Cheesecake

Basic Cheesecake
Making cheesecake is surprisingly easy. I started making it after I found some springform pans on sale a few years ago. I don't remember where this recipe came from but it's a good one. Playing with combinations, like swirling in strawberry sauce before baking, can be fun.

• 1 1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs


• 1/4 c. sugar


• 1/3 c. butter, melted


• 24 oz. cream cheese, softened


• 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk


• 3 eggs


• 1/4 c. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press onto the bottom of a 9" springform pan. (I usually wrap foil around the bottom & sides before filling.) Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in milk until smooth. Add eggs & lemon juice. Pour batter over crust. Bake about 50 minutes, or until center is just set but still a little jiggly. Cheesecake can be a little tricky to judge--it looks a little underdone but if the top is starting to crack, it's overdone! Cool for several hours, then chill.

Taco Salads!

We haven't been cooking much recently on account of birthday dinners out, but have you ever tried making taco salads at home? We used to get the shell kits when I was a kid and we did this tonight. So good for a summer dinner!

Pirate Fare, Cinnamon Rolls, & more

Lots of recipes today, as we had a weekend full of great food. Homemade pizza Friday, pirate party Saturday, cinnamon rolls and pork salads with craisins & feta on Sunday. Whew. Here's the lowdown:


Pirate Stew
Adapted from Diana Rattray (about.com)

• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3-4 ribs celery, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (16oz.) black beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 can (16oz.) corn, drained
• 1 can (16oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 5-6 dashes Tabasco
• salt & pepper to taste

Brown & drain beef. Mix with other ingredients in crockpot. Cook for 7-9 hours on low or 3-5 hours on high. Serve on rice.



















Mom's Rum Cake from AllRecipes.com. This is very easy and got rave reviews! Make the day before.

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup rum
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup rum

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour one 10 inch tube pan. [I used a 9.5-inch round cake pan & it was just fine.]
2. Combine cake mix and pudding mix.
3. In another bowl beat eggs, water, oil and rum until frothy. Add cake mix/pudding mixture and beat until well mixed. Spread pecans evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan and pour batter over pecans.
4. Bake cake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry when inserted in the center. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes and remove from pan. Place in serving dish immediately, right side up. (Pecans should be on the bottom)
5. To Make Glaze: During the last 15 to 20 minutes of baking time, combine butter or margarine, water and sugar in a sauce pan and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and boil rapidly until it's very thick and syrupy stirring very frequently. The syrup must be reduced quite a bit and very thick otherwise it will make the cake mushy. Remove from heat and add rum. While cake is still hot, poke holes all over top of cake with a toothpick and spoon glaze over top of cake. Allow cake to sit at room temperature for one day then refrigerate.


















Cinnamon Rolls
These were from a Giada de Laurentiis recipe.

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  
• 1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (we used pecans instead)
  
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  
• 1 (1-pound) loaf purchased frozen white bread dough, thawed (we used Rhodes)
  
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  
• 3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
  
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk
  

Brush 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the bottom and sides of an 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. Mix the nuts, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves in a small bowl. Roll out the thawed dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12 by 9-inch rectangle. Brush 1 tablespoon of butter over the dough. Sprinkle the nut mixture over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border along the top and bottom sides. Starting at 1 long side, roll up the dough jelly-roll style, forming a log. Pinch the seam to seal. Cut the log into 9 equal pieces. Arrange the rolls, cut side down, in the prepared baking dish, spacing evenly. Cover the dish with plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise in a warm draft-free area until puffed, about 45 minutes.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.

Bake the cinnamon rolls uncovered until the tops are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the powdered sugar, mascarpone cheese, and buttermilk in a medium bowl until smooth and creamy.

Brush the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter over the baked cinnamon rolls and then drizzle the cheese mixture over top. Serve warm.



















Pork Tenderloin Salad
I made this up and it turned out pretty well.
Cook a marinated pork loin as directed. We get these in the meat department and try various flavors. I used lemon-garlic today. They are very easy and bake in about 40 minutes. Let rest for about 5 minutes after cooking. Slice on a diagonal.

Plate spring mix greens with mandarin oranges, craisins, feta crumbles, and Italian or viniagrette dressing. Serve the pork on top. Easy & a great light summer meal.

