Recipes from the houseboat

A burnt rice to take anywhere, fig & chestnut focaccia + a great way to serve oysters

Still buzzing from an epic week at Tasting Australia, where I teamed up with our Three Blue Ducks head chef Sam Morton and the legend Andy Allen to cook on a houseboat on the Murray River. Between the laughs, buggy rides through a fig farm, a bit of prep, and plenty of eating, we somehow managed to pull together a cracking little menu.

For dessert, we dished up a humble-but-pretty-epic rice pudding. Creamy, comforting, and just a little bit fancy, enriched with egg yolk and cream, it was a proper crowd-pleaser. It’s the same recipe we used for the Serai dinner, only this time we swapped the stone fruit for persimmon.

At Serai, we served the dish on anise myrtle, which we blowtorched to fill the room with smoke, a nod to the first time we dined there, when the extraction was down and the room was accidentally full of smoke. Still one of the best nights!

On the boat, we served the pudding on persimmon leaves, simple, seasonal, and delicious.

Thought I’d share the recipe here so you can give it a whirl.

Plus a few other recipes from the boat:

• Focachia with figs and chestnuts.

• Oysers with blisterd grapes

• Wild fig jam

• Persimon compote

The crew/menu/boat/quince

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Burnt rice pudding with Persimmon

This is such a great recipes to prepare ahead for a dinner party or gathering. I used a blow torch and a little brown sugar to caramalise the top. Either pop it in one bowl to serve 8 - 10 (as above). Or smaller bowls to share betwwen two guests (Pic below)

Serves 10