Glorified Rice

A few years ago I thought it would be fun to cook my father's favorite childhood foods for his birthday dinner. I had no idea what he liked to eat growing up and when I asked the only thing he came up with was a dessert called Glorified Rice which he described as rice, whipped cream, and canned pineapple "all melded together."

While I thought this sounded vaguely terrible my father spoke of it in the most glowing of terms. He'd been looking for the recipe for years but my grandmother, in the years before her death, had lost her copy of the recipe and been unable to remember it, and my father had not been able to find the recipe anywhere else.

I dutifully looked for a recipe in my 1953 edition of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook and a few other cookbooks from that era but found no mention of Glorified Rice. But apparently I didn't look on the internet because earlier this month when I again thought I'd look for the recipe to make for Father's Day I googled "recipe glorified rice" and got back 71,300 hits. Holy crap! How had I missed this before?

It seems that Glorified Rice was immensely popular from the 1930s through the 1950s and there were many, many, many variations out there. There were recipes with marshmallows, gelatin, jello, fruit cocktail, maraschino cherries, bananas, apples, nuts, and pie filling. Lots of the recipes specified Cool Whip and Minute Rice. Many of these recipes sounded truly horrendous, as if they were vying for the title of Worst Desert Ever.

Eventually I decided on a recipe that I'd use as my jumping off point for preparing the rice part of the Glorified Rice and I was ready to move on my Father's Day surprise, but then there were complications. My father was out of town Father's Day weekend. A delayed Father's Day dinner was held for which I made lasagna which took so much time (hours, hours! ) that I didn't get to make Glorified Rice. Then my father had hernia surgery. Yesterday, on his second day back home from the hospital,  I went to my parent's house to cook a few meals for them, and I finally made the famous

Glorified Rice

3 quarts boiling water

1 1/2 cups medium grain rice

1 cup milk

dash of salt

1 1/2 pints whipping cream, lightly sweetened and whipped

1 19-ox can crushed pineapple, drained, juice or syrup reserved

1. Add rice to water and boil for 25 minutes. Drain in colander and rinse rice.

2. In covered baking dish combine cooked rice, dash of salt and 1 cup milk. Cover tightly and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Do not let the rice bake dry.

3. Chill thoroughly. Combine rice with crushed pineapple plus enough of the reserved juice to moisten the rice. Fold in whipped cream and serve.

Serves 10 to 12

I was afraid that this would not be the dessert my father remembered and that we might have to go through endless testing of Glorified Rice, but my father pronounced it exactly as he remembered it. Surprisingly it was not that bad. In fact, I would go so far as to say it was good -- even very good. The rice was meltingly tender and, of course, with that much whipping cream, how could it not be good.

Will I be making it again? Probably only if my father requests it or for sentimental reasons. I generally try to limit my intake of enormous quantities of butterfat to things that are truly worthy. Strawberry shortcake is worthy, as is chocolate pots de creme with whipped cream on top. Creme brulee is worthy. Glorified Rice, as good as it is, just doesn't make it into that category for me. But for my father, who is not much of a dessert person to begin with, I'd say it was totally worthy.

Comments

[Cazza]

Isn't it great when you get it right like that? My mother in law made something similar with marshmallows. We used to have rice pudding as kids but that involved actually cooking the raw rice in the milk/cream/butter mix in the oven. There were other ingredients but I can't remember and have never made it. It's one of those things that I remember fondly but would probably hate now! Like fried bread cheese sandwiches and toast and dripping. Or maybe not but I'm not prepared to find out. Fried cheese sandwiches would NOT be a good addition to my menu at the moment.

[Rebecca]

Ha-ha; my father has a sentimental yearning for the "streusel buns" that the breadman delivered in the King of Prussia neighborhood we lived in when I was three years old. I think they were a sweet raised dough with a sugary crumb topping but I know I could never reproduce them to his satisfaction. I commend you for trying to make your Dad happy.

