Recipe #59: White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
from Bon Appetit Magazine via Epicurious.com

18 vanilla wafer cookies
1 cup almonds, toasted
4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 ounces imported white chocolate (such as Lindt), chopped
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 large eggs
3/4 cup fresh raspberries or frozen unsweetened, thawed, drained
1 8-ounce container sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2-pint baskets raspberries or one 1-pint basket strawberries
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place large piece of foil on heavy large baking sheet. Set 8x2-inch bottomless heart-shaped cake pan atop foil. (If unavailable, use 8-inch springform pan; omit foil.) Wrap foil around outside and 1 inch up sides of pan. Butter foil and pan. Finely grind cookies and almonds in processor. Add butter and blend until mixture forms very moist crumbs. Using plastic wrap as aid, press crumbs firmly onto bottom and 2 inches up sides of pan. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature.

For Filling:
Melt white chocolate in top of double boiler over simmering water until smooth, stirring often. Remove from over water. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and peel in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined. Beat in white chocolate.

Spoon half of batter into crust. Top with 3/4 cup berries. Spoon remaining batter over. Bake until edges of cake are set but center 3 inches still moves when cake is shaken, about 45 minutes. Cool 20 minutes. Maintain oven temperature. Using fingertips, press down gently on edges of cheesecake to flatten slightly.

For topping:
Whisk sour cream, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Spoon over cake, spreading to edge of pan. Bake 5 minutes. Transfer cake in pan to rack. Run small knife around sides of cake. Cool completely. Chill cake overnight.

Fold down foil along sides of pan. Lift cake pan off cheesecake. Transfer cheesecake to platter, discarding foil. Cover cake with berries. Bring jam to simmer in small saucepan, stirring often. Gently brush jam over berries. (Can be prepared 3 hours ahead; chill.)

Recipe #58: Artichoke Pesto Torta

I got lazy while I was making this recipe, so I mixed the cream cheese layer with the pesto layer. It still tasted great.

Artichoke Pesto Torta
from Food Network's Giada DeLaurentiis

* 1 (13 to 14-ounce) can whole artichoke hearts, rinsed well, drained, and patted dry
* 1 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
* 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
* 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* 2 garlic cloves
* 1 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
* 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
* Nonstick cooking spray
* Italian parsley sprigs, for garnish
* Assorted breads and crackers, to serve
* Assorted cut-up fresh vegetables, to serve (such as bell peppers, cucumbers, celery, endive leaves, and carrots)

Directions

Blend the artichokes, parsley, nuts, lemon peel, lemon juice, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a food processor, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the artichokes are very finely chopped. With the machine running, gradually pour in 1/4 cup oil. Continue blending until the pesto is creamy. Season the pesto, to taste, with more salt and pepper.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl until light and fluffy.

Spray a 2 to 3 cup bowl with nonstick spray. Line the bowl with plastic wrap, extending the plastic over the sides. Spread enough cream cheese mixture evenly over the bottom of the prepared bowl to form a 1/2-inch layer. Top with enough pesto to form a 1/2-inch layer. Repeat layering the remaining cream cheese mixture and pesto. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.

Invert the torta onto a platter and remove the plastic. Garnish with parsley sprigs. Serve with bread, crackers, and vegetables.

Recipe #57: Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork with Homemade Barbecue Sauce
from Food Network's Emeril Lagasse


1 pork shoulder roast (Boston Butt or Picnic roast), about 6 to 8 pounds
4 teaspoons Essence, recipe follows (I substituted Tony Chacheres)
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Homemade Barbecue Sauce, recipe follows
10 to 12 sandwich buns


Remove the pork from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature before proceeding. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil. Season the roast well on all sides with the Essence, salt, and cayenne pepper. Place a roasting rack inside the roasting pan and place the seasoned pork on the rack, fat side up. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 4 hours.

Remove the foil from the roast and continue to bake until the roast is very tender and will pull apart easily with a fork, about 2 hours longer. Remove the pork from the oven and set aside to cool slightly. Remove any excess fat from the roast and discard if desired; I just love the crunchy bits of skin left on top! Using 2 forks or your hands, shred the pork into bite-sized pieces. Serve with sauce and buns to make sandwiches.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 1/4 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons Essence, recipe follows
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup cider vinegar
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar

In a medium non-reactive saucepan set over medium-high heat, add the butter and, when melted, add the onions and cook until they are very soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, Essence, ground mustard, salt, crushed red pepper, black pepper, and cayenne pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes, or until the tomato paste begins to brown. Add the water, cider vinegar, and dark brown sugar, and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the sauce has thickened and the flavors have come together, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Set aside to cool before using. The sauce may be made up to 1 week in advance and refrigerated in an airtight, non-reactive container.

