Arroz con Leche
"Hey. I made Arroz con Leche," I called through the closed door. Nerd Girl has been spending her entire spring break with her face buried in books, so luring her out seemed like a good idea.
"WHAT? YOU can make Arroz con Leche?" she replied.
I HAVE FAILED MY CHILD. Okay, maybe. I don't actually know why she was so incredulous. Did she not know it was a thing that could be made? Or did her doubt come from the fact that I was the one who made it? I am not sure and she's not telling.
I'll take that as a sign that it's been too long since I last made it. I used to make it all the time, but stopped I suppose because the recipe I had often ended in burnt milk all over the stove. I have since adapted from the recipe I got from my host mother in Spain (I was an exchange student in high school) to a version that's less challenging.
And by "challenging" I mean I dare walk away from the stove. The original version I made ended up boiling over basically every time.
Anyway, if you fast forward to the part where Alexis ate a giant bowl of Arroz con Leche, she declared, "You should make this more. It's really good."
She's a tween, folks. That's high praise coming from the tween crowd.
Arroz con Leche
1 cup rice
2 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 lemon peel
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup milk (I use nonfat, but it's even better with 2% or whole)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Ground cinnamon
1. Cook that rice! Precooking it in water seems to be the exact trick it takes to keep from making a mess all over the kitchen. Place the rice and water in a large saucepan and boil over medium heat until the water is mostly evaporated. Stir occasionally so you keep things from sticking.
2. When the rice is done, fluff it with a fork then dump in the cinnamon sticks, lemon peel, evaporated milk, and other milk. Stir well and keep that medium heat going. Allow it to simmer for about ten minutes then add the sugar. Keep stirring, by the way.
3. It's done when the rice is al dente and the milk thickens to a runny pudding consistency.
4. Place in a bowl and refrigerate until cooled. Remove the cinnamon sticks. Serve with ground cinnamon.
Recipe
Reader Comments (1)
I did not know this had a name. We ate it all the time as kids. Especially if we have left over rice as nothing was wasted. I'm definitely making this! It will have to be non-dairy because of the milk allergy thing but I will let you know how it turns out.