MY MOTHER’S RECIPE #6 – Mom Mom’s Rice Pudding

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“My life in the kitchen began with my grandmother….”  Samantha Verant

Hi there,

When my son Andrew was about 14 he played midget football. That is how I met Brad Spence, who grew up to become an extraordinary chef. Standing at the football field that day, I would never have imagined that possibility. But Brad apparently loved cooking and after college graduated from the CIA. He went on to cook and rub elbows with some of the superstars of the cooking industry.

Eventually he returned to his home town and got a position with Marc Vetri who has the hottest restaurant in Philadelphia. Brad went on to open Amis in Philadelphia and Connecticut. He developed an extraordinary ever changing menu but the one constant was his love for his Grandmother’s rice pudding. It was always on the menu.

Her name was Agnes Greth Spence, aka MomMom. Brad tells me, Agnes was known for her cooking and her athleticism. I imagine that is where Brad inherited those talents.

What follows is the recipe exactly as it appears in Marc Vetri’s cookbook

I am afraid the directions might be too light to read, so here are clearer directions:

Ingredients:
Milk – 8 cups
Sweetened Condensed Milk – 1 6-ounce can
Arborio Rice – 1 cup
Unsalted Butter – 4 tablespoons
Sugar – ½ cup
Fine Sea Salt – ¼ teaspoon
Vanilla Bean – 1 (alt. 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract)
Eggs – 4, beaten
Instructions


Directions
Combine milk, sweetened condensed milk, rice, butter, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the pan, stirring until evenly dispersed.

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the rice is just tender, about 25 minutes, stirring now and then. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool slightly. Whisk in the beaten eggs. Let cool in the pan and serve.

The pudding can be made up to 4 days ahead and kept in the refrigerator with the lid on. For a lighter texture, fold in about 2 cups whipped cream before serving.

See you soon, ❤️💕 Bernadette

33 responses to “MY MOTHER’S RECIPE #6 – Mom Mom’s Rice Pudding”

  1. Wonderful!
    I loved rice pudding as a girl, and it was served as a side dish at every restaurant in FL where I grew up. Now, living in MN, I haven’t had it in years. I hope one of our talented chefs reads this and gets inspired to bring it North😊

  2. Angie@Angie's Recipes – Angie's Recipes is an interactive blog dedicated to sharing yummy & creative recipes, helpful cooking hints and tips. Enjoy your visit and spread the word!
    Angie Schn says:

    Reading through the ingredient list, I bet this tastes amazingly delicious, esp. if it’s lightened up with whipped cream!
    angiesrecipes
    http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com

  3. 💜 I Love “Rice Pudding” EveryOne, just don’t Get Enough of it; sometimes I AM Experiencing CHOICE!!! Paralysis when it comes to Desserts especially making My Own

    …💛💚💙…

  4. Darlene – British Columbia, Canada – Writer of children's stories, short stories and travel articles. https://twitter.com/#!/supermegawoman http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=201634059868404&id=631897250&ref=notif&notif_t=like#!/pages/Darlene-Foster-Writer/362236842733
    Darlene says:

    A great rice pudding recipe.Thanks!

  5. Dorothy's New Vintage Kitchen – I'm a writer, cook, gardener, photographer, poet, quilter, and accomplished daydreamer. I'm also a wife, mother, grandmother, sister. cousin, aunt, and friend, no particular order on any given day. I've been a writer all my life, newspaper reporter and columnist, radio news writer, and magazine contributor, and poet and short-story writer as the spirit moves. Now, I turn my attention to my cookbook, the blog, and a cooking column "Memorable Meals," which runs in our county newspaper. Besides my family, I love dogs, cats, good coffee, chocolate, and my never-dwindling pile of books I intend to read. Our family ran a small Vermont Inn for 18 years, with our focus on local, organic ingredients. I cook from scratch, and try not to use anything that has ingredients I cannot pronounce! After many years of daily serving up local delicacies, cooking classes, and catering, we are now only open for special events, and the odd cooking class. We also host musicians and artists, having helped produce a musical festival and other musical events for nearly 20 years. Many incredible artists have found a place at our table. Wonderful experiences, we will treasure always. My family and friends are my practice subjects. With a family that includes nut, peanut, tree fruit, and vegetable allergies, gluten intolerance, dairy intolerance, vegetarians, vegans, heart conscious, and a couple of picky eaters, there has to be a few quick tricks in the book to keep everyone fed and happy! Personally, I do not eat red meat or most full-fat dairy (usually) for health reasons, making the occasional exception at Thanksgiving and Christmas or our anniversary if the duck is locally raised. I do eat fish and seafood, so I try to come up with alternatives and substitutions when available. I serve local organic eggs and cheeses to my family who can tolerate dairy (My husband recently had a heart attack, and I need to watch my own cholesterol so I am careful, but have been known to let a little piece of really good cheese accidentally fall on my plate!). I believe strongly that eating in a way that is good for our planet is also good for our bodies, and I try to educated myself about our food sources! I cook by the seasons and draw on inspiration from the strong and talented women in my family who came before me, as well as the youth in the family who look at the world with fresh eyes. Food links us all, whether sharing a meal, cooking it together, or writing about it for others to enjoy. I love taking an old recipe and giving it a modern spin, especially if I can make it a littler healthier and use foods that are kinder to the Earth and to our bodies. I believe strongly in sustainable, delicious eating of whole foods, and the wonderful flavors we have at our fingertips! And finally, I love conversing with all the talented cooks and chefs out there who dot the globe! It's a wonderful, world full of culinary pen pals, and I cherish them all! XXXOOO Dorothy
    Dorothy’s New Vintage Kitchen says:

