Living in New York, there is absolutely no possibility of getting around eating numerous types of cheesecake — New York Style, Italian Style, French — creamy, gritty, sweet, savory.  As is usual for recipes, there are so many increidbly good variations, you just have to find one that suits your fancy.

The version here is somewhat light, not overly dense and incredibly creamy.  I serve it with a light raspberry sauce over top, but choose your favorite topping.

As is with most custards, in my opinion, this will taste even better after being refrigerated overnight.  It ripens, as it were.  Hey..it’s cheese, after all.

Enjoy!

Cheesecake, just out of the oven, and looking yummy, even if it is an awful picture..lol

Cheesecake

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
4 eight ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup flour

Before you start this recipe, please bring the cheese, eggs & sour cream up to room temp. I let them sit on the counter for about 1 hour or so.

Heat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Using shortening or butter, grease the 9 inch springform pan.  Put a pan of hot water into the oven.  I usually just use a 2 quart sauce pan, placed in the very back of the oven, filled with hot water.

Next….Melt the butter, and then in a small bowl, mix it until it’s combined well. Dump this into the middle of your springform pan, and spread evenly. Press the mixture with the bottom of a spoon, packing the cracker mix down. If you like, press a bit of the cracker up the sides a bit.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar and milk together until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, incorporating each egg well into the mix. Add in the sour cream, and vanilla. Lastly, add in the flour. Mix well, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl to get everything well incorporated.

Pour the mix into the springform pan, and allow it to sit on the counter for about 5 minutes, until all the bubbles have risen to the top.

There are three options here for baking the cake:

• Put the cake directly into the oven to bake.
• Put the cake pan into a waterbath, and bake. (If you are using a springform pan, wrap the exterior of the pan in a few layers of foil, to keep the water out of the cake, and the cake in the pan).
• Put the cake directly into the oven to bake, with a pan of water on a lower rack.

I will admit that I do not always use a water bath, nor put a pan of water in the oven at all. I just put it to the oven.   However, because this “cake” is really a custard, it will have more of a tendency to crack, and the water bath (as well as the small bit of flour in the cake), will help to keep that from happening.  I have always put a pan of water on a lower rack while the cake baked. Your choice.

So.. choose how you would like to bake this… and then do so for 1 hour at 350F.

Once the hour is up, turn off the oven and let the cake cool there, with the door closed, for 5-6 hours. The better the cake cools, the more evenly it cools, the less cracking will happen.

Keep refrigerated for up to a week. Or, cut into slices, and freeze for up to a month.

This recipe is really similar to Williams-Sonoma.  I didn’t use dark or semi sweet chocolate, though, as I had milk-chocolate chips in the house already.  I also could not find “Peppermint” extract in any of my local markets, so I ended up using a genera “Mint” extract.

The original recipe has you melting the chocolate over a double boiler.  I find that to be a bit fussy, and so stick to the microwave method.  The trick to melting chocolate in the microwave is to stir it every 30 seconds, or it can burn or separate.

I made this for New Years Eve and everyone loved it.  Yummmy goodness!

Peppermint Bark

12 ounce bag chocolate chips, any – dark, semi or milk
16 ounce bag white chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup peppermint candy, crushed

Preheat the oven to 250F (121C).

Crush the peppermint candy.  I used about 10 candy canes when I did this.  I tried crushing these with a wooden mallet, and then ended  up putting the candy into a ziplock, and getting out the hammer!!  Do what works for you.

Line a 9×13 pan (cake pan) with foil.  Let the foil hang over the edges and wrap it around.  Spray the foil with non-stick spray, or, using vegetable oil, spread the oil lightly over the bottom of the pan, as well as the sides.

Pour in the chocolate chips and spread them out evenly.  Try to put them in as evenly as possible the first time, so you don’t get oil on the top of the chocolate.  Place the pan in the oven for 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven.  The chips will look glossy, but will be melted.  Spread the chocolate out evenly.  Place in the refrigerator until firm – 20-30 minutes.  Remove from the refrigerator and allow to sit for 10 minutes.  Remove any condensation that may occur with a paper towel.

