Cheesecake Rice Pudding -- A Bowl of Contentment for the First Snow of the Season

The first snow came Wednesday — a dusting only, an inch maybe, gone by noon, but the first announcement of the season nonetheless and the kind of moment that the dog and I both noticed in our different ways, he by sitting at the storm door and watching it with the alert attention border collies pay to anything new outside, I by standing at the kitchen window with a second cup of coffee and the small private satisfaction of having been present for another first snow. There have now been seventy-two of these for me. The novelty has not worn off. I do not expect it to.

I made a hearty winter squash soup Saturday with the butternut from the row — roasted with onion and garlic and a chipotle pepper, then pureed with broth and a little cream and finished with toasted pumpkin seeds on top. The soup is the kind of dish that uses the squash and warms the kitchen and tastes like the season distilled, the orange of the squash and the brown of the chipotle and the white of the cream all coming together into the bowl. I ate it Saturday with brown bread from the new batch and was content in the way that a good winter squash soup makes a man content.

The Halloween candy was distributed Friday night — full-size bars for the children who came up the road from town, the same as every year, the same brand the same size the same approval at the door from parents who recognize the gesture and from children who do not yet have the vocabulary to name it but who carry away in their bags a slightly heavier weight than the houses with smaller candies. I had about fifteen visitors over the course of the evening, which is roughly average for our road, and the leftover candy went into the kitchen drawer where it will stay until the children visit at Thanksgiving. The drawer of leftover Halloween candy is one of the small late-October pleasures of grandfatherhood.

Made a Sunday breakfast for myself this week with the proper attention — eggs scrambled soft, bacon cooked the way I like it (slightly chewy, not crispy), sourdough toast with butter and jam, coffee strong. I sat at the kitchen table and ate slowly and read the New York Times in the print edition that the carrier still drops at the end of the driveway and watched the morning light coming in through the windows and thought about how a Sunday breakfast eaten alone is a different thing from a Sunday breakfast eaten with company but that both have their merits and that a man who has eaten enough of both can appreciate each in turn. The dog got the last piece of bacon. He always gets the last piece of bacon. We have an arrangement.

The soup handled the savory side of Saturday, but the evening wanted something sweet and slow and just as deliberate — the kind of dessert that doesn’t ask anything of you except a clean pot and a little patience. Cheesecake rice pudding has been that thing for me on the first cold weekends of the season for several years now: it has the same creamy, settled quality as the day itself, and it keeps well enough that a bowl of it is still a pleasure on Sunday morning alongside the coffee and the print edition of the Times. The recipe below is the one I make, in the proportions I have settled on after enough trial to be confident in them.

Cheesecake Rice Pudding

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 2 cups water
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened and cut into cubes
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• Ground cinnamon or nutmeg, for finishing (optional)

Instructions

1. Cook the rice. Combine the rice and water in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a low simmer, cover, and cook until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
2. Add the dairy. Uncover the pot and stir in the whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, and salt. Raise the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and the rice is very tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Do not walk away — it wants regular attention and will stick if ignored.
3. Incorporate the cream cheese. Reduce heat to low. Add the cream cheese cubes a few at a time, stirring well after each addition until fully melted and the pudding is smooth and uniform. This takes patience but rewards it.
4. Finish the pudding. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. Taste and adjust sugar if needed.
5. Serve. Spoon into bowls and serve warm, or transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until cold — it is good both ways. Dust with cinnamon or nutmeg at the table if you like.
6. For the chocolate version. Stir 3 tablespoons of good cocoa powder into the milk before adding it to the rice, and increase the sugar by 2 tablespoons. Finish with a few shavings of dark chocolate on top.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 490 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 28g | Carbs: 52g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 230mg