Kay Wheeler Moore

Welcome to my blog

Hello. . .

The Newfangled Country Gardener is for anyone who has a garden, would like to have a garden, or who simply enjoys eating the garden-fresh way. I don't claim to be an expert; in this blog I'm simply sharing some of the experiences my husband and I have in preparing food that is home-grown.

About the author

Kay Wheeler Moore is the author of a new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, that features six generations of recipes that call for ingredients that are fresh from the garden. With home gardening surging in popularity as frugal people become more resourceful, this recipe collection and the stories that accompany it ideally will inspire others to cook the garden-fresh way and to preserve their own family food stories as well. The stories in this book center around the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls (Kay's mother and aunts) who grew up in Delta County, TX, with their own backyard garden so lavish that they felt as though they were royalty after their Mama wielded her kitchen magic on all that was homegrown. Introduced in Kay's previous book, Way Back in the Country, the lively Miller Girls again draw readers into their growing-up world, in which a stringent economic era--not unlike today's tight times--saw people turn to the earth to put food on the table for their loved ones. The rollicking yarns (all with recipes attached) have love, family, and faith as common denominators and show how food evocatively bonds us to our life experiences.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

“Say-what?” Pudding for breakfast? This one turned out to be a very good idea.

This was another one of those “say-what?” recipes. Who heard of a breakfast pudding—plus one that contained pineapple, bananas, and raisins? Pudding was supposed to be something with chocolate or butterscotch or vanilla in the name. What commended this unusual dish, and why should I make it?

The answer to that last one is that brown rice is BIG, BIG, BIG right now. Its health benefits are legion. Just one cup of brown rice is said to provide us with 88 percent of our daily value for manganese, a trace mineral that helps our nervous system and in the production of good cholesterol. Women who eat whole grains are said to gain less weight. And of course the fiber factor of brown rice is high. Many health benefits are thought to be stripped from the rice when it is being changed from brown to white. One cup of brown rice a day is recommended.

Therefore anything that gives that brown rice serving some variety and makes it seem more of a treat is ideal. This is what happened when the additional ingredients are added to the brown-rice pan in the preparation process. Although the recipe called for crushed pineapple, it would be even more dynamite if you had a fresh pineapple on hand and wanted to cut up some slices to make 8-ounces of crushed (saving the juice, of course). I found that the more banana that I added, the sweeter the pudding tasted. Also for color, along with regular raisins I added some cranberry raisins—again, magnifying the sweet taste.

Long story short, I became a believer in this brown-rice pudding with add-ins that make it tasty and healthy. And it was good for breakfast as well as for lunch and dinner or as a dessert.

Tropical Breakfast Risotto

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 cup brown rice, dry
1/2 cup evaporated skin milk (not to be confused with sweetened condensed milk)
1 (8-ounce) can pineapple, crushed, drained
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup coconut, shredded
1/4 cup almonds, sliced
1 banana, diced
cinnamon

In a sauce pan combine water, pineapple juice, and rice. Cook over high heat to boiling. Cover and reduce heat to low heat; continue cooking with the lid on until most of the water is absorbed and rice is tender—15-20 minutes. Add evaporated skim milk and heat on high. Stir occasionally. When mixture becomes creamy and the milk is absorbed, reduce heat to medium-high and add crushed pineapple. Heat pineapple; then add raisins, coconut, almonds, and banana and stir. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Sprinkle cinnamon over top. Serve warm or cold. Makes 6 (1/2-cup) servings.


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