Once the chocolate has been out for the 10 minutes, place the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.  Place in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Remove.  Stir.  Replace and set for another 30 seconds.  Do that until the chocolate has melted.  Add in the peppermint extract and stir well.

Once the white chocolate has melted, pour it over the chocolate in the pan, and spread evenly.  Sprinkle with the crushed peppermint.   Refrigerate about 1 hour.  Lift the foil out of the pan and remove the excess peppermint and the foil.  Break or cut this into pieces.  For a more “formal” look, cut it into 2 inch wide strips.   You can store this in a cool, dry place for a couple of weeks or longer in the refrigerator.  Place the pieces in a container, layer with parchment paper and store tightly sealed.  This makes about 2 pounds.

Variations:

Replace the peppermint extract and peppermint candies, using a variation below:

Almond Bark – Use 1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring, and 1/2 cup of blanched, chopped (or sliced) almonds.

Cherry Almond - use 1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring, 1/3 cup dried cherries, minced, and 1/2 cup blanched, chopped (or sliced) almonds

Maple Walnut Bark – Use 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring, and 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

Cranberry & Pistachios – 1/3 cup of dried cranberries, minced, and 1/2 cup of pistachios

Toasted Coconut and Almonds – 1/2 cup blanched, chopped (or sliced) almonds, and 1/3 cup of shredded coconut

Other variations:

Peanut Butter-  Replace the white chocolate, mint and peppermint candies with  16 ounces Peanut butter chips and  1/2 cup salted peanuts

Butterscotch – Replace the white chocolate with peanut butter chips, the chocolate with butterscotch chips, don’t use the peppermint extract, and replace the candy with peanuts and broken pretzels

Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Peppermint Patties

1 egg white
4 cups powdered sugar (10x)
1/3 cup light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
cornstarch
12 ounce bag of chocolate chips (either semi-sweet, or milk)

Beat the egg white until frothy, but don’t let it get stiff.

Begin adding the powdered sugar, blending with a mixer, if you have one. A fast whisk if you don’t.

Add in the corn syrup and the peppermint extract. You will need to knead this with your hands — add in more powdered sugar if you need to, until the mix isn’t sticky.

Cover a surface with cornstarch, and roll our the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Using a cookie cutter (think fun shapes for holidays), cut out the dough. If you use a 2 inch cutter, you should be able to get about 20. Set the cut out pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. If refrigerating overnight, cover with plastic wrap.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate. Use a microwave, and do short 30 second burts, stirring in-between, so the chocolate melts slowly, and isn’t broken.

Remove the peppermints from the refrigerator. Grab a second baking sheet, and line it with more parchment paper. Dip each piece into the melted chocolate (use a couple of forks, drop the piece in, lift out with the forks, and remove the excess chocolate by tapping the bowl. Place the peppermints on the parchment to cool. If this goes slowly for you, reheat the chocolate, again using the 30 second method, until the chocolate is melted again. Continue to dip the peppermints until you are finished. Don’t forget to lick the forks when you are done ;)

Refrigerate the peppermints for 30 or so minutes, or until the chocolate has hardened up. Wrap in candy wraps, and store in a cool dry area for up to 2 weeks.

This is Alton Brown’s Good Eats Recipe for Turkey.

Good Eats Roast Turkey Recipe

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

1 (14-16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water

For the aromatics:

1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves of sage
Canola oil

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stock pot and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5 gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500°F. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine. Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil. Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500°F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350°F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161°F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

We (and by “We”, I mean my son and I), are trying to create some new traditions, and make new memories.  It’s been hard after the divorce to not be saddened by what /was/, and instead, be happy with with /is/.  And so I decided to do some new things this year, one of which is to make some different foods.  This recipe, though I have made it in the past on occasion,  is not something I would normally make.  First, I don’t often use refrigerator rolls, and second, it’s rather too much for the two of us.  But it is Christmas, and I did want new/different foods.