I DON'T think this dessert would have been a good ending to a lasagne meal, however--too much dairy!

[bonnie]

The father of Julie and Mary deserves nothing but the best!

I tasted a similar dessert at a Lutheran potluck (our high feast day) recently made with orzo; is orzo pasta or is it rice?

My dad's favorite dessert was pineapple upside-down cake. He passed away two years ago and I simply can't bake it anymore.

[molly]

Odd, yes and yummy! My dad liked that too, I haven't thought of that for years.

[lobstersquad]

I also save my butter/cream/sugar intake for the truly worthy. In fact, if something is downright delicious, I refuse to think of it as food that could be fattening. It´s art, and that´l all.

[angela]

That was really nice of you. I have actually had this before (poor southern family) and remember it as a childhood food.

[Julie]

Cazza, are fried cheese sandwiches like American grilled cheese sandwiches?

Rebecca, you are so right about this being a bad ending for a lasagna meal. We were lucky I didn't manage to combine the two.

bonnie, orzo is pasta. I'm now ok with the idea of Glorified Rice but Glorified Orzo? I don't think I can get there.

Molly, who knew that Glorified Rice was such a widely known thing? Not me.

lobstersquad, that is a perfect way to look at it.

Angela, it's like everyone had heard about this stuff but me.

[Michelle]

Hi Julie!
I hope your dad's recovery goes/went very quickly! I giggled outloud when I read your "holy crap!!" and the number of hits that came with Glorified Rice! (I've never heard of it either!) And while it may not be creme brulee (I try to keep with very similar butterfat rules), I bet it made your dad's day. I know my dad cooks only tater's n onions - greasy, unhealthy and yet tasty, but everytime he makes them it brings a smile to my face just because I know they're made with 100% pure love!

[Cazza]

Make a cheese sandwich. With thick slices of white bread and a hardish cheese like cheddar (real cheddar, not kraft cheddar from the blue box - although I guess that could work). If you want to be truly disgusting butter the bread before adding the cheese! Melt copious amounts of butter in a frying pan and cook til sandwich is browned on both sides and cheese has started to melt.

Gross, huh?

Although fried vegemite sandwiches are pretty good but you lot don't understand our vegemite passion!!

Mother used to call them cheese dreams (or vegemite dreams). Something to do with the nightmares after consuming,pehaps?

[the bee]

You are the nicest daughter ever and your dad is as cute as a piece of pie. My dad's favorite dessert is anything covered in whipped cream . It is easy to fix "his favorite". I had never heard of glorified rice either I am ashamed to say. Next time you are in Bethesda come by and I will treat you to my latest favorite culinary spot . It is called David Craig and we must take Miz M as a treat for biking all that way. He is a brilliant chef who has cooked at The Inn at Little Washington. He delights me. The waiters are hot and last time I was there the waiter was named Alastair. What this man does w/ pasta and duck is an experience . His desserts are so amazing you will slap someone.

[jenjen]

what a great father's day present, even though it was a little late, I think it would have meant a lot to him.
This sounds like a great and interesting recipe. Where does it originate from?

[Anne]

Julie,
I love that you took the time to seek out that recipe and prepare it for your dad. I once made a brown bread with raisins, steamed in a coffee can covered with aluminum foil and tied round with a string on a trivet in a pot in the oven, for my dad. It's downright difficult to find rye flour down where I live--southern Maryland. It was something he remembered from his youth in Boston--a recipe his immigrant parents adopted when they moved there from Scandinavia in the early 20th c. He enjoyed it immensely, and I was gratified. I wish, now that he's gone, that I had done stuff like that a lot more often.

[lindy]

I wrote a post awhile ago about trying to nail down a recipe for my mother's old favorite- "Chinese Chews." It took me a whole bunch of tries before I got it right, but it was actually great fun trying to figure it out, and the recipe turned out to be a keeper.
And the Aged Parent herself was gratifyingly thrilled.Food and memory. Powerful stuff.