Yield: about 3 cups sauce

Recipe #56: Risotto with Butternut Squash, Pancetta, and Jack Cheese

Risotto with Butternut Squash, Pancetta, and Jack Cheese
from Cooking Light

1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 1/2 cups)
Cooking spray
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons Madeira wine or sweet Marsala
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon (I'm substituting rosemary because we don't have fresh tarragon)
4 ounces chopped pancetta
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup uncooked Arborio rice or other short-grain rice
2/3 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) 1/2-inch-cubed Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
Fresh tarragon sprigs (optional)


Preheat oven to 475°.

Place squash on a nonstick jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 475° for 20 minutes or until tender, turning after 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325°.

Combine broth, water, wine, and tarragon in a saucepan; bring to a simmer. Keep warm over low heat.

Cook pancetta in a large ovenproof Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove pancetta from pan; drain on a paper towel. Discard pan drippings. Add onion and oil to pan; sauté 10 minutes or until onion is tender. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add rice to pan; sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth mixture; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, and simmer over low heat, uncovered, for 10 minutes. (Do not stir; rice will have a liquid consistency similar to stew.)

Place pan in oven; bake at 325° for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Stir in the squash, pancetta, cheese, salt, and pepper. Cover with a clean cloth; let stand 10 minutes (rice will continue to cook). Sprinkle with pine nuts. Garnish with tarragon sprigs, if desired.

Recipe #55: Crash Potatoes

Crash Potatoes

I made these potatoes to go with barbequed chicken. They were delicious. I didn't feel like typing out the recipe, so, if you are interested in trying it, click on the link above for a pdf document.

Pumpkin Muffins...

They turned out well despite all of my substitutions. I mixed together some cream cheese, butter, and maple syrup to use as a frosting. It's delicious :)

Recipe #54: Pumpkin Muffins

I am making pumpkin muffins for us to take to work each day this week for breakfast. After I started the recipe, I realized that I was making as many substitutions as I was using the recommended ingredients. Some of the substitutions are ones that people recommended in reviews of the recipes, while others were because I didn't have all of the ingredients. We'll see how they turn out...

Pumpkin Muffins
from Food Network's Ellie Krieger

Cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-grain pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I doubled the amount)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (I doubled the amount)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (I doubled the amount)
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I doubled the amount)
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsulphered molasses ( I used pure maple syrup instead)
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk (I used plain yogurt)
1/4 cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds (I used pecans)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.

Recipe #53: Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Chocolate Cake
from Gourmet Magazine via Food Network

1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 3 (9-inch) round cake pans and line each bottom with a round of waxed paper. Grease paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess flour.

In a bowl, whisk the boiling water into cocoa until smooth and whisk in milk and vanilla.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes, and beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Into another bowl or on parchment paper, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt and add to egg mixture in batches alternately with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, and beating well after each addition.

Divide batter among pans, smoothing tops, and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans halfway through baking, 20 to 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean and layers begin to pull away from sides of pans.

Cool layers in pans on racks 10 minutes and turn out onto racks to cool completely. Cake layers may be made ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature 2 days or frozen 1 week.

Chocolate Butter Frosting
from the Better Homes and Gardens' New Cookbook

6 tablespoons of butter
4.5 cups of sifted powdered sugar
¼ cup of milk
1.5 teaspoons of vanilla
¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

In a small mixer bowl beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add about half of the powdered sugar and all of the cocoa, beating well. Beat in the milk and the vanilla. Gradually beat in remaining powdered sugar, then additional milk, if necessary, to make frosting of spreading consistency.

Blue Cheese Dressing

A few weeks ago when Pres made wings for the first Saints pre-season game, we forgot to pick up blue cheese or ranch dressing to dip them in. I found this recipe online and made blue cheese dressing myself. It's much better than any store bought dressing that I've had.

Blue Cheese Dressing
from Gourmet Magazine via Food Network

2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese

In a bowl combine well the mayonnaise, the sour cream and the blue cheese.