EntropicByDesign
It's all so very confusing.
So, after labbing this shit for a few weeks now, Ive figured out the best rice pudding. This is easily S tier dessert, top 3. Tons of winning MUs, def no bad ones.
Whatcha need (* denotes optional):
1 cup Medium Grain White Rice (Long will work, so will short, but neither is ideal)
*1-2 cups Half and Half
*1-2 Large Eggs
1 tablespoon Butter/Margerine
1 cup (approx) of Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract or one Vanilla Bean (adjust vanilla to suit taste)
*1/8-1/4 teaspoon of Cinnamon
*1/16-1/8 teaspoon of Nutmeg
4 cups Whole Milk (2% and other milk types work, but are not ideal)
Start by making the rice, per package directions. This is usually something like 1 cup dry rice, 2 cups water in a pot along with 1/4 tsp of salt. Mix, turn burner up high to bring it all to a boil then back temp down to low and simmer - covered - for 15m. Just read the package directions. The only difference here is we want to add 4 tablespoons of sugar to the rice, water and salt.
Once the rice is done and has absorbed the water, or at least the vast majority of it, you want to add your 4 cups of milk and 4 more tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon butter or margerine. If you are using a vanilla bean instead of extract, this is where you add the bean. Remove the lid and set aside, we're done with it. If you have half and half and want to use it for a more full-bodied taste (I prefer just straight milk, the half and half gives it a somewhat eggy taste, but some people prefer this) replace the milk with it. So a cup of half and half, and three cups of milk, etc. Just keep the total volume of milk/half and half around 4 cups. Now, turn the burner down to low/medium. On my stove I use about halfway between 3 and 4.
Next is the only somewhat tricky part of the recipe. You want to find a good balance of heat, but not enough to burn the milk. If you DO burn the milk on the bottom (you can tell, when you stir you will feel rice stuck to the bottom of the pot) its fine, just dont scrape the bottom of the pan. Stir carefully and just let the bottom stick - otherwise you churn up ugly brown bits with a bitter taste). But this is easy to avoid by just setting the heat low and working it up carefully. Once you reach this step and have added the milk and sugar and changed the temperature, set a timer for 30m and start it up. All you do here is slowly bring the milk and rice mixture to a boil. Dont rush it, keep the heat low/med. It can take 10-12m for it to start boiling again, but thats fine. Stir occasionally during this process. All we're doing is reducing the milk. Once the milk starts boiling/simmering again, you will get this sort of gelatinous foam on top, like a skin, it doesnt look overly pleasant, but dont worry, we want this. You just stir it back down into the mixture, this helps gives the mix its body and consistency. 30m, start to finish is usually fine, but what you're looking for is the consistency to reach approx that of porridge. In this state you want the mix much thinner than the desired end result, because as it cools its going to thicken up a LOT. This step can take a time or two to get right, but the consequences of getting it wrong dont harm the taste or anything, you just may have thicker or thinner than desired rice pudding. If its too thick you can pour a little milk in afterwards to thin it out. If its too thin the only option is to reheat the whole mix and cook it down - I dont recommend this.
****This is an optional step. Here, if you want, once the above step is finished, you can take about 3/4 a cup of the mix and set aside, turn the burner on low, just to keep the mix up to temp while you do this. Now, take the eggs I mentioned above and crack them,and mix them up in a bowl. Use a whisk, or something you can stir very quickly with. We are going to temper the eggs by adding the hot mix you have set aside, slowly, while whisking like a lunatic. Start whisking the eggs with one hand, while slowly pouring the hot rice pudding mixture into the bowl with the other. Pour slowly, and whisk quickly. If you dont, the heat from the mix will basically scramble the eggs and that screws it all up. Once you have the mix and eggs, well, mixed, and the eggs havent scrambled, its safe to add the mixture back into the rice pudding itself. I usually add an additional half cup or so of milk with it as well. Turn the heat back up and cook it all for another 8-10m.
I personally do not do this above step. Some may want too however. What it actually does, is two-fold. By adding the eggs you make a MUCH thicker over-all consistency, closer to, say, a pumpkin pie filling or something, more-so than a pudding. It also changes the taste. Its still a dessert, but the eggs will add a little more savory flavor to accompany the sweetness. So its all down to personal preference. What it also does, is allows you to BAKE the pudding. You can ladle it all out into ramickans (I dont know how to spell this word) or baking dishes, etc, and bake it for 20ish min @ 350, to further firm it up and give it a fluffy sort of texture. Its not a pudding at this point, almost a very gooey rice muffin. If you were making this in a big pan for some kind of pot-luck I would do all this, as it will hold up better, sit better on plates crowded with other food, and be easier to eat in that kind of environment.
