It’s kind of ironic that I just started this blog, I’m writing my second recipe, and it isn’t a savory dish.  Generally speaking, in the professional culinary world, there are two distinctly different culinarians; chefs that do savory foods, and bakers or pastry chefs that prepare crusty breads and sweets.  In my case, my comfort zone is creating savory foods and I get the same nausious feeling in the pit of my stomach when I have to create a dessert as I did as a nerdy teenager talking to a pretty girl.  Fortionately, over time, I’ve gotten better at talking to pretty girls, and I’ve committed a few desserts to my memory bank that I can pull off rather flawlessly.

So, why am I writing about a dessert?…Well, as I think most chefs would agree, we start first with really good ingredients, and build our menus around them.  I love this rum, and I wanted to write about it.  When I sampled the rum, the first thought that ran through my brain was “rice pudding.”  The truth is, that the longer I sit here clicking away on the keys, the smell of the rice pudding is making it’s way through my home, and giving me a million other ideas for ways to use this incredible ilixir, but you’ll have to wait for a day that I get writers block for me to share them!

There are a number a varieties of rum made by Drum Circle Distilling (for those of you that don’t know about the drum circle, the namesake for this company, it is one of the most awesome experiences that you can drink in…literally hundreds of people get together every Sunday night at the Siesta Public Beach and play drums…beautiful and primal!), and they are all very good, however, they have won numerous awards for this paticular one.

Now, I’m a chef, with a trained palate, not a professional rum maker, but “allegedly,” I’ve tasted enough rum throughout my lifetime to know the good, the bad and the exceptional.  This rum is truly exceptional.  Mixing this rum with Coke would truly be a sin…the flavor is so amazing, and so multi-dimensional, that I enjoy just sipping it.

Troy Roberts is the owner and master distiller for Drum Circle Distilling, and has been making rum here in Sarasota since 2007.  I bought the rum that I used today at Publix in The Landings.  They also had their silver rum and toasted coconut rum available.

I hope that you’ll enjoy this recipe for rice pudding.  It is truly very easy to make, and most likely about half of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry!

Please click on the printer icon for the recipe.

Click Here For A Link To Drum Circle Distilling