1/2 Brown & 1/2 White Rice Rice-Pudding Recipe

I promised to post this several days ago and just haven't gotten to it. But it did give me time to make 2 more test batches.

I love rice pudding!  It's one of the few perfect foods. Versatile: it can be tweaked for almost any type of food allergy (except for rice). It can be improved upon and made healthier or can be made to be ridiculously bad for you.

But any way you cook it, it's YUMMMM! I'm working on a 100% Brown Rice Rice-Pudding Recipe, but it's not quite ready yet. So until then . . .

1/2 Brown & 1/2 White Rice Rice-Pudding
Yields: 2 to 3 servings (can be doubled, but it will increase the cooking time slightly)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Brown Rice (I like Jasmine Brown Rice, but any should do)
• 1/4 cup any Long Grained White Rice (I used White Jasmine rice for this, but any long grain should do)
• 4 cups Milk (I use whole, but any kind can work, even almond or rice milk)
• Pinch of salt (a really tiny pinch)
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 cup brown or normal sugar (your choice)
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/3 cup Raisins (or other dried fruit - I like dried cranberries!)

 Directions

1. In a medium sized sauce pan, with a heavy bottom (no judgment here. Seriously, heavy bottomed sauce pans are a good thing.) place both types of rice, the milk and the pinch of salt. While stirring often, on Medium-High heat, bring to a boil. Make sure you do stir regularly or the rice will stick to the bottom and the milk will scorch.
2. Reduce the heat to low/simmer, and let the mixture simmer with the lid on for a total of 1 hour. Adjust the heat slightly higher and lower to make sure the mixture stays at a simmer, not a boil and not an "almost simmer." 
3. How often to stir once the lid is on and it's simmering (make sure the lid is securely on when not stirring): 

• 0 to 10 minutes: stir every 2 minutes.
• 10 to 30 minutes: stir every 5 minutes.
• 30 minutes to 1 hour: stir every 8 to 10 minutes
• Why? The steam caused by the simmer is necessary to cook the rice, so we are trying to lift the lid as seldom as possible. But milk and rice tend to scorch, so you have to stir. This method of gradually increasing the time between stirs seems to work the best.
4.  While the mixture is simmering, in a small mixing bow, whisk together the egg and sugar until it looks well blended.
5. Once the hour is up, the rice should be cooked, but there should be liquid left. Pull out a grain or two of both types to test it. If they are still crunchy, place the lid back on and recheck in 10 minutes. If there is no liquid left, heat 1/2 cup milk in the microwave or in a small pot. Then add this milk to the rice mixture.Once the rice is done, remove from heat.
6. Now, temper the egg mixture. That means you want to bring the temperature of the egg mixture closer to that of the rice mixture before mixing them. It helps you not have "scrambled eggs" in your pudding. Plus it encourages the egg to mix better with the rice mix in order to thicken it. Temper the egg by adding the hot rice liquid a tablespoon at a time to the egg mixture, until you have mixed about 1/2 cup with the egg. While you are adding the liquid, whisk the egg mixture. It should start looking like the pic below.
7. Next pour the tempered egg into the sauce pan with the rice mixture while whisking. Keep stirring until fully incorporated. Replace the lid, place the pot back on very low heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. Make sure that it does NOT come to a boil or even a hard simmer. You are just thickening it at this point and letting the egg temp increase to kill off any germs.
8. After 10 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, cinnamon and raisins (or other dried fruit). Put the lid back on and let it "rest" for about an hour. Then pour it into a storage container and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 12 hours.
9. Final step: EAT!!! It is much better chilled, but you can eat it fresh.