Up here in the North

My oldest son, the 5-year-old, absolutely loves traditional Scandinavian rice porridge. It's a winter tradition and some places in Scandinavia it's served every Saturday at lunch. Since the 5-year-old have a limited palette I make this quite often during the cold season, which is October-April.

It's also a pre-Christmas tradition and originate from a time where rice was a luxury food. Actually it's one of the thing we set out for Santa (or for the 'Nisse' that lives in the house or in the barn taking care of the animals according to Scandinavian lore)

Basically it's a simple porridge made with short grain rice and milk and served, traditionally, with a knob of butter, sugar and cinnamon. The problem is that the milk tend to burn if you're not careful. That's why I love the method called (loosely translated) to a hay box. This is old school slow cooking.

Picture borrowed from dr.dk

Slow cooked Rice porridge

1. Mix the rice, water and milk according to the package.  I like to sprinkle 190 g rice in 200-300 ml boiling water and let it cook for 2 minutes before adding 1 litre milk (not skimmed).

2. Bring it to a simmer while continuously stirring the pot, I use a wide wooden spoon to make sure it doesn't stick in the bottom of the pot.

3. The second I see little boiling bobles I put on the lid and wrap in a kitchen cloth

4. Put the pot in your bed, preferably wrapped in a large towel, and warp it in a duvet or to

5. Keep it there until its nearly dinnertime, preferably 5-7 hours

6. unwrap and place it on the stove

7. If it's wet, bring it to a slow simmer, if is to dry add a splash of milk and slowly heat it up.

Serve with a knob of butter and a mix of sugar and cinnamon


PS quick version:

Follow 1-2, add a lid and place in the oven on 80-95 C for 2-3 hours, the oven work similar to a hay box.