Mama’s Copycat Arroz Con Leche

My mother made Arroz con Leche or rice pudding as a side dish not as a dessert. I’m sure she just made Instant rice poured on some milk and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top and served it cold. This was probably a dish my father had as a child, since his father was from England.

Rice pudding or rice pottage was a recipe found in a collection of recipes called The Forme of Cury dated 1390 in England. The modern recipe cooks the rice in water instead of a broth.

But...my mother being German, they also have rice pudding or Milchreis. They cook the rice in the milk.
And then there is Spain, after taking an ancestry.com DNA test I found out 14% of my DNA is from Spain, while just 10% is from England. Any way....

Arroz con Leche is served hot instead of cold and this is the recipe I’m going to post today. Serves 4-5

Ingredients:

1 cup long grain white rice
4 cups whole milk
6 tablespoons sugar
6 oz evaporated milk
1 Vanilla bean, split
2 small cinnamon sticks
Ground cinnamon, for topping

Directions:

Fill a pot half way with water, bring to boil add rice remove from heat and set aside for 20 minutes.
In a large saucepan combine the whole milk, evaporated milk, sugar, vanilla bean and cinnamon sticks. Cook 40 at a simmer, stirring constantly. If it starts to boil reduce heat.

Drain the rice and set aside. In the same pot add fresh water and bring to boil. Add the rice, reduce heat and let simmer for 6 minutes then drain again. Add the rice to the milk mixture and cook at a simmer for 20 minutes stirring constantly until it thickens. Let it cool, as this will help to thicken the pudding. Remove the cinnamon sticks and the vanilla bean. Serve warm, room temperature or chill it,  if you like it cold. Garnish with ground cinnamon. Yum Yum!