chestnut-ginger rice pudding with(out) coconut-rum cream

A new development for a new year! Here's hoping 2015 is extra tasty.

You'll need:

• 200 g (7 ounces) cooked and shelled chestnuts, chopped in halves
• a pinch of salt
• 1 c. short-grained rice
• 3 c. soy milk (or your milk of choice)
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. powdered ginger
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• 1/4 t. cardamom
• 4 pieces crystallized ginger, diced finely
• 1/8 c. honey
• 1 t. vanilla

For the cream:

• 1 can coconut milk, pre-chilled in fridge (open it, scrape the hardened layer from the top and put it in a big bowl, and use the liquidy part for a smoothie or something--put the bowl and coconut cream in the fridge to stay cold till ready)
• 2 t. powdered sugar
• 2 t. rum

Do this:

First of all, a heads-up: watch your pot. Watch it like a hawk--milk enjoys boiling over. It gets a kick out of making a gihugic stinky burned mess on your gas burner. Not that I would know anything about that.

And now on to the actual directions.

I washed my rice to get the extra starch off, then put it in a pan with the milk and salt. I brought it to a lively simmer-boil, constantly stirring, and added the rest of the ingredients as the rice started to soften.

Watch it, watch it, watch it. Wait for it. Stir often to keep it from sticking.

When it's sufficiently mushy, bring your bowl and cream out of the fridge, and using a hand mixer, blend with the powdered sugar and rum. I've tried this with two different brands of coconut milk, and the last batch stiffened up nicely. This one didn't and stayed runny. Either way, delish. Just don't share this part with the kiddiewinks--they can have some cream sans the yummy rummy.

Dollop (or spoon) onto your rice pudding and sprinkle with a little cinnamon for a nice toasty-colored garnish.