My 46th Attempt. #notreally

I keep asking for forgiveness from my readers every time I take an extended break from TTOWBF, and I'm not sure why.  Like reading my daily sound-off about food was the only thing you all lived for and cared about in this universe.  Very self-centered of me.

Sounds like the only person I need to forgive is myself.

Very well.

Thanks, Amazon.com!

Shortly before the holidays, my sister-in-law bought me this book.  I'd heard of it before, but never beyond a passing interest.  Then, I start reading, and suddenly, I am reading recipes and instructions out loud (not in front of my children, natch).  Yes, the schtick is profanity, and there is plenty of it in this book.

But, the recipes are actually really really decent!  And clever and easy.

And vegan.

Right?!  Not a cookbook genre I normally pick up, and I don't know if my sister-in-law knew it as well.  So, yes, there's a few unusual ingredients (nutritional yeast, tempeh, seitan), but the beauty of it is...if you need the meat, use the meat.  Nobody is judging you, much less cookbook writers who use the f-word a lot.

So. I'm going to share with you the results of one of those recipes, mostly because I've wanted to try it for some time now.  Horchata.  If you've ever wondered how rice milk, cashew milk, etc., is made - horchata.

And I'll be damned if it isn't just kind of a fun word to say.  Horchata. Hoooorchaaaaaata. Its origins are not American (like most foods in America)...and the rice variety is most popular in Mexico and other Latin American countries.  Essentially...

Brown rice, almonds (although I reckon you could use whatever kind of nut you like...I had almonds in my freezer), and a cinnamon stick are soaked in water overnight.  After it's all blended up in some kind of high-powered Cuisinart, it's strained through a cheesecloth.  I did not have any around my house, so I used the finest mesh strainer I had (and gurrrrrl, it was sooooo fine!).

At which point, I get something that looks the ivory, creamy goodness that you see in the second photo below.  Except, some of the grainier bits of the rice got through, and it wasn't as creamy as the horchata you might buy at your local Mexican grocery store.  Meh, details...

This is a two-for-one recipe, folks.  In one glass, I get the liquid called horchata.  In another glass, I get the cinnamon-y strained-off horchata paste.  The liquid horchata is straight up drinkable right then and there.  I will add a special note here: the liquid is super in your coffee or with rum.  Good to know.  The junior varsity horchata leftover is great in your rice pudding, panna cotta, over your oatmeal.  You're only limited by your imagination and how much time you spend reading political news on the Internets.

The mythbusting element of this recipe appeals to me in the sense that I've seen horchata in the store, I've had it in taco restaurants, and I love knowing there's no complicated mystique behind it.  Horchata, like most other food things that are good and worth dying for, calls for whole, simple ingredients and simple preparation methods.

And that is something we could all use a little more of around here.