Sunday, April 27, 2008

rice rice baby















Ever since I was a little kid I've had a strange love for rice. I could (and still can) eat it steamed, plain, right out of the pot. I think it was my body's subliminal way of telling me, "Wheat is BAD for you!" Come to think of it, I never particularly liked bread or anything like that. I always thought it was strange that people ate dinner rolls with nothing on them. Yuck.

But anyway, I made rice pudding. I'm not a fan of the rice pudding that's baked and you can cut it into bars. That's not pudding. It's something pretending to be rice pudding.

I don't make it very often because my multi-tasking nature is disrupted by having to stand there and stir constantly but when I do, it's worth it. This. Is pudding. And it's delicious. I eat it for breakfast. :o)

Rice Pudding
1/3 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1/8 t. salt
2 c. milk (soymilk works well too)
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 T. butter
2 t. vanilla
cooked rice (to taste)

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in a pan. Slowly stir in the milk. Heat on medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils. After it boils, stir for a minute. Then stir a little more than half of the mixture into the eggs. This is the crucial step because if you do it wrong then your pudding will be lumpy. [It will still taste fine, though, so if it comes out lumpy all is not lost!]

Stir it quickly, gradually adding the hot mixture to the eggs to slowly raise the temperature. Once you've done this, stir the eggy mixture back into the pan. Heat this to boiling once more, stir for a minute, and take it off the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla.

At this point add in the rice. I add a TON because I like my rice to pudding ratio to be large. It's whatever floats your boat. Pour it into serving dishes or a big bowl and stick it in the fridge. (Although it's good warm too, I just can't wait for it to cool.)

Whether you eat it warm or cool, sprinkle some cinnamon and nutmeg on top right before serving. YUM!

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