Comfort Food For The Cold Day

Hello, Hello!

Have you noticed that when the weather gets cold enough you suddenly start to crave something warm, rich and filling. I think human bodies are programmed to want and seek comfort food when our brains realize that there is threatening situation like cold. Of course we are not really in danger of freezing nowadays but our brains still work like they did back in the time when hypothermia was an issue. 

Each country, race and culture has their own special ingredients that they consider comforting but they all have one thing in common - evil yet delicious carbs. In my opinion comfort food is very good for your body and soul when enjoyed sparingly. 

Since I woke up to a bitterly cold morning yesterday as well as today (*see below, it was -18C/0F outside and 18C/64 inside*), I decided to treat myself to one of my favorite Finnish comfort foods; rice porridge with sugar and cinnamon. It takes a while to cook but it is so worth it! It is really creamy like rice pudding but it is served hot and it is slightly salted. You can eat the porridge with sugar-cinnamon mix or with berries. If you are feeling really under the weather and you want serious comfort food, you add a a big chunk of butter that melts oh-so-nicely over the hot porridge.

Rice porridge

-2dl water (3/4 cup)

-2dl round and short rice (puuroriisi in Finnish, I'm not sure if this type of rice is sold everywhere in the world but it is kinda like risotto rice)

-1 liter of milk (4 1/4 cups milk)

- ½-1 tsp salt

Here's how you make it:

Bring water to boil and add rice. Let it simmer till rice has absorbed almost all water. Add milk and salt. Let it simmer for 40-45 minutes on low heat. Remember to stir a lot. I usually sit on a tall bar stool next to stove and read a magazine while stirring the porridge. This is how it looks at first...

This is how it should look like after 25 minutes...

And finally after 45 minutes it will look like this...

Then you just sprinkle it with sugar-cinnamon mix and you are good to go. Super yummy!

Two of the traditional Finnish Christmas time treats; ginger bread cookies and rice porridge. Both work great as comfort food too!

Stay warm! Eat well! Keep active! Sleep enough!

That's my recipe for surviving winter.