Feeding Friendship: Winter Citrus

It's time once again for a Feeding Friendship post, or, really, past time. I had very good intentions of posting last Thursday, but I made a dish that I disliked so strongly that I didn't want to post it at all. So now it's time for a little make-up citrus!

I didn't go to Wegman's this weekend because I didn't need enough items to justify an hour in the car, but this meant that I was stuck with the local produce selection, which is somewhat awful. I had good intentions toward a kumquat and lime pie I found online, but encountered a distinct lack of kumquats in regular stores. I ended up with 4 cheerful looking navel oranges and set out to make them into something respectable. I thought about a lot of options here, but ended up with this recipe from the Food Network for Orange-Cinnamon Rice Pudding. Now, I'm not going to recreate their whole recipe, because I do not want to infringe on their intellectual property, but here are the ingredients you will need:

2 oranges: 1 for orange peel strip & other for zest
2-3 cinnamon sticks
pinch Kosher salt
1 Tbl unsalted butter
1 cup Arborio rice (Aroborio is best, but a short grain rice is imperative)
4 cups whole milk (I used 2% though)
3/4 granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
8 oz mascarpone cheese
cinnamon for sprinkling (optional)
powdered sugar for sprinkling (optional)

I realized that you get a lot of the orange flavor in this dish from the orange peel you boil with the rice, so I wanted to use a large strip for lots of flavor.

I then cut the strip in two pieces so more of it would be in the water as it boiled. You basically combine the butter, salt, 2 cups of water, rice and peel in one saucepan (let the water boil before adding the rice) and the milk, cinnamon sticks, sugar, and vanilla in another large saucepan. 

I substituted part of the regular white sugar for tangerine sugar from the Spice and Tea Exchange for an extra citrus flavor punch. 

Once your rice has absorbed the water, you remove the orange peels and transfer it to your simmering milk saucepan. 

not quite absorbed yet here

I have been making rice pudding (or arroz con leche) since I got back from Spain, and this recipe is very similar to what I do, except that by adding the rice that has already absorbed the water to the already warm milk and allowing it to absorb that too, it cuts down on your chances of the rice burning and sticking. I usually start with the rice in the pan and then add milk slowly after the water is absorbed. This way is much more foolproof! Just keep an eye out for boil-overs and stir occasionally. After a while your milk will be almost totally absorbed. Now it's time to add the orange zest. The recipe called for a 1/2 tsp, but I nearly doubled it and didn't think it was too strong. 

Next, you add your mascarpone. The recipe says to add half and then serve the other half over top of your portions. This sounded strange and gross to me, so I just incorporated all the cheese into the pudding. Here you have it! 

It had a delightful citrus smell while cooking, and the taste was still subtle, coming on after you taste the creamy flavor and the cinnamon. Easy to do, and tough to burn- what more can you ask for?