I'm Still Here! {Recipe: Cheese-Rice Loaf}

After an unintentional hiatus, I'm finally posting on the blog again. Starting a new teaching job and keeping up with the kids and their activities has kept me just a bit too busy to post. I'm hoping to keep up a bit better, but with prom and my son's high school graduation coming up I may not be back much until summer break starts. 

One thing I have been working on in the kitchen is making my own sourdough starter and trying recipes with it. I have a very good starter going and I've been testing a few recipes with it. Working with sourdough is a slow process and is teaching me lots of patience. Until I perfect some sourdough recipes to post, I have a few family recipes I'm looking forward to sharing. 

This is my mother's recipe Cheese-Rice Loaf. It is my favorite meatless meal my mother made; pairing it with a salad makes for the perfect vegetarian comfort meal. I thought the recipe for this was long gone, so I was thrilled when I came across it in her old recipe file. 

Cheese-Rice Loaf

1 1/2 cup cooked rice

2/3 cup grated cheese (cheddar cheese)

1 1/4 cup milk

1 egg

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon parsley (fresh)

1/4 cup grated onion

Melt cheese in milk over boiling water.* In a medium-size bowl, beat egg, then add salt, parsley, grated onion, rice, and cheese milk mixture. Pour into a 5x8" greased loaf pan. Bake in a moderate oven (350°F) for 1 hour, or until set. Serve with tomato, mushroom or cheese sauce. 

*Note: I'm sure my mother used a double boiler, but I do not have one. Instead, I put a medium-size metal bowl over a medium-size saucepan of boiling water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the boiling water. 

Cheese Sauce: 

The original recipe just says "sauce" and listed following ingredients except the cheese; there are no instructions given. I have only had the loaf with cheese sauce, so added the cheese and instructions to the recipe. 

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup milk 

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk in flour and cook for about 1 minute. Slowly whisk milk into the butter/flour mixture. Continue to cook mixture until it thickens. Stir in  cheese and salt; continue cook until cheese is melted. Pour cheese over the Cheese-Rice Loaf, or spoon over individual servings. 

Enjoy!