"Farmers Rice Pudding (Rice Not Included)" by Justice Thurgood Marshall

Our first recipe from a Supreme Court Justice! What an honor. Could he have come up with a better name? Faux Farmers Rice Pudding? Farmers Riceless Rice Pudding? Sure. But this lengthily-titled, parenthetically over-explained dish is still the first of its kind here on Cookin’ with Congress: Justice Thurgood Marshall’s Farmers Rice Pudding (Rice Not Included).

Chef Thurgood Marshall

Nonpartisan Justice from Illinois

As always, I followed the recipe word for word from the first Black American to become a Supreme Court justice, no alterations:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup flour

1 raw egg

1 quart boiling milk

2/3 cup sugar

a pinch of salt and nutmeg to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Into flour, cut up egg, using two knives, cutting crisscross until very fine (until it looks like rice).

Wasn’t familiar with this technique, so it took a bit to feel confident in my crisscrossing skills. But eventually, it did pill into tiny rice shapes.

2) Slowly add this to the 1 quart boiling milk, stirring constantly.

3) Add sugar, a pinch of salt and nutmeg to taste. Thickens as it cooks.

It should thicken to the consistency of a custard or sloppy soup.

4) Remove from stove and serve warm. Thick when cold. Makes six servings.

Voila! If you want to actually watch me attempt to eat it, go to the CwC Instagram or TikTok. It smells like rice pudding, it looks like rice pudding, it practically is rice pudding! A real success in terms of wheat-based rice puddings. The nutmeg and scalded milk is intoxicatingly pleasant. It didn’t thicken up quite as much as I anticipated, and I’m not sure why, but otherwise, it’s a pudding alright; a wheat pudding.

Verdict:

The chewiness of the “rice” mixed with the sweetness of the lightly spiced milk made this a real delight, I gotta say. It’s like really good pasta swimming in riceless pudding, and that’s not a bad thing.