This version of Monkey Bread, aka Pully Bread, Pull Apart Bread, Picky Bread, Pinch Me Cake – whatever you may know it by, (and in the end, whatever it is you choose to call it), is ridiculously silly easy.  With the plethora of names this recipe is known by, there are 1000x that many versions of this recipe.  I bring nothing new to the recipe whatsoever.  It just happens to be what I decided to make, and to share here. Listed below the recipe are a few other versions.

With supervision (the caramel/syrup is just  too hot for little ones), this version of the recipe can be made by kids, and takes only about 10 minutes..maybe 15 minutes from start of prep to entry into the oven.

Quick and Easy Monkey Bread with Pecans

3 12-ounce tubes refrigerator biscuits, or rolls (like the Pillsbury type) (or a double recipe of your favorite yeast bread)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (up to 1 cup, if you like, and I do!!)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins, dried currants, or dried cranberries (or similar)

Open the tubes and remove the ready-to-bake rolls or biscuits.  The object is to cut each piece into 4 pieces.  I try and remove the rolls from the package all in one full roll, slice longways in half twice, making 4 long pieces, and then pull them apart into the quarter section.

The traditional pan to use is a “bundt pan”.  I don’t happen to have one, so I used a disposable aluminum pan – a double long bread pan

size. (as shown here). Spray well with ‘Pam’, or oil well with vegetable oil and set aside.  You don’t want to use a regular bread pan size as it is too small for this recipe – it needs to be double long.

In a ziplock bag, pour in the 1 cup of sugar, and the 3 tablespoons cinnamon.  Zip it closed and shake it to mix.  Put 1/2 of the cut up biscuits/rolls into the bag, zip to close, and shake until all the pieces are well covered. Put these pieces into the pan.  Get the remaining pieces ready to go, by putting them into the ziplock bag.  Shake them, and leave them in the bag for now.

Meanwhile, put the butter and brown sugar into a saucepan.  Stir often, and then, once the butter and sugar start to melt, stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Boil for about 1 minute.

Once this has boiled, pour 1/2 over the pieces in the pan.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the pecans, and half of the remaining cinnamon.  Cover this with the remaining pieces from the ziplock bag, and pour the remaining half of the butter/brownsugar syrup overtop.  Cover with the rest of the nuts and cinnamon.

Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes.  Once this is done, remove from the oven and allow to set at least 10 minutes.  Turn out onto a serving dish or platter.  This will be VERY hot, so be careful.

Notes:

• Use walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts — whatever suits your fancy
• I like this with a lot of cinnamon — it just makes it taste so nice — I sprinkle a bit extra over everything ;)
• I’ve doubled this fine, but used a large, deep double cake pan.
• This is good leftover, heated in the oven at 350 for 5-10 minutes.

Other Monkey Bread recipes of interest:

• Alton Brown’s version, Overnight Monkey Bread
• Various versions of Monkey Bread — with lots of variations, from savory, to sweet
• Cooks.com – lots of different versions and ways to make Monkey Bread

Here We Come A Wassailing

Christmas Wassail

5 apples
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup port
4 12-ounce bottles of ale or dark beer, plus 1/4 cup
4 cinnamon sticks
4 cloves
1 Lemon, zest only
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground all spice
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Slice apples in half, and core.  Place the apples in a baking dish, and cover with one cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of ale, and the port.  Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350F.

In a large pot, pour in the beer – 48 ounces (1.5 Liters).  Add in the cinnamon sticks, cloves, lemon zest, ground cinnamon, ground allspice, ground cardamon, and the ground ginger.  Bring to a simmer and then turn the heat to low.

One the apples have finished, pour the entire contents (including the juices) into the pot with the ale and spices.  Allow to simmer over low heat for 30-35 minutes.

Serve hot, garnished with a slice of fresh apple, and a cinnamon stick.

