CHEESY SUPPER CUSTARD

Here we are – already February. January saw both record low and record high temps in our region. Temps have grown so warm – highs in 50s (even 60) while lows are in the 40s. I hate to see this so soon. It encourages plant growth before all danger of frost has passed, and if the budding fruit trees freeze, we get no fruit. The country plum trees didn’t bear last year, and the year before, we didn’t have cherries.

I’m continually surprised by what’s called “vintage.” “Grandma’s recipes” from the 1970s is the way I still cook. Clearly, I don’t identify as “grandma.” If I want to cook like “grandma,” I look for recipes from the 1930s through the ‘50s.

Through dental work, Mike sustained an injury to his tongue. We suspect he bit his tongue while it was deadened. At any rate, eating has been painful for him, and we needed a couple of days of soft entrees. I thought of the “Chinese molds” my mother used to make, a recipe from the Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book, 1950. However, I could find neither the cookbook, which now resides in my collection, nor my recipe card. (I’m terribly lax about refiling recipe cards.)  

So, I spent 45 minutes trying to find a recipe for a cheesy rice custard online with no appreciable results, but eventually I did find the old Betty Crocker cookbook hiding behind one of those wedge-shaped looseleaf cookbooks. And then, I found a stack of recipes in plain sight on the kitchen counter, and naturally, my recipe card for “Chinese molds” was there.

Today, this recipe would need a new name. I’ll call it “Cheesy Supper Custard.”

Gramma Kathy's Cheesy Supper Custard

3 eggs

1 cup cooked rice

1 ½ cups milk

1 cup grated cheese (I use cheddar)

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Beat eggs. Add milk and remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly and pour into greased 1 ½ quart casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

The original recipe suggests placing the casserole in a pan of water so that it steams. I don’t have a pan that’s adequate, so I never bake my custards that way. KW