Puerto Rican Rice Pudding (Arroz con Dulce)

This recipe isn't really based upon any one recipe, but the idea came from a cookbook I have: "A Taste of Puerto Rico," by Yvonne Ortiz, Dutton, a division of Penguin Books, 1994

Ingredients (for 6 servings):

2 cups short grain white rice
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 13.5 oz (or 14 oz) can coconut milk
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
1 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup golden raisins, soaked in a little Puerto Rican rum, light or dark, for about an hour
can add shredded coconut & top with ground cinnamon

In a sauce pan, heat the water to boiling with the salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the cinnamon, ginger and cloves, add the rice and simmer until all the water is absorbed. Be aware, the rice will not be done, but do not add more water! Add the condensed milk, the evaporated milk, the coconut milk. Strain the raisins, saving the rum for someone who might like it (I can't imagine who ... hic... 'scuse me!). Add the raisins and stir well to combine. Simmer until all the milk combo is absorbed. Let cool a bit, then chill. Sprinkle each serving with some shredded coconut and ground cinnamon on top, followed further by some whipped cream. If you still have some rum left over from soaking the raisins, woo woo!

WORD HISTORY:
Clove-There are two words of this spelling in English, and in spite of their similarity in meaning, they are from different sources, ^ but this is the name for the spice. It goes back to Indo European "klehw," which meant "peg, spike." This gave Latin "clavus," which meant "nail." French, a Latin-based language, had the term, "clou de girofle" (a type of flower, whose bud bore a resemblance to a nail). English borrowed the word as "clowes" in the 1400s. The whole dried spice bud got the name, as it resembled a nail.

^ For the other form "clove," the past tense form of "cleave," and meaning "a section of garlic," this is the link to the article where that word is covered: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-we-got-with-obamapart-two-bankers.html