Rice Pudding from Leftover Rice

Ingredients

2c cooked rice, crumbled with your hand or a fork to remove clumps
3-1/2c milk
4 egg yolks, lightly whisked

zest of 1 lime

zest of 3/4 of an orange

1-1/2c turbinado sugar

1 cup dried fruit (raisins or whatever other dried fruits your heart desires, just chop larger fruit)

1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp salt

1TB dark rum

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp butter, cut into cubes

Mix it Up!
Sub. in cranberries or mix them with raisins.

Sub. lime with the zest of half a lemon plus 1\2 tsp lemon extract

Add a couple dashes of nutmeg.

Sub. cooked rice with 2\3 c raw rice, add an extra egg yolk, and use a total of 5 cups  milk

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Bring a medium size pot of water to a boil.

3. Meanwhile, blend all ingredients, except butter, together thoroughly, being sure to incorporate the sugar and egg yolks well.

4. Place rice, milk, egg yolks, zest, sugar, dried fruit, cinnamon stick, and salt into a tempered glass or ceramic cooking vessel and blend well.

5. Place the glass or ceramic cooking vessel into a large pan (a rectangular cake pan works well).  Make a bain marie by pouring the boiling water into the outer pan, being sure to avoid any of the water getting into the rice pudding.

6. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to avoid curdling.  Cook at 300 F for 2-1\2 hours,stirring every 15 minutes in the first 30 - 45 minutes.

7. Stir in rum and vanilla and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes for a total cook time of 50 minutes to one hour.  The custard should still look a little loose.  Remove it as this point, as the carryover cooking will allow it to set completely without curdling.  Stir in butter and serve or allow to cool to room temperature.  Enjoy cold, heated, or at room temperature, but be sure to store under refrigeration.

*Your rice pudding will not brown with this method, but it also will not curdle and will be perfectly creamy.