla pod, scraped
60 g caster sugar

Put the rice and water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Lower the temperature and cook the rice, uncovered for 10 minutes.
Drain the rice in a strainer and rinse it; set aside.
Rinse out the saucepan, then pour in the milk, sugar and the scraped vanilla bean. When it boils, stir in the cooked rice. Reduce the heat and let the mixture bubble away for about 30 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Remove the pan from the heat and transfer either into a large bowl or two small ramekins.
You can eat it warm or cold from the refrigerator.

Labels: favourites, recipe inside, spoon desserts, vanilla

sweet link | posted by *fanny* at 18:39

24 sweets:

Anonymous said something sweet:: What a lovely sweet! You give me such good ideas to try. Will try to follow your directions closely to get the same wonderful result.; 20 January, 2007 19:29
Anonymous said something sweet:: En voyant ton blog, on comprend tout de suite que tu es perfectionniste, et c'est bien comme ça!; 20 January, 2007 22:15
Anonymous said something sweet:: je suis toujours à la recherche du riz au lait idéal, je m'en suis approchée, mais le tien à l'air d'être ma quête ;-); 20 January, 2007 22:36
Anonymous said something sweet:: Pas de doute je suis moi aussi du genre perfectionniste, et pas toujours heureuse de l'etre d'ailleurs. Et comme toi, j'adore le riz au lait. Quelle jolie mug et cuiller. Adorable.; 20 January, 2007 23:41
Fabienne said something sweet:: Je te remercie pour cette jolie recette que je vais tester dès cet après-midi !; 21 January, 2007 09:38
*fanny* said something sweet:: Hi Fran - this is such a versatile spoon dessert. You can add cinnamon or cardamom for a cheering pudding or even chocolate for a luscious treat.

Coucou Kitchenette - zut, je pensais que personne n'avait remarqué mon perfectionniste. Chassez le naturel, il revient au galop.

Coucou Auntie Joe - j'espère qu'il te plaira. Moi je suis fan.

Hi Bea - tu es même plus que perfectionniste; tu es la perfection même!
Pour le mug, je l'ai eu chez Fly - une bonne surprise.

Coucou Fabienne - rien de mieux qu'un bon riz au lait pour réchauffer un dimanche d'hiver.

Love
- fanny; 21 January, 2007 09:51
sooishi said something sweet:: J'ai très envie de gouter à la perfection!
En plus je suis absolument fan de riz au lait, alors ça tombe bien :); 21 January, 2007 12:11
Anonymous said something sweet:: I can't decide what I love more the riz au lait or that gorgeous cup! Looks delightful; 21 January, 2007 12:11
Anonymous said something sweet:: hummm il a l'air superbement bon ton riz au lait! j'ai hate d el'essayer! ^-^

merci pr cette recette!!; 21 January, 2007 14:51
Anonymous said something sweet:: Rice with Vanilla... what a delicious sounding dessert, Fanny! I love that tiny drip on the side of the cup.

Your photo is so enticing!; 21 January, 2007 23:26
Unknown said something sweet:: Oh lalala le riz au lait... Ca me rappelle tellement mon arrière-grand-mère... Elle nous en faisait tous les dimanches et j'adorais ça. Difficile de croire qu'une recette pourra remplacer la sienne un jour, mais j'ai bien envie de tenter la tienne.; 21 January, 2007 23:48
Anonymous said something sweet:: Oooh how wonderfully delicious that looks! Thanks for the tip from Dorie :) Will definitely keep that in mind...This reminds me also of the arroz con leche that my mom makes, she flavors it with a little lemon :); 22 January, 2007 01:22
*fanny* said something sweet:: Hi Marcia - moi aussi le riz au lait j'adore. Je trouve ça super reconfortant.

Hi Helen - i must say i also had a crush on the mug. SO pretty :)

Coucou Marie Laure - merci.

Hi Mae - thank you. You're such a sweetie.

Coucou Milie - c'est vrai que rien ne remplace les plats que nos grands mères et arrières grands mères nous faisaient.

Hi Joey - arroz con leche flavoured with lemon must be SO good.

Love
- fanny; 22 January, 2007 10:01
Anonymous said something sweet:: I know what you mean, rice pudding is a very complicated thing to make! I've tried many times and messed up. I'm writing down your recipe and can't wait to try it!; 23 January, 2007 23:58
Anonymous said something sweet:: lovely....^_^; 24 January, 2007 19:02
Anonymous said something sweet:: You know you're a good cook/photographer/blogger when I can visit your site and fall in love with this recipe even when I'm not a rice pudding fan. I'm sitting here filling out my menu for the week and I'm going to make this for breakfast tomorrow. Your pictures are lovely too--

And as an added bonus I get to brush up on my French by reading your comments. It's been a while but I can get the gist of things . . .; 25 January, 2007 06:18
*fanny* said something sweet:: Hi Dianka - I have some awful memories of uncooked rice floating in a white and tasteless milk mixture. Well i might be exagerating; but just slightly :)

Hi M - thanks.

Hi Scribbit - that's a true compliment you're giving me. Thank you.
I hope you'll like it.

Regarding the french, i'll try to fit more french in the posts.

Love
- fanny; 25 January, 2007 08:17
Anonymous said something sweet:: enfin j'ai trouvé LA recette de riz au lait!!! Tu ne peux pas savoir combien de recettes j'ai essayées! Celle- ci est parfaite! Merci!; 25 January, 2007 20:19
marias23 said something sweet:: Hi Fanny!

This is the first time I've encountered your blog. It's beautiful and I just adore the photography. Your creations are also very inspiring!; 26 January, 2007 18:47
*fanny* said something sweet:: Coucou Canille - j'espere de tout coeur qu'elle te plaira.
Elle est parfaite, du moins, à mon goût.

Hi Maria - thanks for the nice words. It makes my day.

- fanny; 29 January, 2007 22:08
Anonymous said something sweet:: Quoi de meileur qu'un riz au lait à l'ancienne !
Je craque.
A ce sujet, le nouveau Saveurs nos propose un mini-dossier avec 4 recettes sympathiques. Notamment du riz au lait belle-hélène.
Mais j'avoue que rien ne remplacera la douceur vanillée des riz au lait de notre enfance (eh oui, encore elle ;o))et de l'ancien temps. Je suis très nostalgique sur ce genre de mets, j'adore la tradition, même si je la malmène parfois, par nécessité... ;o)
Le verre qui te sert de contenant est sublime, très adapté je trouve. Adorable.
Merci et bonne journée.; 30 January, 2007 11:14
Anonymous said something sweet:: Hei mademoiselle...

Ce que tu fais a l'air miam.

Et comme apparemment tu baves devant nos appareils.

Contre un dessert cuisiné par tes petites mains spécialement pour nous [j'entend Flore, Chatou et moi], on te trouve un pola à soufflet et on te le retape...

Bise.; 02 February, 2007 13:05
Anonymous said something sweet:: :); 02 February, 2007 18:11
Anonymous said something sweet:: Hi Fanny,

I made this recipe last night and it was truly delicious and comforting. My boyfriend said it was the best riz au lait he's ever had. I agree. Although, it turned out a little more soupy than yours, but that might have to do with my metric conversions. Thanks so much!! And I truly enjoy your blog, long live perfectionism!!
Jen; 23 February, 2007 19:08