rice pudding

I've been wanting to make rice pudding for a while but I just couldn't seem to find my mothers recipe. Deciding to give the search a break, I turned to my copy Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything and found a baked rice pudding recipe. Rice pudding was always done on the stove-top in our house, so this would be different from the get-go. The more I read this recipe, the more I liked it. No stove-top spillage and no extra clean up! Just stir 4 cups of milk, 1/4 - 1/3 cup of rice, 1/2 cup of sugar, a pinch of salt, and cinnamon (I used two sticks) together before putting it in a 300 degree oven for 2 hours. You need to come back every 30 minutes to stir, and after an hour you can dump in your raisins. Three quarters of the way through, it says to check every 10 minutes and make sure you pull it before all the liquid is absorb. This is crucial as the rice pudding will coagulate as it cools and you need some moisture to prevent a crusty or dry product.

Unfortunately, this was strike two on the night. With the previous Tyler Florence BBQ sauce also a let down, my culinary adventure was disappointing. The problem with this recipe was the suggested time. After 2 hours it still looked like milk soup, with most of the rice in no way, shape, or form ready for our stomachs. I ended up pulling it at 3 1/2 hours (see photo) and it still wasn't in good shape. I salavaged what I could by throwing everything into a pot and letting it sit stove-top for a while. So much for unnecessary clean up!

It's been a while since I've made some unfortunate recipes, but all in due time I guess. Now I need to get back on the hunt and find my mothers recipe.