When I brought a batch of homemade, still-warm rice pudding into the newsroom this week, the Times Leader taste testers were enthusiastic.
“Dee-licious,” columnist Bill O’Boyle said, emphasizing the first syllable.
“Very delicious,” said reporter Ed Lewis, who grew up eating his mom’s creamy version.
“I love it,” reporter Jen Learn-Andes said, noting she’s been “hungry for rice pudding during the pandemic and got some from Jimmy’s Hot Dogs in Hazleton.”
Realizing I had some real rice pudding aficionados on my hands, I’m especially glad they were pleased. Actually, I also felt a bit relieved — because things hadn’t worked out so well when I whipped up my first batch on Tuesday evening.
Suffice it to say I had substituted brown rice for white rice in a recipe I found in an old cookbook, one that called for cooking the rice in milk — and the brown rice didn’t absorb the milk the way the white rice probably would have.
So Mark, my mom and I all had a taste of some very soupy “pudding,” or rather, sweet milk with some still-somewhat-gritty grains of rice floating around in it. (Sorry about that, folks.)
But on Wednesday morning, armed with a “Brown Rice Pudding” recipe from the Tastes Better From Scratch website, I started over. That recipe seems to be designed for brown rice and calls for cooking it in water for 35 minutes, which makes the grain nice and soft, and then cooking it in milk until it reaches a pudding-like consistency. And, although it wasn’t as creamy as Ed’s mom’s rice pudding, I’ve got to say it turned out pretty creamy.
“I wouldn’t have known you had brown rice in here unless you told me,” Jen said.
Editor Roger DuPuis, after first declaring that the dish’s “texture and taste remind me of oatmeal,” later decided he could detect “the brown rice’s nuttier flavor.”
“It’s a nice, subtle dessert,” Roger said, noting this homemade variety seemed less sweet than the rice pudding you might find in a diner.
As for reporter Patrick Kernan, he’s “not the biggest fan of things that are mushy,” but considered the dessert “a very good rice pudding for people who like rice pudding. And the strawberries are a nice touch.”
Yes, I’d put fresh strawberries on top of the pudding. And there were raisins in the mix, along with cinnamon.
“I like that you put all that fruit in there,” page designer Lyndsay Bartos said.
“Oh, this is so good,” reporter Kevin Carroll said. “The cinnamon just jumps out at you and the warmth accentuates it.”
“I like it warm, maybe because of the weather,” Jen said, gesturing toward the window on a rainy and somewhat cool day.
Many recipes suggest you can serve rice pudding warm or chilled. And some websites talk about serving it for breakfast. Since it reminds some people of oatmeal, why not?
Here is the recipe, as found at the Tastes Better From Scratch website.
BROWN RICE PUDDING
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
6 ounces evaporated milk , or substitute half and half or cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 – 1 cup raisins
Instructions:
Bring the water and brown rice to a boil in a saucepan.
Add salt, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 35 minutes. Remove from heat (keep covered) and allow to rest for 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork.
Stir in the milk, evaporated milk, sugar, and cinnamon. Simmer uncovered, stirring often, for 40-50 minutes, or until the dish is pudding consistency.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and raisins.
Recipe Variations:
Slow Cooker Brown Rice Pudding: Cook the rice, then add the ingredients to a slow cooker and stir to combine. Cook on LOW for 4 hours, stirring occasionally until thick.
Vegan Brown Rice Pudding: Replace the milk with soy or almond milk and use coconut milk in place of evaporated milk.
Sugar Substitute: use honey or maple syrup instead.