For the love of baklava

I (AM) had a lovely time making baklava this morning. As usual with phyllo, it took a while but was worth it. I used a combination of a recipe from All Recipes and what I recalled from making this one other time. The last time I made this was for my Greek Olympics Opening Ceremonies party in celebration of the Athens games. Here's the gist of it:



Baklava
approx. 1 stick butter
1/2 pkg. phyllo dough (find this in a box near the frozen pie crusts)
2 cups chopped pecans (I used walnuts)
1 1/2 cups water (I think this was a little too much)
1/3 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick (I used 2)
1 cup honey (we only had about 3/4 cup left, the full cup would be best)


Melt 1/2 stick butter. Melt more only if you need it later on. Brush bottom of a 9x13" pan with butter. Open one roll of phyllo dough from the box. Unroll it carefully, keeping the paper on the bottom of the stack.

Place one layer of phyllo in the bottom of the pan. Over the remaining stack with a piece of plastic wrap and a dampened towel. (Do this each time after you place a piece of dough. Be sure that the towel or anything wet doesn't directly touch the dough before you use it! The box has some other good tips if you've never worked with phyllo before.) Brush the first layer with butter, starting from the edges and working toward the center. Repeat with 2 other layers.

Sprinkle nuts over the layer. Repeat with 3 pieces of phyllo/butter, then more nuts until the pan is about 3/4 full. Pour additional butter over the top. With a sharp knife, cut the baklava into a diamond pattern (see box). Bake at 350 degrees (uncovered) for about 45 minutes. The top should be golden brown.

While the baklava is baking, make a sauce by boiling together water, sugar, and cinnamon, stirring constantly. Simmer for 10 minutes then discard the cinnamon. Mix in honey. Pour evenly over hot baklava.

Inspirational cigars

I'm posting the Rachael Ray recipe that inspired me to start a food blog. Nate & I made about 4 batches yesterday and they were a big hit at the party we went to. Enjoy!

Notes: These take a while to make but are worth it! We had boneless skinless chicken breasts ground at our grocery store's meat counter. (They looked at us like we were crazy, but it turned out fine.) We used less filling for each cigar than called for so they were easier to roll up, and with the about 2 lbs. of chicken, we made 4 batches (16 sheets of phyllo). We doubled the sauce.

Sorry no pictures this time! I didn't even think of it.

Mini Chicken Cigars with Sweet and Sour Mango Dipping Sauce
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Show: Food Network Specials
Episode: Food Network Caters Your Wedding

Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: about 30 hors d'ouevres

Chicken Cigars:
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken breast
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons grill seasoning, half a palm full (recommended: Montreal Seasoning by McCormick)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, a handful
4 sheets phyllo dough
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Sweet and Sour Mango Dipping Sauce:
2 tablespoons sweet plum sauce or duck sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/3 cup light oil, such as peanut, canola, or vegetable oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup finely diced mango
Scallions, green tops only, thinly sliced on the bias, for serving

For the chicken cigars: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place chicken in a bowl and mix with spices and parsley. Place a piece of phyllo on a nonstick cookie sheet and brush with some of the melted butter. Repeat 3 more times, placing each piece of phyllo over the last buttered sheet to make 4 layers. Cut phyllo into 2-inch squares. On 1 corner of each of the squares, place about 1 1/2 teaspoons of chicken filling. Roll up tightly to make mini "cigars." Place "cigars" on a sheet pan and butter the tops of each. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Meanwhile, make the sweet and sour mango dipping sauce: Whisk together plum or duck sauce and vinegar in a bowl. Stream in oil and continue whisking to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in mango and sliced scallions.

Serve cigars with dipping sauce.

Originally posted on Food Network.

Welcome!

I think it's now official: my husband and I are foodies. I came to that conclusion after spending yesterday afternoon working with phyllo dough to make a great recipe for a party. That, and the fact that our large kitchen is chock full of gadgets (no uni-taskers!), has proven to me that we can now use the 'f' word to describe ourselves.

With that said, welcome to our food blog! We are excited to share here our food-related adventures, mishaps, recipes, and gadget reviews. We welcome all comments and suggestions!
Anne Marie & Nate