Rice Pudding: My Cozy Food

Okay, so it's been a few months. Things happened: I moved and acquired deer for neighbors. Became an Aunt eight times over. Learned to make pea soup with a ham hock. Befriended two giant poodles. Got a temp teaching computers.

Anyone who knows me is shocked by the last admition. It's true. I'm now a Word and Excel specialist.

I also ran a half marathon. If you read Haley's last post, you've seen me in my glory. That was weeks ago. I'm wearing a tank top. Now I'm wearing a Russel hoody--the hood is actually over my head. A blanket is tucked over my lap. Times have changed. The running has tapered. Okay, pretty much stopped. I'm starting to knit. I like hot chocolate at night. Comfort has become my mantra, which leads me to the rice pudding.

Rice pudding is mostly memory for me. An early memory of raisins and creamy whiteness, of a time when this delicious mush meant rice. Stir Fries had not yet made their debut in my mother's kitchen (which they would with a fury) and rice, in my mind, was in no way connected to vegetables. Therein lay it's beauty. Tonight I recovered this delicacy. I have no idea if this rice pudding is at all like the one my mom use to make. I think, most likely, it is not. This particular pudding starts on the stove and finishes in the oven, rendering it both simple to create and extremely creamily delicious.

The recipe is from Marion Cunningham's The Supper Book (which is a super book, by the way) and I only altered it slightly. Marion uses one cup of cream in her recipe, which I replaced with two percent milk. The reason being that Marion serves her pudding for dessert, whereas I was feasting on mine for dinner. You might consider using part half and half cream, but my rice pudding was plenty smooth, rich and delicious.

Rice Pudding (serves 6)

1 cup water
1/2 cup white, short grain rice
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk (here Marion uses heavy cream)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup plus 2Tbsp sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350.

Bring the water to boil in a medium-sized pot. Add the rice. Cook on low for ten minutes. Add the milk and salt. Cook on low for ten to fifteen more minutes. The rice should be tender. Combine the remaining sugar, milk, eggs, and vanilla in a small bowl. Remove the rice from the heat and add the egg mixture to the pot. Whisk to combine.
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Pour the mixture into a square baking pan. Sprinkle with the cinnamon. Put the pan in a larger pan and fill the larger pan with boiling water one inch high. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until almost set. Let the pudding cool slightly, and firm up in doing so, before serving.