Dear Eric: Would you have a recipe for the wonderful rice pudding I remember as a child? It was custardy, baked in the oven, had raisins mixed in and nutmeg sprinkled on top. The aroma of that baking is something I have not forgotten! Betty G.
Dear Betty: Your question came in the spring, but I thought September would be the best time to answer it. We’re heading into autumn and there will soon many occasions where you might feel like preparing a comfort food, such as rice pudding.
According to the food-history website foodtimeline.org, rice pudding is an ancient dish now eaten by people of many cultures and cuisines. They note this food traces its roots to the grain pottages (porridges) made by Middle Eastern cooks.
From there, versions of rice pudding began to be made — and are still enjoyed — in places such as India, China and Europe.
From a health perspective, rice pudding — as it made its way around the world — was associated with good nutrition and was recommended for stomach ailments. Because of that, foodtimeline.org says the dish was first mentioned in medical texts, rather than cookbooks.
Rice puddings also began to be made in North America and two main styles bubbled up: those cooked entirely on the stovetop and those baked in the oven.
No matter how you make it, though, you can understand how it could make you feel better, at least emotionally and sensually.
Rice pudding can be splendidly aromatic, sweet and creamy and have a tender-in-mouth texture that makes you crave more. Plus, the stick-to-your ribs nature of the dish makes you feel sated.
Betty was looking for the baked, custardy type of rice pudding. That simply means eggs and/or egg yolks are added to help thicken and enrich a rice mixture that blends in milk, sugar and vanilla.
Raisins and spice, as Betty noted, can give the dish additional character.
Many of the recipes that I found for this type of rice pudding ask you to mix in cooked rice, in particular arborio or other style of short-grained rice. This type of rice, most often used for risotto, is suggested for rice pudding because it holds its shape and has a nice texture even when thoroughly cooked. Long grain rice, on the other hand, can become quite mushy and unappealing if overcooked.
You’ll find arborio and other styles of risotto rice, sometimes simply labelled risotto rice, at most supermarkets. It expands a fair bit during cooking, so you’ll only need a half-cup for the recipe.
(Keep the unused rice you have in your pantry. On Oct. 1 I’ll be doing a story on making risotto and you can use it then.)
Rather than cook the rice in water and then add in to my custard mixture, as some recipes do, I instead cooked the rice in the milk I later used to make my custard. Doing so gave the rice a much richer taste and my pudding a more splendid flavour.
Creamy and CustardyRice Pudding
You can serve this rich and inviting rice pudding warm or cold. It contains an equal amount of tender rice and fine custard, so you get the best of both worlds.
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: About 80 minutes
Makes: 6 to 8 servings
For the rice
3 cups whole milk, plus more as needed (see method)
1/2 cup arborio or other type of risotto rice
Place the milk and rice in a tall, not overly wide pot (mine was 6 inches tall, and 5-1/2 inches wide). Bring the milk to a gentle simmer over medium, medium-high heat, stirring occasionally so the rice does not stick. (Stay close to stove as the milk heats so it doesn’t rapidly boil and bubble over the top.) When gently simmering, adjust the heat to maintain that gentle simmer (small bubbles should just break on the surface of the milk.) Simmer the rice 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just tender and still nicely holding its shape.
Set a fine sieve over a bowl. Pour the rice and milk mixture into the sieve. Gently stir the rice to extract as much milk as possible through the sieve and into the bowl.
Spoon the strained rice onto a plate and set aside.
Pour the milk in the bowl into a two-cup, glass measuring cup. Measure how much you have and write that down. Now pour that milk back into the bowl. Add more milk to the bowl of warm milk until you have a total of 3 cups. Set the milk aside until needed.
For the pudding
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup sultana raisins
• freshly ground nutmeg, to taste
• whipped cream and mint, for garnish (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the whole eggs and egg yolks in a medium to large bowl and beat until thoroughly blended. Whisk in the sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Now whisk in the 3 cups of milk you have in the bowl you set aside.
Mix the cooked rice into the milk/egg mixture, ensuring the grains get separated when you do so and are not clumped together. Now mix in the raisins.
Set an 8-inch square baking dish in a roasting pan (or other vessel) wider than it. Pour the rice mixture into the baking dish. Sprinkle the top with freshly ground nutmeg, to taste. Pour water into the roasting pan until it comes halfway up the side of the baking dish with the rice mixture. Set the pan in oven and bake, uncovered, 60 to 65 minutes, or until the rice pudding custard is set, but still nicely jiggles when the pan is tapped.
Set the rice pudding, still sitting in the pan of water, on a baking rack, cool for one hour, and then serve warm. Or after its cooled for one hour, remove from the roasting pan and cool the rice pudding to room temperature. Now cover and refrigerate the rice pudding two or more hours, until cold, and then enjoy it that way when ready. (If serving the rice pudding cold, you could make it up to a day in advance.)
If desired, for even more added richness, top servings of the rice pudding with a dollop of whipped cream and garnish with a mint sprig.
Eric Akis is the author of the hardcover book Everyone Can Cook Everything. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday. [email protected]
