Thanks for all of the kind words earlier this week, and for the pics of your pastas, and for sharing your excitement that - holy shit - you can sauce pasta with chicken liver mousse. (I don’t usually play favorites, but… those emails were my favorites. xo.)
I don’t believe in forcing people to study food science on weekends, so today, I bring you another Newsletter Lite: recipe only. It seems that I wasn’t the only one who had my ass handed to me this week - and now we’re all getting Daylight Saving’ed, to boot - and I thought we could all use something simple and cozy, something that manages to be both wholesome and decadent. If you’re not a fan of rice pudding, your options are to (1) let me try to change your mind, or (2) just leave now, I guess, but I’m hoping you’ll give the former a go. Mine is rich but light (thanks to some yogurt), and spiced just gently enough to have some character while still tasting cleanly and purely of rice and dairy. It’s also not exceptionally sweet, for two reasons: it makes a delightful and not-especially-sugary breakfast, but maybe more importantly, I like to be able to dress and top each bowlful to my heart’s content. It does require some time to chill (and it won’t set until it does), but the “work” part of this recipe takes only about 20 minutes, and is almost totally hands-off. You could make it now and have it ready in time for a late brunch, or save it for tonight at 9: what a perfectly-New York treat to have with Succession, later.
I am famously a total hater of my Instant Pot, but I love it for this. If you don’t have one, no big deal: the same ingredients will work with stovetop and slow-cooker methods. Just treat the eggs and yogurt and butter as I do, here; whisk them in at the very end.
A Rice Pudding For The End of A Long-Ass Week
Ingredients:
1 cup of short-grain rice (I use arborio or sushi rice)
3 cups of whole milk
scant 1/2 cup of sugar (you can use brown for extra depth if you like)
1 vanilla bean, split & scraped (or a tablespoon of extract, no big deal)
zest of one lemon or orange (or a long strip of peel)
one cinnamon stick (or 1tsp or so of ground)
a pinch of coriander (1/4 tsp)
a pinch of fine-grained salt
Stir together all of the ingredients in the belly of a pressure cooker to combine, then seal & cook on High for 15 minutes; allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then manually release the rest. While the rice mixture is cooking, whisk together in a small bowl:
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup good greek or other thick yogurt (whole milk; I use a honey one, or plain)
1/2 cup heavy cream
Once the pressure has been released, carefully open your pressure cooker, fish out any whole spices and discard, and then whisk in
2 T of cold grass-fed butter
until thoroughly melted and incorporated, then add in the egg and dairy mixture, whisking for 2 minutes. Pudding will be soupy - it’s ok! It sets once fully chilled. (Also: the rice is quite hot, and will cook your raw eggs, if you were worried.) Taste for sweetness and adjust as needed; depending upon your choice of yogurt and personal preference, you might want to stir in more sugar.
Carefully transfer to a heat-proof container. Cover the rice pudding with plastic wrap, pressing it onto the surface to avoid “pudding skin” and to avoid flooding the surface with puddled condensation. Chill until fully set and cold throughout, 2-4 hours depending on container.
If you want a richer and more decadent pudding, whisk in 50g (about 1/3 cup) of chopped white chocolate with the butter.
If you want to use this to fill a pie, add the white chocolate as above, plus 2 teaspoons of plain gelatin (bloomed in 1T hot water). Pour right into the pie shell; don’t chill separately.
If you want a thicker, stiffer pudding, reduce the dairy in the egg mixture by half: do 1/4 cup each, yogurt and cream, or just pick one if you don’t want to fuss.
Some suggested toppings: cinnamon; Mike’s Hot Honey; garam masala; maple syrup; boiled cider; chopped pecans; pistachios; raisins fried in butter and brown sugar; Chinese 5-spice; cocoa nibs; dried coconut; chocolate ganache; bananas; fresh figs; your favorite jams or preserves; lemon curd; whatever TF you want. xo.
Also, one last little note: I have the big Instant Pot (8qts), and while I can’t imagine that using a smaller one would affect your results, much, maybe it does? Does anyone know? In any case, YMMV. But holler if you have questions.