Sweet Rice
I don’t know if this is true or not, but I remember having sweet rice every Sunday morning growing up. This is the only kind of rice my mom cooked. It was good, but by the time I left home, I never wanted rice for breakfast. We spent a lot of time with my parents when we were first married and the boys were young, so we still had rice quite often. As the boys got older and more involved in sports and other things, we spent less whole weekends with them. We still eat Sunday lunch there most weeks unless something else is going on or someone is sick. This means that that we were no longer eating sweet rice there, so my husband started asking me to make it. I didn’t know how, I had never made it and mom of course doesn’t use a recipe. She told me the general directions but no exact amounts. I cook this way a lot myself, but it doesn’t work well when you are trying to replicate a recipe. I tried several times, the first time was a complete flop, but gradually I figured out how to make it just like we want it. We like it fairly thick and sweet. It is easy to adjust by cooking a little more or less for thickness and the amount of sugar can be adjusted if it is too sweet for you.
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I start by cooking the rice like you would for regular rice for any meal, except I add extra water since I want the rice softer for this dish. I started by following the directions on the bag of rice and realized that the rice never really got soft enough because there wasn’t enough water in the pot at the beginning. I use a Tramontina 6.5 Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Then I add more butter, milk and sugar. I cook on low with the lid slightly ajar to prevent it boiling over until it has the right thickness, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. This takes about 30 min, so allow about an hour for the entire process from beginning to table. I use this time to cook sausage and either biscuits or toast to go with the rice. If you don’t eat it right away, know that it will thicken as it cools. When I reheat leftovers, I add more milk to thin it down just a little, but my daughter likes to eat it cold just as it is right out of the refrigerator. We like to have some left over, so I don’t worry about having too much, but if you want to make a smaller amount, try only making half the recipe. We like having breakfast for supper because we don’t have a lot of mornings that we are all home, and we are usually in a rush to get somewhere. Adding what is normally thought of as breakfast recipes to our weeknight meals gives me more choices that tend to be less expensive and will be eaten by everyone in my family.
Sweet Rice
Ingredients
2 cups white rice
2 tbls butter
1 tsp salt
8 cups water
2 cups milk
1 stick butter
3 cups sugar
Put first four ingredients in a a large heavy pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until most of the water is absorbed.
Add the last 3 ingredients and continue to simmer with the lid slightly ajar to prevent boiling over. Stir frequently to prevent sticking until the rice thickens to your preference. Serve and enjoy.
Do you have a favorite childhood meal? Memory? Something you hated? Leave a comment below to let me know.
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