Christmas Wassail (Non alcoholic)

1/2 gallon (about 2 liters) apple cider/juice
1/2 gallon (about 2 liters) cranberry juice
1 quart (about 1 liter) orange juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1-2 teaspoon ground cloves
4 cinnamon sticks
4 whole allspice

Add all the ingredients to a large pot, or a crockpot/all day cooker.  Stir well.

Over medium heat, continue to stir, to mix the spices in.  Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Keep this on low to keep warm, stirring occasionally.

Serve hot, with a cinnamon stick as garnish.

Copper Cookie Press

I remember so vividly making spritz cookies (spritzgebäck.) at Christmas every year.  I loved making the tree shaped ones, as well as the stars.  We always made trees, stars, wreaths, and camels.  And always used food coloring — red, green, yellow, and sprinkled them with sugar or decoration. What I especially remember was eating the trees — one little tree ‘section’ at a time, until all that was left was the very tip, where there was a shiny candy “ornament”.

I always enjoyed making spritz cookies, because of the many different shapes that were possible – mostly because I really dislike making rolled out cookies — they take way too long and you are never finished when they come out of the oven — you have to decorate every single one.  Spritz cookies, on the other hand, are yummy tasty, shaped nicely, and handled minimally.  A bonus for Christmas time, imo.

There are quite a lot of cookie presses on the market — everything from electric and battery operated, to hand crank, press, gun, and screw extruders.  I’m most familiar with the type shown here to the left.   The bottom twists off so you can change the shapes easily, and fill quickly.  It’s easy to clean, doesn’t have a ton of moving parts, and if the one I have is indication of the length of time these last, mine is just about 50 years old (my Gram gave it to me about 12 years ago).  Take a look in your mother/aunt/grandmothers cabinets, and you may find one similar to this.  I’ve collected about 40 different shaped disks over the years, so you may find a fun assortment.

Using a old press such as this is simple, but needs a good bit of wrist movement.  Choose the shape you’d like to make, and then fill the cookie press 2/3′rds full, packing the dough.  Insert the screw and tighten.  Place the press on the cookie sheet, and twist one full twist around, and then slightly backwards.  Lift, and then repeat until you’ve filled the cookie sheet.  If the dough is too soft (warm), it will stick.  Put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes (20 or so), and then start again, (careful -  if the dough is too cold, it won’t extrude.)  Press the cookies onto a cool cookie sheet, not one just out of the oven.

Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies (Spritzgeback)

1 cup butter, softened
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg (yolk only)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Oven should be set to 350F

Mix butter and cream cheese together well.  Add sugar, and mix until fluffy.  Add egg yolks, vanilla and lemon peel.  Mix well and then gradually add in the flour and salt.

Using a cookie press, press the cookies onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes, or until lightly browned.  If you don’t use parchment, just use an ungreased cookie sheet.

Allow to cool about 5 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet, and then remove and cool completely.  These will keep fine in a tightly sealed container or bag, and freeze wonderfully.

White Chocolate Chips

December has always been the time to make all those delicious recipes you’ve saved up for the Christmas season.   And this, in my house, is one of those.

I first had cherry almond fudge at my Mothers house one year when we were there for Christmas.  She had purchased it from a local candy maker, and didn’t have a recipe.  Once I was back home in New York, I did a search and came up with the following recipe.

I’ve never really changed it, though I do add a bit more chopped almonds. And I have had to substitute white chocolate chips for regular chocolate chips, as well as “white candy making disk” like things I found at a craft store in the candy section.

This recipe takes about 10 minutes to prep, and a minimum of 2 hours to cool, so it is relatively quick.  I really like to individually wrap each piece in candy foil, which makes a great presentation.

Enjoy!

Easy Cherry Almond White Chocolate Fudge

2 cups or 12 ounces white chocolate chips
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
1/2 cup candied cherries chopped
1 teaspoon almond extract

Use an 8×8 square pan — Spray with pam, and then line with parchment paper.  Alternativly, you can line the pan with the non-stick foil that is on the market nowadays.

Mix the chocolate and milk together, and then microwave on high, stirring every 30 seconds until the chocolate is smooth.