    Arborio rice makes the absolute best rice pudding!

  6. 💜 …yet plenty of CHOICE!!! Chocolate and Cake in The Fridge; who NEEDS!!! a Wife 😂🤣😅😆😁😄😃😀🙂 🤔 ?

    …💛💚💙…

  7. Time Traveler of Life – Where my Motor Home is! – Biography Creating worlds, characters, and wielding power like a madwoman, making my characters happy, sad, angry, and some of them with no redeeming qualities. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I sometimes laugh out loud when I am writing a scene, and I have been known to cry when one of my favorites has to die. I am a left-handed Gemini, what do you expect? Reading bedtime stories to my two children until they fell asleep or until they just told me to go away, was fun. Making up wild stories for my grandchild, and creating Halloween costumes from Cowboys to a Dragon, was another favorite thing to do. I missed that so much when they were grown, that I started writing. My yearly newsletters frequently were drafted third-person by my Love Birds, Miranda our motorhome, and by Sir Fit the White Knight, our faithful Honda. Throughout the years, some of my creative talents centered around writing letters of complaint expressing my displeasure with services or products. One crucial, at least to my Son, was a note to our local school bus driver petitioning her to allow him back on the bus. He was kicked off for making an obscene gesture at his buddy. I reminded her that it was not directed at her, and that “obscenity can be in the eye of the beholder,” kids use that gesture as a greeting. He rode the bus until he graduated. I loved driving my English teacher crazy. Leaving a “continued next week” at the end of my five handwritten pages required each week. He was one of many people that suggested I “do something about my writing.” I graduated from the School of Hard Knocks at the top of my class. After 30 years, in the trenches as a Real Estate Professional, I have found that truth is stranger than fiction. My books are filled with characters I met in that profession. Their names were changed to protect the guilty. Others were from people we met traveling around the country in Miranda, our Motorhome. I am married nearly 60 years to the love of my life, Shirl, and partner-produced two exceptionally talented children, and one grandchild who is our pride and joy.
    Time Traveler of Life says:

    Please do not have an attack! But, I have never had Rice Pudding, and would not look at bread pudding. That said, I kinda like the looks and the ingredients of the Rice Pudding. I suspect I will have to make very small quantities as I am fairly certain my hubby will not even try it.

  8. This looks like a winner for my ‘old time favorites’ recipe collection! Now I see where Brad got his start in the culinary world! I so love the stories behind the recipes… it makes the recipe even more delicious!!!

  9. I love rice pudding and will be trying this one. Thank you for all these wonderful recipes!

  10. the Painted Apron – Life is all about creativity for me, as long as I'm creating something I am happy! I hope I will inspire your daily life and give you ideas for your own wonderful creations!
    the Painted Apron says:

    What a delightful story, and keeping rice pudding always on the menu in honor of MomMom is such a sweet and wonderful way to honor her!

  11. It is delicious and it is such a sweet story about a chef and his grandmother. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the holiday.

  12. CarolCooks2 – Udon Thani – Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them. I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling. Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing. This is now taking me into other areas like deforestation, chemicals and preservatives in the food chain. Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!
    CarolCooks2 says:

    I have been eying the Arborio rice for weeks now and dreaming of rice pudding…I love my mother’s version which is baked with nutmeg on top and also love creamed rice pudding which I am guessing this one emulates…No one in this house does but hey ho I am going to make it just for me… I have done with the pondering and drooling …x

      • CarolCooks2 – Udon Thani – Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them. I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling. Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing. This is now taking me into other areas like deforestation, chemicals and preservatives in the food chain. Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!
        CarolCooks2 says:

        Not something eaten here rice soup is the closest but a rice pudding restaurant sounds heavenly …sigh

  13. Ashley – UK – I love walking and writing (poems and hokku) and trees and reading and art……..and life! And now that I've retired from work, I love these things even more! I am a husband, father and grandfather and now a great grandfather! 🙋‍♂️
    Ashley says:

    That’s some Rice Pudding! 😋😋🙋‍♂️

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