A Verse-Approved Rice Pudding Recipe from Virginia Manuel
Virginia Manuel
Mother (of The Verse founder and editor-in-chief), grandmother, food lover, sports fanatic, activist and grammar police
What's the weirdest thing in your purse?
A painted stone that I bought in 2007 in front of the Dakota (the famed New York City apartment building) from a kid selling them to make extra money. I carry it for good luck.
Last time you were surprised by anything
November 8, 2016 (enough said).
The best thing that happened to you in the 80s-90s?
Watching two bratty (but lovable) teenagers morph into loving, confident adults who each forged their own path and never forgot where they came from.
Table Talk with Virginia Manuel
Food has always been more than mere sustenance for me. Volumes have been written by psychologists about the emotional connection people have with food (which of course can often lead to extreme weight gain and other eating issues). At its most basic level, food is something to be enjoyed, whether sitting alone at the kitchen counter in front of the TV or sharing with a group of friends or loved ones (even better).
My mother was an adventurous cook. Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money for fancy ingredients, but she always found a way to cook something interesting. Starting at age 12, we had an agreement that when one person cooked dinner, the other would wash the dishes. Of course we didn't own a dishwasher so you can guess which task I chose. Later, living with a French family for my junior year abroad, I became very curious about French cuisine—although I was never invited into the kitchen to help. At the end of that year, Madame gave me a very scholarly cookbook (in French, mais oui) as a parting gift.
In the 1970s, I started to consider myself a “foodie” when I began teaching cooking classes (very informally, through an adult education program) and giving cooking demonstrations in department stores. I befriended a young mother like me who had a passion for cooking. A few years later we decided to collaborate on a cookbook, which was a compilation of all our favorite recipes. We called it "French Cuisine Plus," because it had a lot of basic French recipes PLUS a bunch of other dishes of varying origins. Not sophisticated enough to approach a real publisher, we had several hundred spiral-bound copies printed locally and started selling them via mail order and at various cooking demonstrations. We never got rich, but we made enough money to plow back into producing four more cookbooks, which we sold the same way. My former partner went on to get a real publisher for two cookbooks that she had written, and they hired me as an editor. In 2001, after moving to Richmond, my husband and I bought a townhouse. We went in there a week before moving to have it painted and to replace the carpets. Under the refrigerator I found a copy of one of my cookbooks!
The cooking world was fairly unsophisticated in the 1970s, 80s and even the early 90s. So many ingredients we take for granted today (kale, quinoa, arborio rice, sun-dried tomatoes, coconut oil, kalamata olives) were virtually unheard of back then—except maybe in California. People actually still used margarine instead of butter—or at least offered it as an option in recipes. I had always had a love of French cuisine, but when we lived in an area with a huge Italian-American population, it spurred my interest in Italian cooking. That is now my favorite cuisine. Then, after moving to Virginia, I embraced my second favorite genre: regional American cooking.
If I had to choose my last supper, it would be a carbohydrate festival of all my favorite comfort foods: mac and cheese, pizza (no topping except cheese), rice pudding and pecan pie. I actually collect rice pudding recipes. Back in the 1940s and 50s, rice pudding was the mainstay of thrifty cooks—including my mother. After all, everyone had the basic ingredients on hand: leftover rice, milk, sugar and eggs (and maybe raisins). When I was growing up, I lived on 103rd St. and Broadway, across the street from a Horn & Hardart Automat. For three nickels you could get a dish of their dreamy, creamy rice pudding which to this day is my all-time favorite. I have spent countless hours (and dollars) trying to replicate their version, but I would say that Kozy Shack comes the closest. Like so many other basic recipes, rice pudding has been updated by innovative chefs who have added their own spin (fruits, chocolate, coffee, creme brulee, etc.), but the best ones contain simple ingredients. The ideal rice pudding should never be too rice-y or too thick (and raisins are a must). I have included my favorite recipe below.
These days, I try to put my kitchen skills to use in service of others. Food insecurity is a huge issue with me, so I volunteer at Feed More. It’s estimated that in Richmond, 30,000 children go to sleep not knowing where their next meal is coming from. When school is in session, they benefit from the school lunch program, but what about dinner? Feed More attempts to fill the gap by preparing nutritious meals that are brought daily to feeding centers (churches, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc.) so children can get dinner in the late afternoon. Feed More also prepares thousands of meals for clients of the Meals On Wheels program. I work in the community kitchen, which is equipped like a restaurant kitchen and staffed by professional cooks. The volunteers assist with routine tasks such as peeling onions or potatoes, chopping vegetables, or preparing chicken breasts or fish fillets for baking. Sometimes we are given a recipe to assemble ourselves—such as bean salad for 1,000 people—and we have to hunt down and mix all the ingredients. They actually use some very interesting recipes, and when certain called-for ingredients are out of stock, the cooks are very resourceful about making substitutions. Obviously, the current pandemic has only amplified the need for their services. Knowing I am helping to provide a basic need for others feeds my soul.
Here is my all time favorite rice pudding recipe—which is the ultimate in simplicity. It doesn't even contain eggs, yet has a very soul-satisfying texture and flavor.
CLASSIC RICE PUDDING
2/3 cup medium- or short-grain white rice
2 cups water
1/2 cup raisins
3 cups whole milk (or a mixture of 2% milk and Half and Half)
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a 4- or 5-quart saucepan, bring rice and water to a boiling. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Meanwhile place raisins in a small dish and cover with boiling water to plump them. Let stand 15-20 minutes and then drain off water. Set raisins aside. When the rice is cooked through, add the milk, butter and sugar to the pan, blending with the rice. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and then cover and cook over the lowest heat (to prevent milk from burning) for 30 minutes, or until the pudding has a nice, creamy texture. Remove from the heat, and add the raisins and vanilla. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.
