Recipe: Rice Pudding

Since I’m in the stretch-my-buck mode, I figured I’d continue with that theme in this post… We like rice. Steamed rice, especially. It’s cheap & easy when you have a rice cooker – Set it & Forget It, as they say. I always make a little extra just in case Will decides he wants to gobble rice up for dinner that night. If he doesn’t, then I get to whip up some rice pudding with the leftovers. It’s so easy, and oh so tasty. And again, means that I’m getting not just our dinner out of the rice, but some leftovers for lunch, and more leftovers for dessert. Hello Bang, I’d like you to meet Buck. And if you can buy it in bulk where you get to scoop out your desired quantity into the bag… even more bang!

While having the Food Network on in the background, Barefoot Contessa came on and of course she makes some delectable looking rice pudding. Queue the light bulb above my head when I half hear her making this & realize I’ve got that leftover rice in the fridge.

Rum Raisin Rice Pudding – from Barefoot Contessa
Total Time: 42 min (7 min prep; 35 min cooking)
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup raisins
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 3/4 cup white basmati rice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 5 cups half-and-half, divided
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 extra-large egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the raisins and rum. Set aside.

Combine the rice and salt with 1 1/2 cups water in a medium heavy-bottomed stainless steel saucepan. Bring it to a boil, stir once, and simmer, covered, on the lowest heat for 8 to 9 minutes, until most of the water is absorbed. (If your stove is very hot, pull the pan halfway off the burner.) [Note: If you’re using leftover rice, like I did, skip this step]

Stir in 4 cups of half-and-half and sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, until the rice is very soft. Stir often, particularly toward the end. Slowly stir in the beaten egg and continue to cook for 1 minute. Off the heat, add the remaining cup of half-and-half, the vanilla, and the raisins with any remaining rum. Stir well. Pour into a bowl, and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Serve warm or chilled. [Note: I used 2% milk instead of the half & half, and skipped the egg. I also added a few white chocolate chips to my individual bowl while it was still hot, & stirred it around so they would start to melt a little bit. Regular chocolate chips would work great, too.]