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I am a real perfectionist; the kind that would throw away a sheet of paper whenever something looks wrong: either the writing, the colours… just about anything in fact.
I’ve been known to remake things entirely for un petit rien [barely anything] from school notebooks to cakes; from paintings to recipes.

Indeed when it comes to recipes I’m rarely satisfied. It has to and it needs to be P-E-R-F-E-C-T.
Though, sometimes it clearly isn’t. But in this case, I could do anything to achieve perfection; and if it involves staying, covered with chocolate, flour and sugar, in a kitchen all night, then I don’t mind.

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Riz au lait perfume à la vanille
It took me a long time to find the perfect recipe for riz au lait à la vanille.
Indeed, I did find my redemption in riz au lait au chocolat, but really wasn’t satisfied with the white kind of riz au lait.It’s something quite tricky: too much rice and it’ll end up rock-hard; too much milk and what you’ll get will be looked over as a soup.

This riz au lait is just as it should be: creamy, beautifully flavoured and very comforting.
What makes it special is its cooking technique inspired by the lovely Dorie Greenspan. Parboiling the rice in water makes for an almost starchless grain which is unlikely to get sticky resulting in a perfectly balanced ratio of ‘rice grains’ and ‘vanilla cream’.

For extra comfort, you can have it while it’s still warm. And then, you’ll understand what perfection really means.

Riz au lait parfumé à la vanille

serves 2

75 g arborio rice
400ml water
350 ml milk
1/2 vanilla pod, scraped
60 g caster sugar

Put the rice and water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Lower the temperature and cook the rice, uncovered for 10 minutes.
Drain the rice in a strainer and rinse it; set aside.
Rinse out the saucepan, then pour in the milk, sugar and the scraped vanilla bean. When it boils, stir in the cooked rice. Reduce the heat and let the mixture bubble away for about 30 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Remove the pan from the heat and transfer either into a large bowl or two small ramekins.
You can eat it warm or cold from the refrigerator.

Posted by fanny who loves favourites, recipe inside, spoon desserts, vanilla