Now, once you finish the boiling step above, and are done with the egg step if you choose to do it, comes the final step. You simply remove the pudding from the heat and give it a few minutes to cool down.. Now you add your 1/4 tsp Vanilla - or if you used a bean earlier on, you remove it. Add in your 1/8-1/4tsp of cinnamon and your 1/16th-1/8th tsp Nutmeg, stir it all up really well, and put it in the fridge. All the spices, sugar, vanilla, etc, can be changed to suit your own tastes. You can make it sweeter or less, or more cinnamon, no nutmeg, or less, or whatever (be careful though, too much nutmeg will ruin it quickly), Cardamom is good here as well. Ground red pepper isnt bad either - and I know this sounds weird, but if you add a VERY small amount it gives it a nice little pep, without any pepper taste. Really, you just season to taste. BUt keep in mind that taste testing here can be tricky, because when the pudding has totally cooled in the refridgerator (its meant to be served either warm, or cold, not at room temp) the taste will change slightly, it tends to be crisper and the vanilla taste becomes a little more prominent.
But, thats it. You can wolf it down right away or let it cool, and then eat it. Its the simplist recipe ever when you break it down - make rice - add milk and boil for 30m - season to taste - eat.. but its dirt cheap. If you dont have vanilla around it can cost a few bucks to buy some, but one bottle will make dozens of batches. I worked out the math and a batch costs something like 2$ in ingredients or less.
Ive made something like 33 different versions of the above recipe, trying to find the perfect rice pudding, and the above is what Ive come up with. Its extremely easy and inexpensive, but its GOOD. It has the additional step with the eggs so you can tailor it to your purposes, but on the whole, this recipe gives you a clean, GREAT tasting dessert that's quite filling, and while not *good* for you, isnt as bad as a lot of things.
EDIT: Store covered in the fridge. Uncovered will give you a 'skin' on top, that I personally find unpleasant.
Whatcha need (* denotes optional):
1 cup Medium Grain White Rice (Long will work, so will short, but neither is ideal)
*1-2 cups Half and Half
*1-2 Large Eggs
1 tablespoon Butter/Margerine
1 cup (approx) of Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract or one Vanilla Bean (adjust vanilla to suit taste)
*1/8-1/4 teaspoon of Cinnamon
*1/16-1/8 teaspoon of Nutmeg
4 cups Whole Milk (2% and other milk types work, but are not ideal)
Start by making the rice, per package directions. This is usually something like 1 cup dry rice, 2 cups water in a pot along with 1/4 tsp of salt. Mix, turn burner up high to bring it all to a boil then back temp down to low and simmer - covered - for 15m. Just read the package directions. The only difference here is we want to add 4 tablespoons of sugar to the rice, water and salt.
Once the rice is done and has absorbed the water, or at least the vast majority of it, you want to add your 4 cups of milk and 4 more tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon butter or margerine. If you are using a vanilla bean instead of extract, this is where you add the bean. Remove the lid and set aside, we're done with it. If you have half and half and want to use it for a more full-bodied taste (I prefer just straight milk, the half and half gives it a somewhat eggy taste, but some people prefer this) replace the milk with it. So a cup of half and half, and three cups of milk, etc. Just keep the total volume of milk/half and half around 4 cups. Now, turn the burner down to low/medium. On my stove I use about halfway between 3 and 4.
