Creole Rice Pudding

Dessert

Recipe courtesy of The New Orleans Cookbook

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients: 
  • 1 cup long grained rice
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon butter
  • 1 quart whole milk
  • 6 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 4 teaspoons orange rind, finely chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated best

Creole Rice Custard

Creole Rice Pudding

Click image to enlarge

Method: 

In a pot put the rice in 2 cups of cold water with salt and butter added bring to a boil over high heat. Stir once with fork, cover tightly, lower heat to low and cook for precisely 15 minutes without lifting cover. After 15 minutes, remove the pan from the heat, uncover and stir with fork to fluff rice. Return the pan to the heat, add milk and bring slowly to a boil, stirring frequently.

In a bowl whisk the eggs and sugar together until a light lemon color is seen. Add the chopped orange rind and the sugar and egg mixture to the boiling custard. Cook over low heat for about 5 minutes until rice is very soft and mixture begins to thicken. Add vanilla, nutmeg and stir to blend, remove from heat. Pour cooked mixture into a shallow baking dish about 1 1/2 inches high and allow to cool at room temperature.

When cooled cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Serve chilled with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top (optional).


 

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Comments

<p>After following directions accurately, I put the pan in the refrigerator and have waited and waited for it to turn to custart.&nbsp; After 6 hours, nothing has happened.&nbsp; What have I done wrong? I&#39;m sure it would be delicious as my sampling has made me want to eat this no matter what.</p>

I checked and this recipe will produce more of a rice pudding than a creamy, traditional custard with a flan-like texture. to achieve that texture the casserole dish must be baked in a water bath. Do the following: Preheat oven to 350. Start with 2 cups cooked rice at room temperature. Add it to a mixing bowl with eggs, cream, sugar, orange rind, salt, vanilla and nutmeg. Blend thoroughly; pour into a greased 9X13 baking dish. Set a a larger, deeper baking pan on your oven rack; set casserole dish inside and and pour boiling water half way up the side of the baking dish. Bake until custard is just set, about 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature; cover with plastic wrap. Serve warm or chilled with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top (optional).

I've been using this recipe (and a half dozen others from The New Orleans Cookbook) for ages. There are a few things that you need to do to make the recipe work every time. First, use 2 cups of day-old cooked white rice rather than cooking the rice just before you make the custard. Rice cooked the ay before will be a little drier, and will absorb more liquid when it sets up (using the white rice that comes with Chinese takeout works perfectly). Second, when you add the eggs, bring the mixture to a boil (while whisking). You'll feel it thicken rather quickly (in about a minute). Don't be frightened! I know it says low heat, but the custard will never, ever set if you do it that way. It's more like tapioca pudding than a proper custard, and certainly more like rice pudding than flan. I prefer it without the orange zest, and double the vanilla and nutmeg.