Golden Brown Puffed Cheesy Rice Spoon Bread
Shirley is an instructor, syndicated columnist and author of two award winning cookbooks.
This recipe is featured in Lumpy Gravy, Scalloped Potatoes That Will Not Cook? The Secrets of Starch Revealed
This is a slightly sophisticated, true comfort food. It is an easy do-ahead casserole that is a gorgeous puffed, golden brown, rice version of macaroni and cheese. This great recipe is a corruption of Damon Lee Fowler’s “Savannah Rice Puff” in his book Damon Lee Fowler’s New Southern Baking.
The cayenne and nutmeg are added to the butter mixture because fats are great flavor carriers. The rice is soft, well puffed, and not rinsed after cooking so that there is enough starch in the mixture to prevent the eggs from curdling. I elected to use Gruyère instead of the traditional cheddar because I wanted a milder flavor from the cheese.
- Servings Makes one 1.9 liter (2 quart) casserole
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 28 grams (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 4 medium shallots, finely chopped
- 8 scallions, all of the green included, sliced into thin rings
- .9 grams (½ teaspoon) ground cayenne pepper
- 1.1 grams (½ teaspoon) freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 large eggs (99 grams/3.5 ounces)
- 356 ml (1½ cups) whole milk
- 118 ml (½ cup) heavy cream
- 383 grams (13.5 ounces, 2½ cups) cooked rice, not rinsed after cooking
- 7.1 grams (1 tablespoon) cornstarch, sprinkled over the rice
- 113 grams (6 ounces, 1½ cups) grated Gruyére or Swiss cheese, divided
- 5 grams (1 teaspoon) salt, and more as needed
- 1.2 grams (½ teaspoon) white pepper
Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and arrange a shelf just below the center of the oven.
2. Spray a 1.9 liter (2-quart) heat-proof casserole with nonstick cooking spray.
3. In a large skillet, melt butter and sauté shallots over medium-low heat until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in scallions and cook another 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in cayenne and nutmeg.
4. In a large mixing bowl, stir the eggs briefly to blend whites and yolks, and then stir in the milk, a little at a time, the cream, rice and cornstarch, 75 grams (1 cup) of the cheese, salt, pepper, and the shallot mixture. Pour into the prepared casserole and sprinkle the remaining 38 grams (1/2 cup) cheese on top. Place on the arranged shelf and bake until a rich golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.
From Bakewise, by Shirley O. Corriher (Scribner 2008)
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Shirley Corriher
Shirley O. Corriher has taught from Vancouver to Sicily, has written an internationally syndicated column, and is an award-winning author. Her book CookWise was the James Beard Award winner for Best Reference and Technique Book of 1997 and has sold over 500,000 copies. Real Simple magazine lists CookWise as One of the 50 Great Books That Will Change Your Life. BakeWise also won a James Beard Award and was named by Cooking Light magazine as one of the 100 Best Cookbooks of the Past 25 Years.
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I am so glad this came to my email! I will be paring this with lamb chops for our Easter dinner. Thank you! I will be following you more often. Thanks again and be safe.
Fond memories of NYC Egg Cream, though allergic to chocolate, I think I enjoyed a vanilla one at drugstore on Broadway & 86 St. corner in the 1960’s. My grandmother used to take my brother, sister & me there.