I’ve been giving a lot of of to chocolate lately. This is partly because cocoa powder is relatively inexpensive and lasts forever, making it easy to whip up a batch of chocolate whatever, and partly because I’m just coo-coo for cocoa puffs.
Though, even such a devout follower of chocolate as I needs a break from the dark stuff once in a while. This brings us to coconut rice pudding — superior to other rice puddings because, come on people, coconut milk. Say what you will about things like Bounty bars and coconut flakes, but coconut milk is King of the Rock when it comes to flavouring vanilla things as far as I’m concerned. (Also, hello, Thai curry? Best thing. Best thing ever.)
Anyway, here’s a recipe that’ll cure what ails you on chilly days. It’s a slow-cooking recipe (2 hours!) but it’s worth it in the end.
Recipe
- 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 2/3 cups milk (1% is fine, but maybe don’t use skim)
- 1/3 cup rice
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Optional: raisins or walnuts/pecans, shredded coconut
Preheat your oven to 250F.
- Heat the milk and coconut milk in a pan over low heat to just before boiling point. Stir often, and if you see bubbles coming to the surface, remove the pan from the heat. Milk burns really easily, so don’t leave the milk on the heat too long without stirring.
- Stir in the margarine, sugar and rice and mix until the margarine dissolves.
- Pour into a greased casserole dish big enough to hold the 3 cups of combined milk, and pop into your oven.
- Bake for 2 – 2 1/2 hours, or until the rice is all gooey and most of the liquid has been soaked up. Stir every half hour or so. (I stirred after every episode of The Last Airbender I’ve been marathoning. It’s an easy way to keep time!)
- In the last 20-30 minutes of baking, add in your vanilla and any other tasty additions: raisins, nuts, flaked coconut, etc.
Enjoy with your favourite reruns.
medium high 