Creamy Rice Pudding

Rice pudding is, I'm pretty sure, something I haven't had since my Grandma made it when I was a little girl. We're talking 20 years ago or so. Hers was so tasty and creamy, but to be honest, I don't think I've ever eaten the stuff anywhere but her kitchen. I'm leery of puddings in general: rice, bread, chocolate. Come to think of it, my Grandma's bread pudding was, as I remember, the only thing she made that I didn't like. Not even sure why. But I digress.

On a week night last week, around 8pm, I was reading a book I'd picked up from the library about food; I can't remember the exact title right now. I was in the pizza chapter, and the author mentioned that his wife had walked down the road after their pizza lunch to grab some rice pudding for dessert. So while it was 8pm on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, I decided I simply had to make bread pudding, stat. Yeah, I'm just spontaneous like that.

Creamy Rice Pudding
Slightly adapted from allrecipes.com

3/4 c. uncooked white rice
2 c. 2% milk, divided
1/3 c. white sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
2/3 c. raisins
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla-nut-butter extract
Cinnamon and sugar, for optional garnishes

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 c. water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

In another saucepan, combine the cooked rice, 1 1/2 c. milk, sugar, salt and raisins. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, approximately 15 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/2 c. milk, beaten egg, butter and extract. Cook 1-2 more minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture into a container; sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, to taste. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Enjoy!

The verdict: either the original recipe or the reviews suggested that if a person wants a creamier, richer pudding, they should use short or medium grain rice. All I had in the house in my time of need was extra long grain, which proved to make a drier pudding than I'd hoped for. The extract I used (as opposed to plain vanilla) added a nice depth of flavor, and adding the raisins during the cooking process instead of at the end (as the original recipe suggested) made them nice and plump. Buppy said the pudding was much better after he stirred a small amount of milk into each serving. I'd like to try this recipe again, but with short grain rice next time.

Cheesy Sausage Zucchini Casserole

It all started when I bought 2 zucchinis at the produce market last week. I’m sure I had good intentions at the time, and probably even a recipe in mind. This week? Not so much. Nonetheless, I still had 2 zucchinis on my counter, waiting to be used.

So I allrecipe.com-ed it; I usually like their stuff, I think because I only use recipes that have good ratings thus far. I thought about a dessert, but figured since I have 2, one can be for dessert and one can be for an entrée.

I found this recipe and decided to give it a try, with my tweaking, of course. Check it out; it’s a good starting point.

I added more onion than they called for, and added some celery as well. The amount of tomato was probably less simply because I used up the last of an already-cut one and didn’t feel like choppin’ into the new one. I omitted the mushrooms too, and then I cried a little. I forgot to get fresh ones, and turns out we were outta canned ones too. Very bad stuff in my house since I’m pretty much a mushroom freak! But back to the story . . .

I added a bit of Mrs. Dash’s garlic & herb seasoning to the sausage/onion/celery mix while it was frying. And since the pork I used was so lean, I couldn’t drain it [nothing to drain]. I also used an Italian cheese mix because that’s what we had on hand and I wasn’t about to go to the store for Velveeta alone [darn, coulda got some 'shroomies if I had!]. I think I used about 6 oz. instead of 8, trying to be a little healthier and all. Buppy commented that he didn’t think it was very cheesy, but I thought it was fine with the 6 oz. He’s a pretty cheesy guy though, no pun intended. No oregano in mine since I added the Mrs. Dash’s seasoning. Hmmm, what else? Oh yeah, I had leftover breading from the chicken tenders we made the other night, so I added that to the top halfway through cooking. It gave it a little bite since there were crushed red pepper flakes in the breading mixture.

So really, I changed up the recipe a lot but didn’t measure out exact quantities of what I used. Oh well. Can’t replicate it, but it’s a pretty good recipe to start with; I just worked with what sounded good and what I had on hand, and what I came up with was even tastier than I’d hoped for [not a big rice fan and all].

There we have it. Check out the original, change it up to suit your tastes and you’ll be golden. Enjoy!