Sunday, March 1, 2009

Horchata

Jeff and I bought some horchata a few months ago and probably drank the half gallon in a single evening, it was that good. Later on I found this recipe for horchata online, and filed it away for later use.

This morning I decided that a snowy Sunday was the perfect time to test it out. I drained the rice, dumped it into my stainless steel pot with 2 quarts of water and let it all sit for three hours. Boiled it, simmered it, let it sit. After pureeing it, it has turned into a gelatinous glob of milky, ricey water, something that looks more like a science experiment than food. To say that it's "filtering" through the cheesecloth would be an exaggeration. It just sits upon the cheesecloth, mocking me for following the instructions on the recipe so precisely.

Jeff decided to add some more water, and I guess we'll see how that goes. We've coaxed almost a pitcher-full through the cheesecloth in about an hour's time, and after mixing it thoroughly once it's finally done draining, we'll season it with vanilla and sugar and add any more water as necessary. I only hope this stuff tastes really good to make up for all the effort!

In other news, I finally got around to reading The Book of Tofu today. I'll post a review later.