Creamy Rice Pudding

My initial plan for this Saturday evening was to remain on the couch as long as I possibly could, seeing that my husband has taken our little guy to Indy with him for the weekend and I am left with some rare downtime.  As I was watching "When Harry Met Sally", loving Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as much as ever, I decided that the one thing that could add even more comfort to my evening would be a warm, creamy, fragrant bowl of rice pudding.  However, I was very sure that comfort did not involve slaving over a recipe that would require any more than about half an hour.  And did I have all of the ingredients?  I went through a rice pudding stage when I was about 11 and made it virtually every day so I was racking my brain to see if I could remember how I made it then.  My rationalization being that if I made it when I was 11, it HAD to be easy enough for me to make 20 years later. 

Rice pudding with raisins is a dish I associated more with my mother, but I'm guessing she may have stolen the recipe from my grandmother.  I pulled up some recipes online to get an idea of measurements.  The one main variation here from the recipe I used growing up is that I replaced the vanilla extract with maple extract because that is what I had in the cupboard.  And I used 1% milk instead of whole, but I did add a tablespoon of butter at the end, so I can't feel particularly virtuous:)  But the pure, rich ingredients in this rice pudding make a small dish go a long way.

Creamy Rice Pudding
3/4 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups milk, divided
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg beaten
2/3 cup raisins
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon Maple extract

1. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 and 1/2 cups water to a boil.  Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

2. In another saucepan combine 1 and 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 and 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt.  Cook over medium heat til thick and creamy, 15-20 minutes.  Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg and raisins.  Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in butter and maple extract