A Story of Rice Pudding

Seems as though since I was laid off from my technical writing job, the world has been spinning with opportunities: shortbread, food writing, copywriting, my new position on the Board of Directors for the Vermont Specialty Food Association, learning about radio jingle production: it's nice to be wanted.

There's something about writing about food, telling the story or the memory behind the meal that excites me more than all other types of writing I do. There's something about it that calms me on a Sunday morning when the anxiety of all the work I have to do today threatens to bury me.

Rice pudding soothes. Writing about rice pudding heals.

So here goes. A post about a humble rice pudding.

My mom made rice pudding when I was growing up. I suspect she used Minute Rice because that's what we ate back in the 60s and 70s. Mom threw a handful of raisins in her pudding and the tiniest sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon. Creamy, thick, slightly sweet...rice pudding nurtures me.

Last night, after an impromptu steak and broccoli stir fry (which was a tad too salty), I found myself with a couple cups of leftover organic brown basmati rice and decided its nutty, chewy texture would compliment the creamy custard of a perfect rice pudding which would satisfy me after my salty dinner. I decided to try this without a recipe. (I'm honing my skills by NOT following recipes lately.)

Into a saucepan with the rice, I poured some 1% milk and a splash of Half and Half. I also tossed in some sugar...not much, maybe a handful? Then I set the pan to simmer for a long time, stirring occasionally. I lost track of time, maybe a half hour of simmering? As the already cooked rice absorbed the milk, I added more milk every 10 minutes or so. Kind of like making risotto - you just keep adding liquid and the starch in the rice releases making everything oh-so thick and creamy.

When the rice mixture was cooked to milky perfection, I tempered one egg in separate bowl with some of the milk mixture from the rice (the egg would scramble if I threw it right into the hot pan, thanks Mom and Grandma for teaching that piece of culinary knowledge!). I tossed the tempered egg mixture back into the pan and continued to stir over the lowest flame as the mixture turned into a pale yellow custard with beautiful flecks of brown rice invitingly peeking through.

When the custard phase was done, I added some vanilla extract and poured the whole batch into a large bowl for cooling. I sprinkled the top with a tiny amount of cinnamon and nutmeg just like Mom and Grandma did. No raisins for me this time - I wanted a creamy experience and didn't feel raisiny. After our salty meal, sweet and smooth was just the ticket.

As the bowl cooled and thickened on the counter, my daughter and I dug in to the warm pudding. Slightly sweet, a little chewy, but simultaneously smooth, we ate the entire bowl in about 20 minutes. Now there's a dessert I feel good about giving my child!

It's been a bit cold and damp these last few days so rice pudding on a Saturday night with my daughter was more than just a pig-out fest. It made me think of loose teeth when I was 8 and the only food that was easy to eat - rice pudding. It made me think of snuggling on the couch wrapped in an afghan watching the Wonderful World of Disney on a Sunday night (after Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, but right before bed).

I found myself dreaming of new ingredients to add to my next rice pudding. Orange peel came to me in my sleep. Hmmmm...

Ann Zuccardy, Shortbreadpreneur and now....puddingpreneur

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