Stir in the almonds, cherries, and almond extract.  Pour the mix into the pan.  Chill for at least 2 hours, but best after at least 6.

Lift out the fudge, or turn out onto a cutting board.  Remove the paper or foil, and cut the fudge into 1 inch squares.

Notes:

• I like this with extra nuts – up to 3/4 cup chopped almonds
• IF you can’t find white chocolate chips, replace them with chocolate chips, or white candy discs.
• Hand wrap these in candy foil wraps.

Pecan Butter Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup flour
1 cup powdered sugar (10x or icing sugar)

Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla together.  Add the pecans, and mix well.  Add the flour and mix.  Don’t over mix the flour – mix just until it comes together.

Roll dough into small balls – about the size of a large marble, or about 3/4 of an inch big.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet lined with parchment.  You can place these closer together than normal cookies — instead of 3 across on a cookie sheet, you can do 5 -6.

Bake at 300F for 30 minutes.

Allow the cookies to rest a few minutes, and then remove them from the parchment.  Allow to cool completely.

Once these are completely cooled, roll in powdered sugar.

This makes about 40 or so cookies, if you keep them about 3/4 of an inch big.

You can also roll these while they are still hot in the powdered sugar, and then return them to the oven for about a minute to glaze.  Allow them to cool and serve.

These keep a few days in a covered container.  They never actually last that long, though ;)

This is a candy that originated in Ohio, and spread over the mid-west. A friend on IRC, who is from Ohio, shared the recipe (and the picture of the completed candy) – Thank you BS.

A “buckeye” nut from the Buckeye Tree.

Candy buckeyes are named after the shiny, dark nuts of the Buckeye Tree-the official state tree for Ohio. The state’s original settlers found it to be an unfamiliar tree in the forest, and adopted it as a symbol of Ohio heritage. These pioneers carved the soft buckeye wood into troughs, platters and even cradles. Today, buckeye trees are prominent in the Ohio River Valley, and are known for being resilient and hearty.

The nuts of the tree, which are actually mildly toxic, were given their name because of their resemblance to the eyes of white-tailed deer. Folk wisdom says that carrying a buckeye nut in your pocket brings good luck.

These are fun and simple to make – perfect for the kids to do, with adult supervision when melting the chocolate.

Enjoy!

Buckeyes (Peanut Butter and Chocolate Candies)

2 cups butter
2 pounds peanut butter
2 pounds to 2 1/2 pounds confectioners sugar
2 1/2 pounds milk chocolate

Combine butter, peanut butter, and sugar in a bowl and mix well. Shape into walnut-size balls. Insert a toothpick in center of each ball. Place on a cookie sheet, as close together as possible, and put in the freezer overnight (or at least 4 hours).

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler slowly, or in the microwave. Dip frozen balls into melted chocolate. Leave a bit of the peanut butter showing when you dip these, so they look like the Buckeye. Place on parchment or wax paper to dry. Remove the toothpick and smooth over the hole the toothpick made.

Store in a tightly covered container, in the refrigerator, for up to 1 week.

Notes:

In order to make the mixture into balls, I refrigerate the mixture for a couple of hours. You can do this overnight, as well.

This recipe makes a LOT. I almost always cut the recipe in half, as follows:

1 Cup butter
1 pound peanut butter
1 – 1 1/2 pound confectioners sugar
1 12 ounce bag of milk chocolate chips

This halved recipe still makes a lot.

Variation:

Using a mini-muffin tin, place candy cups into the muffing holes, add a bit of melted milk chocolate to the bottom of each cup, making sure it is spread evenly and covers the whole bottom of the cup. Allow to cool (stick it in the refrigerator for a few minutes). Add a spoonful of the peanut butter mixture, and spread evenly. Cover with more melted chocolate.

Or, instead of making the peanut butter mix as above, make your favorite Peanut Butter Fudge recipe (or mine). Once cooled, roll into balls and proceed as above, freezing for a few hours, and rolling in chocolate.