I wasn’t sure about this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe.
Apples poached in water with honey, sugar, lemon juice, orange juice, star anise and a cinnamon quill?
Surprisingly I had everything I needed at home.
Add to this, the simplicity of the recipe and I knew I had no excuse!
Once I started cooking, the fragrance of the spices and apples filled the house.
I was hooked!
I decided on the spot to make Vanilla Rice Pudding from a Donna Hay recipe I had used in the past.
I put 1 cup aborio rice in a pan with 4 cups milk, 1/2 cup caster sugar and seeds from one vanilla pod.
I brought it all to a boil then reduced the heat, covered it and cooked it for about 20 minutes.
I was stirring and checking until the last 5 minutes.
For some reason I chose this moment to call a hotel in Adelaide to check on rates for a holiday we are planning in January. My brain struggles focusing for extended periods of time on one task!
I totally forgot about the rice and it turned out drier than I hoped for but I followed a tip I had read from Joy the Baker and added extra milk and stirred it through! Thank you Joy the Baker! It tasted amazing!
The next morning I sent everyone off to school and I remembered my poached apples!
I put them on top of a bowl of yoghurt and sat in the warm sun on the back porch.
I have to say while my husband loved them with the rice custard, I fell in love with the apple and yoghurt combo!
I still have some left…
I love knowing I can just pull them out of the fridge and add them to whatever takes my fancy!
I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed this week’s recipe!
Kitchen Therapy 
September 15, 2012 at 12:11 am
I should have made extras of these poached apples. I didn’t think of the million ways they could be used post-dessert. Now I want rice pudding. Drats.
September 18, 2012 at 2:20 am
Me too! Sanya, rice pudding w/these fruits is a great idea. (Love the name of your blog too, “Kitchen Therapy”!)
September 15, 2012 at 2:21 am
Oh, how nice to have your own private pear stash 🙂 Yum, Yum, Yum
September 15, 2012 at 5:35 am
Good for you making your own rice pudding. I was lazy the store stuff isn’t that great. Looks fantastic.
September 15, 2012 at 6:07 am
I think this would be terrific with rice pudding or yogurt, but we went the ice cream route, without regrets. I wish I’d made a double batch. I’d love to have some waiting in the fridge for me right now.
September 15, 2012 at 8:37 am
Your apples look delicious. I had mine with yogurt too, but the rice pudding sounds amazing. Nice to have them both ways!!
September 15, 2012 at 10:43 am
Great idea topping yogurt and rice pudding with the fruit. Sounds fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
September 15, 2012 at 1:10 pm
Love the fruit with the yogurt, but you had me at rice pudding- childhood and adulthood favorite. We are trying to stop doubting the Dorie. 🙂 And yes, its been great to eat these with leftover pork roast all week.
September 18, 2012 at 2:22 am
Well now, that’s a great idea too — pork roast and poached apples…like a deluxe applesauce. 🙂
September 15, 2012 at 1:13 pm
What a great rice pudding you made. Wonderful post!
September 15, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Wasn’t this delicious. I used pears but am anxious to try apples. I noticed that you cut them into eights instead of half, easier done with apples than pears. You’re right, this is breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack. Just lots of different ways to go with this recipe. Yea, Dorie. Your rice pudding does indeed look good.
September 15, 2012 at 2:41 pm
I have made all sorts of poached pears ever since I started cooking. I was a bit ho hum about this one too but made it anyway as I needed to kick it into Dorie gear again after a few weeks off. All this time and I’d NEVER had them for breakfast with yogurt but I’m hooked. I think this is going to become a weekly thing for me now. Never under estimate The Dorie.
September 15, 2012 at 9:37 pm
Delicious over rice pudding, which by the way is so easy! You made a dreamy fall combination. Have a good weekend!
September 15, 2012 at 9:40 pm
I tend to get distracted by many things at once…this trait boggles my husbands mind! However most times women are very good at multi tasking…I think it’s in our genes!! Your apples look wonderfully delicious served over the rice pudding! So glad this was a hit for you…we really enjoyed it too! Enjoy your weekend!
September 16, 2012 at 12:27 am
Looks so delicious with rice pudding. About two weeks ago I made rice pudding
from a recipe of David Lebovitz using arborio rice. We loved it and I will never
go back to the other rice. Have a wonderful weekend.
September 16, 2012 at 1:33 am
Such a yummy topping for your rice pudding! Lovely combo! Enjoy your weekend, my friend~
September 16, 2012 at 6:00 am
Wow,
These apples look delicious! I love that you served it with rice pudding. How yummy is that?
September 16, 2012 at 11:52 am
sounds like a lot of us ate rice pudding last week (me included). but my favorite is made with arborio rice, so creamy! and poached fruit over yogurt for breakfast sounds like a tasty and healthy start to the day. lovely!
September 16, 2012 at 12:42 pm
I had such fun with this simple recipe but am jealous that you had all the ingredients on hand. But I did have a fun trip with Nana sourcing the spices. Great time of year for spice shopping. And now I have to try some homemade rice pudding !!
September 17, 2012 at 1:15 am
Vanilla rice pudding ? Yes please !!!! Sounds lovely and glad your pears turned out so well. Nana and I each considered this a big success. Loved that aroma !!!
September 17, 2012 at 12:05 pm
I love rice pudding. Sounds lovely with the poached pears. I used apples which fell apart, so I ended up with applesauce, delicious though. I love that you call a cinnamon stick a quill. So much more glamorous sounding.
September 17, 2012 at 10:53 pm
I’ll have to make this again & try it with yogurt. Your apples look beautiful & whole (unlike mine) and I definitely support the rice pudding choice!
September 18, 2012 at 10:41 pm
wow. that sounds like the perfect fall recipe.
September 22, 2012 at 3:10 am
I’m gathering so many great ideas for this recipe, which is currently on my catch up list. Hopefully I’ll get to it next month and I love the yogurt idea.
November 4, 2012 at 4:38 pm
gotta love donna hay!! your rice pudding looks terrific and so do the spiced poached apples! (looooove apples 🙂 )
lovely blog!