Blue Ribbon Cheesecake

I am the Party Boss. My self-imposed responsibility is to provide a dessert for a party every payday. The Payday Party is not so much a party as it is a dessert. I bring in something tasty, and people eat it. Sometimes someone brings something else as well. For the first few years as Party Boss, I made a different cheesecake every month. There were no complaints. Then I went off on a tangent. A tangent that led to Jelly Donut Pudding, halva, cobblers, baklava, and I can't remember what else. After a two-month hiatus due to the holidays and the Rose Bowl, the payday party returns on the morrow. And so does the cheesecake.

I made a recipe from 125 Best Cheesecake Recipes called Blue Ribbon Cheesecake. It is a simple recipe: cream cheese, sugar, eggs, lemon juice and vanilla, over a graham cracker crust. My stand mixer makes it a snap.

I have found that in using cheesecake pans, lining the sides with strips of parchment paper will produce a better looking finished product. After unmolding, simply peel the strips away. There are no marks where a knife was run around the inside of the pan. Just a trick I have learned over the years.

I topped this particular cheesecake with canned blueberry pie filling. It was easier, and it is January so I don't have access to fresh blueberries to cook down.

Bon appétit!

Crab Cakes

I was trying to pick something easy to make for dinner. Easy and something we could enjoy and remember. Something new. I looked through the small pile of recipes printed from newspapers and immediately spotted the one. I did go through the whole pile to be fair, but the recipe on top for crab cakes with avocado would be dinner.

I would have liked to have some fresh Dungeness crab to work with, but bought an 8-ounce package of "claw meat" at the store. This was to be about ease of preparation. Picking meat from crab legs ran counter to this notion.

In a medium bowl I whisked an egg, added the crab meat, diced avocado (a ripe yet still firm one), bread crumbs, finely sliced green onions, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Once the ingredients are well combined, the mixture is refrigerated for at least a half hour.

I used an egg ring as a mold, placed on wax paper to form the cakes. They then cook in a frying pan with a little vegetable oil on medium-high heat for four minutes on each side. The verdict: absolutely delicious.

Bon appétit!

Roman Style Baked Semolina Gnocchi

This one comes from the pages of the New York Times. I stayed true to the recipe for the semolina gnocchi. Milk, nutmeg, salt and butter are brought just to a boil. The heat is reduced to medium and the semolina flour is added in a thin stream while constantly whisking to prevent clumps. When the semolina mixture is smooth, the heat is reduced to "very low" to continue cooking for another 15 minutes. All the while stirring. My dough mixture was pretty thick at this point, and since I didn't want the dough to burn and I didn't want to stand at the stove stirring for 15 minutes, I let it go 5.

After removing from the heat, I mixed in egg yolks, rapidly stirring them in to prevent scrambled egg lumps, and then some grated Parmesan.

The dough is then pressed into a greased baking pan at a thickness of 1/2 inch. Cover with plastic wrap and chill.

The next day, I took a piece of PVC pipe about 1.5 inches in diameter and used it as a cutter to create disks from the chilled dough. I laid the disks in a buttered baking dish and placed a few shreads of Parmesan on top of each one. Then into a 450° oven for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned.

For the sauce, I just winged it and didn't even look at the recipe. I used a couple cans of diced tomatoes, some chopped garlic, salt, pepper and a couple cubes of frozen basil puree that I made last fall.

When the sauce was heated, I added some meatballs I made earlier, to reheat them. The meatballs were made with ground pork, egg whites, bread crumbs and chopped garlic. Pitted kalamata olives were available on the side.

This is part of my mom's birthday dinner, and was completed with steamed sliced squash and homemade bread made yesterday.

Bon appétit!

No-Knead Bread

From the cookbook My Bread by Jim Lahey (not of Trailer Park Boys fame), I made the Basic No-Knead Bread recipe. Yesterday I mixed the flour, salt and yeast, then added the water. That's all there was to the mixing. I don't know if there is an easier recipe anywhere.

The dough is covered and left to rise, or ferment, for 12-18 hours. It will nearly double in size and there will be some bubbles on the surface from escaping gas as the yeast works its magic.

This morning I scraped the sticky dough onto a well-floured work surface and pinched and tucked the edges until I had a decent semblance of a ball of dough. The ball is placed seam-side down on a well-floured tea towel. Then ends of the towel are folded up and over the dough to cover it loosely. Allow this to rise again, for a couple hours.

With approximately 30 minutes remaining in the second rise, preheat a heavy, covered pot in a 475° oven. Invert the dough ball into the pot so that the seam side is up. I have found that sprinkling a little flour in the bottom of the pot will facilitate removal of the bread when it is done. Cover and return the pot to the oven. After thirty minutes, carefully remove the lid from the pot and continue to bake for 15-30 more minutes, until a deep golden brown.

Remove from the oven and immediately place the bread on a rack to cool thoroughly.

Bon appétit!

Tabbouleh

I chose to use the spelling from the book The Mediterranean Diet, but I have also seen it spelled tabouleh or tabouli. I decided to try to concoct this after having the combination plate at Alexander's Great Falafel, which included a healthy pile of this delicious salad. The recipe from my cookbook is a Lebanese variant of the dish.

Bulgur is soaked in cold water for about a half hour, during which time I chopped the rest of the ingredients. Two bunches of flat-leaf parsley, fresh mint, green onions and Roma tomatoes. The bulgur grains, now plump and tender, are drained and placed in a kitchen towel to squeeze any extra moisture from them. The grain and the chopped herbs and vegetables are then combined in a bowl and mixed by hand, squeezing to get the flavors flowing. The juice of a lemon is squeezed over the ingredients. One-half cup olive oil is incorporated and salt and pepper to taste are added, completing the salad.

Remember, tabbouleh is supposed to be a parsley and mint salad with bulgur grains, not a bulgur salad with parsley and mint.

Bon appétit!

Rye Bread

I received a 5-quart Dutch oven for Christmas. The cookbook, My Bread calls for baking most of the breads in a covered heavy pot. Though not specifically what is called for, the Dutch oven is certainly a less expensive alternative. Much, much less expensive.

I love rye bread and decided to give that recipe a try. Bread and rye flours are mixed with salt and yeast. Some cool water is added and...that's it. Really. No kneading at all. But there is a waiting period. These recipes are what the author calls slow-rising. The sticky dough is covered and left to rise. For 12-18 hours. Or more. When the time has elapsed the dough should be about double in size and have some air bubbles visible on the surface.

The dough is then scraped from the bowl onto a well-floured work surface. With lightly floured hands I worked the dough into a flattish ball. The ball is placed on a well-floured tea towel, seam side down, covered lightly with the edges of the towel, and left to rise for a couple hours.

With about a half-hour remaining in the second rise, I preheated the oven to 475° and placed the Dutch oven on the rack in the bottom third of the oven. The risen dough is turned into the heated pot, covered, and baked for 30 minutes. The lid is removed and the bread continues to bake for 15-30 more minutes, until a deep brown.

When done baking, allow the bread to cool thoroughly before slicing. The book acknowledges the temptation to cut a slice from the still-warm loaf, but strongly advises against it. I opted to not challenge authority and see what would happen. I will wait.

The plan for this bread is to toast thick slices, slather them with mustard, then pile with thinly-sliced corned beef. And saurkraut. Can't forget the saurkraut.

Bon appétit!