at Sat, 05 Aug 2006 20:55:25 GMT in <4B7Bg.174043$k%3.9741@dukeread12>,
(DWACON) wrote :

>I was shopping in an "ethnic" store and they had rose water on the
>shelf. I purchased a bottle. It was an impulse buy. So, I get home
>and I wonder what the heck do I do with it. It smells nice... but do I
>drink it, cook with it, or dab it on my pulse points?
>
>Any recipes that use rose water?
>

The Middle East has tons of dessert recipes featuring it. Probably the most
iconic (and surely one of the best) is Kheer - or if you prefer the richer
Persian version called Shir Berenj:

Kheer

6 cups milk
5/8 cup short-grain rice - pudding rice or Arborio, Carnaroli, etc.
5/8 cup water
2 tbsp rosewater
2 tbsp sugar
8 cardamom pods
1 oz. pistachios, approx.
1 oz. almonds, approx.


Put the rice and water in a pot and allow to soak overnight. Bring the rice
to a quick boil, stirring constantly, boiling until all the water has been
absorbed. Pour all the milk in, and immediately reduce the heat as low as
it will go. Cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until very thick, stirring
occasionally. Split the cardamom pods, grind the seeds, and add to the mix.
Briefly cook (about 5 minutes), then add the rosewater, stir, heat for
about 1 minute, and remove from the heat. Stir in the sugar. Pour into
ramekins or small bowls. Chill until cool. Just before serving, chop up the
pistachios and almonds finely (use a knife, NOT a food processor, for this
operation) and sprinkle on top. Serve. Serves 4.

Shir Berenj follows the same recipe, but instead of all milk, you use 4
cups of milk and 2 cups of cream. You add only the milk at the beginning,
and pour in the cream at the same time you add the sugar, i.e. as you pull
it off the stove. In Shir Berenj, also, you top only with pistachios - so
double the amount of those and eliminate the almonds.

You can also make both hot instead of cold - delicious in winter. Simply
reduce the amount of milk by 2 cups, heat the cream, if any, before
stirring in, and eat as soon as you get it off the stove.

If you don't like how thick the mixture turns out, you can easily change it
by increasing or reducing the amount of milk. There's a range of textures
you can produce, from firm and holding its own shape (4 cups), to very
loose and runny (8 cups).

Try making a strawberry risotto using rosewater as the "stock". You saute
the rice briefly in butter along with a bit of (fresh) ginger and a
relatively small amount of finely chopped cooking apples. Then add hot
rosewater-scented water ladle by ladle (or you can use pure rosewater for a
very intense flavour if you want. Stir in the strawberries right at the
end, as the rice becomes fully creamy. Substitute some grated white
chocolate for Parmesan cheese which in many risotti is added at the end.
I can give you a more detailed recipe for this if you want.

Rosewater can also work very nicely in a cake - for instance try using it
instead of vanilla in a classic yellow cake. I also have a couple of
purpose-formulated cakes using rosewater I can give you if you like.

You can flavour whipped cream with rosewater and use it as a topping for
angel food cake or meringues.

Chocolate ganache, either dark or white, tastes wondrous with rosewater -
either on its own or as a filling inside a hard chocolate shell. Use
Guittard Chucuri if you're using dark chocolate with rosewater, btw.

Lots and lots of uses - these are just some ideas to get you started. I
tend to go through about a 10-oz bottle every 3 months...

--
Alex Rast

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