SERVES 8
Aunt Loulou was the rice pudding queen in the family. Our grandmother made it, our grandfather made it, but when we think of rice pudding, it’s Aunt Loulou’s all the way. Anytime you went over to her house, she was like Grandma and the eggplant—there was always rice puddin’ on the table. She used to make a giant pot of it, package it into these little plastic cups with cinnamon, and sell ’em at Uncle Greg’s hero shops. Everybody knew that Greg’s in downtown Brooklyn on Van Brunt Street had the best rice pudding, and everybody wanted to know what her recipe was, but she wouldn’t tell a soul. For a long time, not even her twin sister, Gilda, knew what the big secret was. Then years ago, when our aunt Loulou and Gilda were helpin’ us out at the restaurant, Gilda spilled the beans. She goes, “Oh yeah, you gotta use the half-and-half.” We remember Loulou shootin’ her the dirtiest look.
It’s true, though—heavy cream made it too creamy and regular milk wasn’t creamy enough. It was the half-and-half that got it to just the right consistency. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing to it. You gotta cook the rice just right and add the perfect amount of vanilla and cinnamon.
4 cups half-and-half
2 cups long-grain white rice, such as Carolina
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
In a medium saucepan, combine the half-and-half and rice and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the sugar and egg and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, then stir in the vanilla. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Top with the cinnamon and serve.