Next is the only somewhat tricky part of the recipe. You want to find a good balance of heat, but not enough to burn the milk. If you DO burn the milk on the bottom (you can tell, when you stir you will feel rice stuck to the bottom of the pot) its fine, just dont scrape the bottom of the pan. Stir carefully and just let the bottom stick - otherwise you churn up ugly brown bits with a bitter taste). But this is easy to avoid by just setting the heat low and working it up carefully. Once you reach this step and have added the milk and sugar and changed the temperature, set a timer for 30m and start it up. All you do here is slowly bring the milk and rice mixture to a boil. Dont rush it, keep the heat low/med. It can take 10-12m for it to start boiling again, but thats fine. Stir occasionally during this process. All we're doing is reducing the milk. Once the milk starts boiling/simmering again, you will get this sort of gelatinous foam on top, like a skin, it doesnt look overly pleasant, but dont worry, we want this. You just stir it back down into the mixture, this helps gives the mix its body and consistency. 30m, start to finish is usually fine, but what you're looking for is the consistency to reach approx that of porridge. In this state you want the mix much thinner than the desired end result, because as it cools its going to thicken up a LOT. This step can take a time or two to get right, but the consequences of getting it wrong dont harm the taste or anything, you just may have thicker or thinner than desired rice pudding. If its too thick you can pour a little milk in afterwards to thin it out. If its too thin the only option is to reheat the whole mix and cook it down - I dont recommend this.
****This is an optional step. Here, if you want, once the above step is finished, you can take about 3/4 a cup of the mix and set aside, turn the burner on low, just to keep the mix up to temp while you do this. Now, take the eggs I mentioned above and crack them,and mix them up in a bowl. Use a whisk, or something you can stir very quickly with. We are going to temper the eggs by adding the hot mix you have set aside, slowly, while whisking like a lunatic. Start whisking the eggs with one hand, while slowly pouring the hot rice pudding mixture into the bowl with the other. Pour slowly, and whisk quickly. If you dont, the heat from the mix will basically scramble the eggs and that screws it all up. Once you have the mix and eggs, well, mixed, and the eggs havent scrambled, its safe to add the mixture back into the rice pudding itself. I usually add an additional half cup or so of milk with it as well. Turn the heat back up and cook it all for another 8-10m.
I personally do not do this above step. Some may want too however. What it actually does, is two-fold. By adding the eggs you make a MUCH thicker over-all consistency, closer to, say, a pumpkin pie filling or something, more-so than a pudding. It also changes the taste. Its still a dessert, but the eggs will add a little more savory flavor to accompany the sweetness. So its all down to personal preference. What it also does, is allows you to BAKE the pudding. You can ladle it all out into ramickans (I dont know how to spell this word) or baking dishes, etc, and bake it for 20ish min @ 350, to further firm it up and give it a fluffy sort of texture. Its not a pudding at this point, almost a very gooey rice muffin. If you were making this in a big pan for some kind of pot-luck I would do all this, as it will hold up better, sit better on plates crowded with other food, and be easier to eat in that kind of environment.
Now, once you finish the boiling step above, and are done with the egg step if you choose to do it, comes the final step. You simply remove the pudding from the heat and give it a few minutes to cool down.. Now you add your 1/4 tsp Vanilla - or if you used a bean earlier on, you remove it. Add in your 1/8-1/4tsp of cinnamon and your 1/16th-1/8th tsp Nutmeg, stir it all up really well, and put it in the fridge. All the spices, sugar, vanilla, etc, can be changed to suit your own tastes. You can make it sweeter or less, or more cinnamon, no nutmeg, or less, or whatever (be careful though, too much nutmeg will ruin it quickly), Cardamom is good here as well. Ground red pepper isnt bad either - and I know this sounds weird, but if you add a VERY small amount it gives it a nice little pep, without any pepper taste. Really, you just season to taste. BUt keep in mind that taste testing here can be tricky, because when the pudding has totally cooled in the refridgerator (its meant to be served either warm, or cold, not at room temp) the taste will change slightly, it tends to be crisper and the vanilla taste becomes a little more prominent.
But, thats it. You can wolf it down right away or let it cool, and then eat it. Its the simplist recipe ever when you break it down - make rice - add milk and boil for 30m - season to taste - eat.. but its dirt cheap. If you dont have vanilla around it can cost a few bucks to buy some, but one bottle will make dozens of batches. I worked out the math and a batch costs something like 2$ in ingredients or less.
Ive made something like 33 different versions of the above recipe, trying to find the perfect rice pudding, and the above is what Ive come up with. Its extremely easy and inexpensive, but its GOOD. It has the additional step with the eggs so you can tailor it to your purposes, but on the whole, this recipe gives you a clean, GREAT tasting dessert that's quite filling, and while not *good* for you, isnt as bad as a lot of things.
EDIT: Store covered in the fridge. Uncovered will give you a 'skin' on top, that I personally find unpleasant.
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