Horchata

In the past 7 days (and mostly the last 72 hours), my co-workers and I prepared, portioned, and packaged 3400 meals for one single event that lasted all of 2 hours on Sunday evening. Um, ya! That was rough, not gonna lie- but I freakin HATE doing events like that. For those 72 hours, I found myself really questioning how I got to this point in my life. This point where I was spending my day scooping food in boxes, putting those boxes in OTHER boxes, covering those boxes with lids that don’t really fit, and stickering and stacking. Insert rolling eyes emoji… here. But we got it done. All seven of us. And it’s finally over. Now I can go back to loving my life, my job, and just in time for my upcoming Thanksgiving break!

On to today’s recipe. This one goes out to my boyfriend who is semi-obsessed with Horchata. We took a vacation a few months ago to Grand Cayman, where we stayed in a condo with a full kitchen. The first day we were there we went grocery shopping for the week (as to not spend SO much money on food), and he picked out this almond milk horchata that was from Califa. He practically drank that entire gallon bottle in about 2 days. When we got back we searched and searched for the same bottle here, but came up empty. Then we started going to all sorts of different markets looking for ANY horchata, but still couldn’t find anything more than the powders you mix. Now, being from Los Angeles myself I found this INSANE because Horchata was pretty much found anywhere! But this is Colorado, and I’m sure that it is sold here somewhere, but I just haven’t found some yet. Anyway- I decided just to make it for him because it’s actually quite easy to make. All you really need is a little time and a solid blender- which I borrowed from work because I don’t have one. HA!

So here is the one I came up with-and boyfriend approved. This recipe is on the less-sweet side. If you’re craving a really sugary drink then add 2 + more ounces of condensed milk.

Horchata

Yield 2.5 qts

White rice (uncooked) 1 cup

Condensed milk 6 oz.

Chopped almonds ½ cup

Cinnamon stick 1

Vanilla Bean 1

Evaporated milk 1 can

Milk 2 cups

Water 4 cups

Directions:

Soak rice, cinnamon stick, vanilla beans (scrape the beans out), and almonds in a bowl with the 4 cups of water for 5 hours or overnight (the longer it soaks the easier it’ll be to blend).

Once soaked, pour the entire mixture into your finest blender. At this point, add your milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk and blend on max speed for a few minutes. The rice and cinnamon stick should be soft enough so that it just gets pulverized in your blender.

You may need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your blender.

Set up a large bowl with a strainer and some cheesecloth. There are lots of little bits of graininess in the mixture that will only be caught with cheesecloth, so that part is really important. You can also try using a coffee filter but it will take forever to pass the liquid through.

Little by little, strain the liquid through the cheesecloth, stopping every few seconds to help it pass with a ladle or a spoon.

Once the mixture is completely strained, add the mixture to your favorite pitcher. Serve and enjoy!