Recipe: Rice Pudding with Wild Rice (using maple syrup)

RICE PUDDING WITH WILD RICE

"In an attempt to use Minnesota ingredients in this traditional Swedish dish made by my mother, I have added wild rice and maple syrup. Rice pudding is truly a favorite dish in Swedish settlements in Minnesota, as evidence in how many recipe variations appear in church cookbooks. These additions create a meal fit for company, pot lucks and supper at home on the farm. In Sweden this was simple food made from available ingredients: grain, milk, cream, and eggs. But it is often those foods which we remember best from our childhood."

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
2 1/2 cups water, divided use
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
1 quart half-and-half or cream
7 eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Jam or maple syrup (optional, for serving)

Cook wild rice in 1 1/2 cups water for 20 minutes. Cook white rice in the remaining 1 cup water for 15 minutes.

Combine half and half or cream, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamong and salt.

Stir in the cooked rice and wild rice. Pour into a greased 3-quart casserole or greased 9x13-inch glass pan. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until center is firm. The 9x13-inch pan may take less time, a deep casserole may require 15 to 20 minutes additional time. To test for how well it is done, insert a clean knife blade into center; if it comes out clean, pudding is finished.

Eat warm or cold, with maple syrup or jam over the top; or eat just as it is.

Source: Kathryn Stavem, Maple Syrup Tour, Stanchfield, MN
From: Dee, OK