January 25, 2022

Dear friends,

We’re in a slum version of an RV park in Riviera Beach, Fla. It’s the only place we could find after searching for a campsite for eight months last summer and fall. Covid-ridden  Florida may be a crazy place to spend the pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped snowbirds  from trying.

What’s more, I’m happy to be here despite the cigarette butts that litter the ground and a neighbor who panhandles us for money. I relax in a lawn chair, eyes closed to the imperfections, grateful it’s not minus-11 degrees.

That my friends sojourn in fancy condos on the Gulf while I camp in near squallor seems appropriate to me. At heart I’m still the kid from East Liverpool who rode second-hand bikes and went to college on scholarship.

That’s probably why I didn’t bat an eye at making a cornstarch-thickened pudding last week. In some circles, it’s the Hamburger Helper of pudding. In my prime I would have separated eggs and patiently thickened the yolks in a double boiler to enrich and clot the cream. Now, I consider cornstarch a big step up from a box of instant, kind of like my campground vs. Ohio at minus-11 degrees.

I just had to make the pudding after tasting a Jamaican rum version at a nearby street market. The vendor, who calls her cottage business Taste T’s Pastries, crumbles crunchy, rum-soaked ladyfingers into the rich, silky stuff. Tony wasn’t interested until I forced a spoonful on him. His eyes actually widened before he said, “Wow!”

Taste T’s pudding is thick and satiny with a serious rum kick. I’m sure she thickens it with eggs. Mine is less thick but still delicious, with a rum kick that could probably get you tipsy if you ate too much.

A couple of notes: The ladyfingers that I used and I’m pretty sure Taste T did, too, are crunchy like amaretti. I bought Goya brand in an Hispanic market. The other note, and this one is very important, is to resist stirring the pudding after it bubbles. As the mixture heats up, stir less and less. Before the first bubble appears, put the spoon down. Simmer without stirring for the last minute. Otherwise, the pudding will never set up. I don’t have a photo this week because mine didn’t set up. It was ugly but delicious.

RUM PUDDING

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

Dash of salt

2 cups half and half

1/4 cup (4 tbsp.) rum

4 crisp ladyfingers

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan. Stir in about one-fourth cup of the half and half and stir until smooth. Stir in remaining half and half. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture almost comes to a simmer. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the rum. Stop stirring. When pudding begins to bubble, cook for 1 minute longer without stirring.

Remove pudding from heat and let stand at room temperature until pudding cools and thickens. Pour into a lidded container and chill. Meanwhile, sprinkle ladyfingers with remaining 1 tablespoon rum. Just before serving, break ladyfingers into chunks and place in each of four custard cups. Spoon thickened pudding over ladyfingers. Makes 4 servings.

GUT CHECK

What I cooked last week:

Cream of wheat and avocado toast; katsu don (panko fried pork cutlet over rice with sauce and steamed egg); rum pudding.

What I ate out/carried in:

Roast sticky pork ribs, fried plantains, black beans and rice from Presidente Supermarket in Mangonia Park, Fla.; noodle salad with marinated pork and spring rolls at Pho & Hot Pot in Lake Park, Fla.; a Cuban sandwich from the Connection Deli in Jupiter; rum pudding from Taste T’s Pastries food cart; jerk chicken, cabbage, rice and peas from Yaad Spice in West Palm Beach; a bacon and cheese croissant from Yankee Produce in Juno Beach; gyoza and California roll from Ninja Sushi in Riviera Beach; empanadas and Jamaican meat pies from Publix Supermarket; steamed shrimp, braised beef in puff pastry, a stuffed baked oyster and a sugared doughnut at Mikada Buffet in Stuart; a chicken empanada and guava pastry at Tulipan in North Palm Beach.

THE MAILBAG

From Peggy P.:

Please don’t let our aging brains hold you back from writing. Please know that those of us who have been with you all these years are older, too. And we are patient. Good grief, if living through these last two years doesn’t prove that, then there is no proof.

Dear Peggy:

I can’t argue with that. Thank you.

From Jenny O.:

I have your original black bean soup recipe from the Beacon Journal. Would you like it or do you have it by now?

Love your column and I don’t mean to pressure you, but it would be crushing to me if you stopped your column. It means so much to me. But I want you to do what’s best for you. I just want you to know how much you are appreciated for all you do for us and how much I look forward to hearing from you every two weeks. You are a wealth of great recipes and information. Every recipe I make from you is just wonderful and goes to my “Go To” file. So, many thanks to you for all you do.

Dear Jenny:

This is a perfect example of why I contemplated quitting. In more rigorous times,  modesty would forbid me from running your letter. I’d just send you a private thanks and shut up about it. But my standards are slipping and what the heck, I need Mailbag fodder. So here you are. Thanks so much for your kind words.

As for the soup recipe, I do have it and make it about once a year. This is a good time to remind everyone that all of my Beacon Journal recipes are available with a library card from the Akron-Summit County Public Library. Just log into the library online, call up the digital version of the newspaper from the library’s digital database, and type the recipe name or whatever info you recall into the search program. Presto.