Chai Rice Pudding with Poached Pears

This blog post is part of the Two for Tuesday carnival


 
Chai Rice Pudding

• 3 1/2 cups unsweetened soymilk
• 4 black chai tea bags
• 1 cup short- or medium-grain white rice
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 medium-sized apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1/4 cup dark raisins
• cinnamon for garnish, optional

Bring 2 cups water and 1 cup soymilk to a boil in large saucepan. Remove from heat, and add teabags. Cover, and steep 5 minutes. Remove tea bags, squeezing out any liquid. Stir rice, sugar and salt into tea mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups soymilk, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes, or until rice is soft. Stir in apple and raisins; remove from heat. Cover pot, and let sit 10 minutes.
Spoon pudding into 2-quart heatproof dish. Serve warm or cold, with whipped cream and cinnamon, if desired. 


Poached Pears

• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 whole pears (ripe but firm)

In a small bowl, combine the juices, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir to mix evenly. 

Peel the pears and leave the stems. Remove the core from the bottom of the pear. Place in a shallow pan. Add the juice mixture to the pan and set over medium heat. Simmer for about 30 minutes, turning pears frequently. Don't boil.

Transfer the pears to serving plates.