MangiaMore: RICE pudding

RER 12.2.12

Oh, it is that time of year; rich, warm, creamy, comfort food time of year. It is the time of year when we like to sink into our food, snacks and beverages, just like we like to swim in our season's favorite sweaters. And of course, from this feeling, stemmed my strong desire for rice pudding.

But this time was different. I wanted to add a nice seasonal and holiday twist to this rice pudding. That twist was Egg Nog. Yum. I love love love Egg Nog. It is just so rich and encapsulating. It is smooth and cold, but oddly warming at the same time. Egg Nog is my ultimate holiday drink (even without the booze). Add a little vanilla ice cream in there and I am good to go. My love (and abundance) of Egg Nog, inspired us to try something new with our rice pudding-- a dash (well more than a dash) of Egg Nog.

I also did not use my usual recipe from my mother. Her recipe makes a thick, heavy, dense kind of rice pudding. The kind you need to heat up the next morning and sprinkle cinnamon sugar and extra raisins in it. It is eggs, rice, milk, sugar and dried fruit (we do not really get down with raisins here for our rice pudding, so sometimes we add in craisins), kind of like Ms. Paula Deen's recipe.

RER 11.30.12

This time, I tried the recipe that my boyfriend's family uses. We got minimal instructions:

1 Stick of Butter
1 Can of Evaporated Milk
1 Can of Sweetened Condense Milk
1 1/2 Cups of Uncooked Rice (we made it that day)- Cooked
A little Extra Milk
and Cinnamon for the top

We got no oven temperature or cooking time, but this gave us room to play around. We replaced half a can of the Evaporated Milk, for an equal amount of Egg Nog, just enough to get the eggy flavor and holiday sweetness.

And the results were delicious! The Egg Nog really changed the flavor and expectations of the pudding. It added that egginess and custard feeling where this recipe did not have the eggs. There was also more sweetness and spice added, creating a different flavor profile. The rice pudding only had a hint of the Egg Nog flavor, but it definitely had a presence and made a difference. I loved it!

RER 11.30.12

 I am a firm believer in rice pudding (or other various desserts, bread pudding, pies... even chocolate cake) for breakfast. So heating up rice pudding the next morning is a must. My boyfriend likes wet rice pudding more, so when we reheated it, we drizzled more evaporated milk over the top before putting it in the microwave. This made it looser and creamy, extra delicious. I even topped my reheated rice pudding with a lovely goodie brought to Thanksgiving; a cranberry, apple, pecan, and oat crumble. That was to die for, each element added interest and a different spike to the Egg Nog rice pudding.

I can not wait to try this recipe again! But next time, I may mix it up even more.

RER

12.3.12

RER 12.1.12