calling on an oldie but goodie

I cooked for a small dinner party last night.  Lessa and Christian came over to join Van and me (Conrad is home from Michigan later today) for a meal, and that meant I got myself into the kitchen.  And I'm not sure what made me think to do this, but I pulled out an old restaurant recipe:  wild rice pudding with caramel sauce.

We used to make this at the restaurant back home in the 90s not infrequently.  It was a tough initial sell to customers (Rice pudding?  Meh!), but if we persuaded them, we had them hooked.  It's actually a Bobby Flay recipe, so credit to that chef/author.  My only change:  I also serve a raspberry coulis since some people (including all the others last night) like the tartness to cut the sweet.  I hadn't had the pudding in years, and here it was again.  And, truly, it was good.  Better still, I have some leftovers to enjoy.

The meal itself was simple.  Honestly.  I stewed rabbit with olives in a sauce thickened with ground, toasted almonds and served some chard on the side. 

I also made a loaf of bread

for swiping up the stew gravy.  Nothing too complicated, but definitely satisfying.

Now on to planning the Thursday dinner!!