Rice Penguins Recipes

PIGEON PEAS AND RICE

Steps:

• Place pigeon peas in bowl and cover with several inches extra water; soak overnight. Drain.
• In a large, heavy saucepan, combine drained pigeon peas with water (or water and coconut milk). Bring to the boil and add the ham hocks, onion, 1 clove of the garlic, and the chile. Reduce heat to medium-high and simmer, uncovered, until the peas are tender, about 45 minutes.
• Stir in the rice; reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until the rice is tender, another 20-30 minutes. About 5 minutes before the rice is tender, add the last garlic clove to the pot by squeezing it through a garlic press.
• Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper and red-hot sauce, if using, and serve.

CREAM CHEESE PENGUINS

Steps:

• Cut a slit from top to bottom, lengthwise, into the side of each jumbo olive. Carefully insert about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese into each olive. Slice the carrot into eighteen 1/4 inch thick rounds; cut a small notch out of each carrot slice to form feet. Save the cut out piece and press into center of small olive to form the beak. If necessary cut a small slit into each olive before inserting the beak.
• Set a big olive, large hole side down, onto a carrot slice. Then, set a small olive onto the large olive, adjusting so that the beak, cream cheese chest and notch in the carrot slice line up. Secure with a toothpick.

RICE PENGUINS

Steps:

• Use a large spoon or medium sized ice cream scoop to make the warm rice balls. Place the spoonful of rice on a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap the rice with the plastic wrap and roll with your hand to create a rice ball.
• Take a sheet of nori (dried seaweed) and fold in half. Cut a heart shape along the fold. Unfold and wrap around rice. Use plastic to set the nori around the warm rice.
• Use the remain nori sheet and with a nori punch press to get different shapes you can use for the eyes.
• Use the round cutters to press into slices of carrot to create the feet and beak.
• Enjoy!

MARZIPAN PENGUINS

Steps:

• For each penguin, form four balls of marzipan: two the size of golf balls, one half that size, and one one-quarter that size. Using blue, white, and black food coloring, tint one large ball blue. Tint the other large ball white. Using red and yellow food coloring, tint medium ball rust-orange. Tint small ball black.
• Break off a piece of blue marzipan, and roll into a 1/2-inch ball for the head; pinch to form a beak. Use black marzipan to make eyes; attach to head. Shape white marzipan ball into a body (about 1 by 1 1/4 inches). Use orange marzipan to make 1/2-inch-long feet. Roll out remaining blue marzipan to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shape for wings.
• Gently press head onto body, and attach feet. Wrap wings around back; smooth seam at neck.