I went to clean the kitchen last night. I started out by putting some of the leftovers in the refrigerator. I realized that I didn’t have room for the container, so I started cleaning out the refrigerator. This led to a witch hunt for expired condiments. Which led to nearly a bagful of trash which led to my realization that trash ran the next day so I went to the living room to gather empty Solo cups. Don’t judge. They weren’t mine. They were from the kids.
When I went back into the kitchen, I realized that I had a lot of leftover rice. I thumbed through one of the file cabinets in my brain and found a memory I’d left there about wanting to make rice pudding.
In a matter of minutes, I was standing at the stove, stirring a pot full of awesome.
I remember my daddy talking about his mother making rice pudding from leftover rice. My daddy didn’t have the fondest memory of it because he doesn’t like pudding of any kind. Needless to say, my mother didn’t make it when we were growing up.
But I really loved it! Michael and Elizabeth enjoyed it, too. Christopher didn’t care for it – but it took him half a bowl to decided that. It was rich and velvety, spiked with the flavor of coconut and made crunchy from the pecans. A simple treat that used leftovers as its main ingredient!
Coconut Pecan Rice Pudding
- 3 cups of cooked rice
- 1 15.66-ounce can of coconut milk
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 1/2 cup of chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup of toasted, shredded coconut
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
Combine rice, coconut milk, and 1/2 cup of milk in a medium saucepan and stir over medium heat. Cook and stir for 15-20 minutes until mixture is creamy and rice is very tender.
Add sugar and stir to combine. Beat eggs and 1/2 cup of milk together in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in a ladle of the rice mixture to the egg mixture. Once combined, whisk the now-warm egg mixture into the rice mixture until combined. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
Remove from the heat and add butter, vanilla, pecans, and coconut.
Serve warm or cold.
Well Duh #1: Toast the shredded, sweetened coconut in a 350 degree oven. Watch it carefully. It has been known to flame up. And, yes, my eyebrows grew back. You can actually just add the coconut straight from the bag, untoasted. Toasting it just brings an added depth of flavor.
Well Duh #2: If you’ve never used canned coconut milk, here’s an assurance: It’s supposed to be a soft-solid on top (looks almost like shortening) and liquid underneath. Use a spoon or rubber spatula and get it all out. You use the solid and the liquid.
Well Duh #3: Even though it’s called rice pudding, it really doesn’t have a pudding consistency. It’s closer to oatmeal, if you ask me.
I can envision using lots of different flavors and textures in the basic mixture. It’s so easy and so yummy!
By the way, I never got around to washing dishes. But one thing is certain about dirty dishes: they’ll wait for you!
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