Rice pudding

This post is something I'd saved in my drafts and promptly forgotten about. There was nothing wrong with it, but I guess I thought I'd save it for a rainy day, when I hadn't had the chance to cook something for the blog. I'm posting it now though, because why wait for that rainy day? You deserve rice pudding!

Many moons ago, Jana gave me a book called Scottish Cookery. I loved the sentiment, but my experience of Scottish food was limited to shortbread and haggis. Shortbread is great, if a little bland, but haggis?? Haggis is the stuff of my food nightmares (if I had nightmares about food) and I'm usually pretty flexible about the creative use of animal parts in food. In any case, I was flipping through Scottish Cookery recently and, to my surprise, I found a lot that I want to try out. First up on the list: rice pudding.

Rice pudding is one of my favorite desserts. It's simple and sweet and I love the texture. I like it with and without raisins, though I prefer it without. I had some milk I wanted to use up, so I doubled this recipe . . . Man, did I make a hell of a lot of rice pudding. I can't call that a mistake, exactly, but I will need some help eating it all.

But not from Buster, however much he wants to help. He's mildly lactose intolerant.

Sorry, little buddy!

"You will pay, human."

The only quibble I have with the cookbook's recipe is that it took over double the amount of time to cook. This is possibly my fault, because I was a glutton and doubled the recipe. If you are smart and decide to halve this recipe so that you yield a sane amount, then your cooking time should likewise be halved. This was a custardy pudding with a little chew from the rice. It's really nice.

Rice pudding
(serves 8-10)
adapted from Scottish Cookery

Ingredients

1 cup rice (short-grained is best)
3 pints whole milk
zest of one lemon
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 salt
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
6 tbsp butter
6 eggs
1 cup sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish.

In a large pot, mix together rice, milk, lemon zest, salt, and cinnamon. Put it on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently to make sure the rice doesn't stick to the bottom and burn. This takes about ten minutes. Lower the heat to medium and let the rice and milk cook for another 10 minutes, when the milk has reduced and the mixture has thickened a little. Take it off the heat and add the butter and sugar, stirring to incorporate. Let it cool until it is just warm.

In a bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla together with a whisk. Quickly stir the eggs into the milk and then pour it into the baking dish. Top the dish with foil and place it in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, then take the foil off the dish. Bake for another 30-45 minutes, until custard has set and the top is golden.

Serve warm with jam.