[Julie]

Michelle - thanks! So far his recovery has been remarkably good.

Cazza - we call that a grilled cheese sandwich. A fried cheese sandwich sounded so much more dire. I thought you were going to tell me about a deep-fat fried sandwich or something.

Bets - I'm all about desserts that are so good they make me want to slap somebody. Can't wait to go.

Jen-jen - I have no idea where it comes from although I tried to find out. I'm guessing it was from a women's magazine or maybe even from a company that canned pineapple.

Anne - I'm glad I did it and grateful I still have the opportunity to cook for my father.

Lindy - I remember reading about the Chinese Chews in your archives. They sounded delicious.

[Miz S]

Hurry up and cook something so you can update.

[Vanessa]

My grandmother and I were just talking about how much we like rice pudding and she mentioned Glorified Rice. My father and all my ancestors for several generations were rice farmers, so I've had rice cooked just about any way you can imagine!

[Julie]

Miz S, I don't have it easy like you. I can't just ride my bike for 150 miles and blog about it.

Vanessa, was this in Arkansas? And if so, I had no idea there were rice farms in Arkansas.

[Dan]

Thank you for the recipe. My mom used to make glorified rice when I was a kid and I have wanted to make it.

[Kris]

Thank you for the recipe. My grandmother used to make this. (I think it might be a swedish Minnesota thing) and my hubby requested it for thanksgiving. Also, the fruit salad with the orzo, also possibly a Minnesota hotdish/fruit salad thing, we make that in my family and it is called frog's eye salad. it's a fruit salad with a cooked dressing and instead of orzo pasta we use acini de pepe noodles(which my italian grandmother called hodge in the peep noodles) (go figure). it's not my favorite, but many family members love it. It must be a bland minnesota hotdish thing. Thanks!

[Julie]

Dan and Kris, I hope you enjoy the glorified rice. I made it again for my father this past spring when he was just out of the hospital and I enjoyed it a good deal, as did my father. And Kris, Frog's eye salad! I'm not sure it sounds appealing but I love the name. I'll have to investigate.

[MaryJane Holmes]

Glorified Rice was a special dessert for when we had extra whipping cream left over. We lived on a farm and sold most of the milk but sometimes Grandma would hold back the cream and make this special dessert. If we had the money she would top it with marischino (sp?) cherries. It was such a wonderful treat for the family. After we moved to the city, it was a special treat for when "company came." My aunts and uncles loved it.

[Julie]

Mary Jane, thanks for sharing. Based on the number of searches I see for it right before holidays (and not just Thanksgiving and Christmas, but also 4th of July, Memorial Day, and Labor Day) it seems that it's fondly remembered by many.

[Kamala]

Today my Mom was reminiscing about "Glorified Rice." It was the first time I had ever heard of it. She used to make it in the 1960's, "We never ate rice for meals. Only Glorified Rice and we used Minute Rice." She also used to add coconut and mandarin oranges. Can't wait to try it!

[Etney]

Found Very much at Potlucks in communities in the midwest with a strong Swedish Background and or/Lutheran Communities. It's a family favorite and we are of German/English descents.

Our Family Recipe calls for drained crushed pineapple - reserve the juice.
1.cup cooked rice - excellent way to use up left overs.
2 pckgs Jello
1 container of Cool Whip.

Make jello, let set till semi-soft, stir in pineapple and Rice, return to fridge to finish "setting". When firm stir in Coolwhip. Works wonderfully with sugar-free jello and low-fat coolwhip for a "lighter" version.

I'm making a HUGE batch of it right now, 7 pckgs jello and 6 cups rice for a Church Potluck tommorow.

Yummmm

[Snowy]

fk2x6G At last, someone comes up with the "right" answer!

[doudoune moncler]

cheers lots, I must announce that your website is amazing!