Rice Pudding is Awesome

(And so are digital cameras with good lenses and great exposure control.)  

Seriously, why don't I make this more often?  Probably because it takes 45 minutes to cook, and when I'm hungry, I'm usually hungry now.  Plus, I'm usually running late for something and don't have that kinda time to mess around making amazingly tasty, custardy rice pudding.  But it's totally worth it when I do.

Here's the recipe from Erica G. at Allrecipes.com:

Ingredients
3/4 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups milk, divided
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
In another saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg and raisins. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm.  Makes four servings.

And here's what I do differently:

• There's no good reason to use two pans.  Just cook the rice and then add the other ingredients to it.  (I know that you're only supposed to use 1-1/2 cups of the cooked rice, and 3/4 cup uncooked can yield a bit more than that, but it turns out just fine.)  
• I used short grain rice - supposedly it makes it a better texture than if you use long grain.  You could go all healthy and use brown rice if you wanted, but it wouldn't taste the same.  
• Speaking of cooking rice, I use Alton Brown's method of heating the dry rice in the pan for a bit and adding the right amount of boiling water to the hot rice.  Really kick starts the cooking process.  
• It might not be necessary, but I temper the egg mixture with some of the hot stuff from the pot before adding it.  I also add a little cream to the milk at this point, if I have any handy.  
• I prefer Craisins to raisins in this recipe, but you can really leave them out or just use whatever is around.  

Sooo good.  But it is super rich, so pace yourself!