Daring Bakers: Cheesecake!

The April 2009 Challenge is hosted by Jenny from JennyBakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Yikes! My inaugural Daring Bakers challenge, and I'm posting a day late. I actually joined the DB back in February, but with the switch to the new website, I didn't register in time to join the March challenge. I didn't realize this until after I made the yummy Lasagna of Emilia-Romagna. Hubs helped with the lasanga - I prepped the ragu, and tried to make the spinach noodles. The noodles were a big, fat fail. So hubs made the bechemal, cooked store-bought noodles, and assembled the lasagna. It was heavenly, even without homemade noodles.

But onto the cheesecake....This cake came out perfectly, although I think I ruined my favorite baking pan by using it for the hot water bath.

I made a beautiful blood orange reduction sauce to serve with the cake. Unfortunately, hubs ate the last piece before I had a chance to take pretty pictures of it. Oh well, that's what I get for procrastinating.



Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake

Crust:
2 c graham cracker crumbs
4 oz butter, melted
2 Tbs sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. Set aside.

Cheesecake:
3--8 oz blocks of cream cheese
1 c sugar
3 large eggs
1 c heavy cream
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs vanilla extract
1 Tbs liqueur, optional


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Begin to boil a large pot of water for a water bath.Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, and cream until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Scrape down the sides of the bowl between adding eggs. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alochol and blend until smooth and creamy.

Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan gently on the counter a few times to bring all the air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan.Bake 55 minutes, until almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. Close the oven door, turn off the heat, and let cake rest in the cooling oven for 1 hour.

Remove cheesecake from the oven and lift carefully out of the water bath. Let cool on the counter; cover and put in the fridge to chill.

Fennel and Apple Salad

I haven't had the healthiest weekend. Between the Great American Pie Festival (where I tasted the best mixed berry pie) and my pasta addiction, I was sorely lacking in nutrients of the vegetable variety. This salad added some wonderful crunch to dinner.

I'm not a big fan of licorice, but the fennel tasted great. The licorice flavor was not very overpowering, and it was balanced out by the sweetness of the apples.

Fennel and Apple Salad

adapted from Cooking Light

October 2001

2 shallots, minced

2 tsp fresh lemon zest

1/4 c fresh lemon juice

2 Tbs water

2 Tbs olive oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 c Braeburn or Gala apples, thinly sliced (about 1 lb)

2 c thinly sliced fennel bulb (about 1 large)

Shredded lettuce of your choice

Combine first 9 ingredients (shallots through pepper) in a small bowl, and stir with a whisk.

Place the sliced apple in a large bowl. Spoon 2 Tbs of dressing over the apples, and toss to coat. Add the fennel, and remaining dressing and toss. Serve on a bed of lettuce.

Seafood and Scallion Pajeon, and an announcement

First, the announcement: I'm pregnant! Many of you know of this already, but I wanted to make it official on the blog. We "went public" last week, and I am now safely through the first trimester. The baby is now the size of a Nutter-Butter cookie. My lack of food posts for the months of February and March were mainly due to my lack of a desire to eat. I found myself in the odd predicament of always being hungry, but unable to find anything that sounded appealing to eat. Dinner decisions became quite frustrating, especially for Hubs, who patiently suggested one thing after another, until I finally agreed to something.

Now, onto the pajeon. I decided to make these to contribute to Joelen's Wine and Dine event on her blog, Joelen's Culinary Adventures. This month spotlights the cuisine of Korea, my homeland! Pajeons are a type of pancake, served as an appetizer. The most basic pajeon includes scallions, but they can also include other vegetables (peppers, zucchini) and seafood. I've had them many times in restaurants, and they always are accompanied by a tasty dipping sauce.

Making my own involved some experimentation. I first tried a mix I found in a Korean market, but the pancake came out heavy and doughy. Next, I found a recipe in a cookbook, but ended up with the same result. I thought about breakfast pancakes, and how their texture is slightly spongy, and decided to add a little baking powder as a slight leavening agent. This combination ended up with the texture I was looking for. I whipped up a simple dipping sauce to pair with them.

Seafood and Scallion Pajeon

adapted from Scallion Pancakes

from Korean Cooking

by Hilaire Walden

1 cup all purpose flour

1 c rice flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 c water

1 c scallions, green parts only, chopped into 1 inch chunks

6 oz cooked baby shrimp (or use larger shrimp and roughly chop)

4 oz fresh crabmeat

oil for frying

Mix together the flours, baking powder, salt, and onion powder. Stir in the water, forming a thin batter.

Heat a small bit of oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Use enough oil to just coat the bottom of the pan. Pour about 1/2 c of the batter in the center of the pan. Working quickly, sprinkle the pancake with a small handful of scallions, and a small bit of the shrimp and crabmeat. Cook until set and lightly brown on the bottom; flip, and cook other side until browned. Remove to a plate. Replenish oil in pan (if needed), and repeat with remaining ingredients.

For the dipping sauce: mix together 2 Tbs rice vinegar, 2 Tbs soy sauce, 1 tsp chopped fresh ginger, and 1 tsp chili sauce (I used Sambal Olek). Serve with pajeon.

Pasta with Lemon, Feta, and Argula

This dish was part of our spring-inspired Easter dinner. Along with the pasta was grilled leg of lamb, and asparagus. The recipe came from one of our favorite cookbooks: Macaroni & Cheese, by Marlena Spieler. We have found many tasty dishes in this book.

This dish is much lighter than the typical macaroni and cheese dish, which I like. Usually mac 'n' cheese makes me want to sleep after eating, but this one allowed me to stay awake while we watched the marathon movie, The Ten Commandments. Hubs had never seen this before, and was pleasantly surprised by it. The musician in him kept stopping to admire the soundtrack.

Pasta with Lemon, Feta, and Argula
adapted from Macaroni & Cheese
by Marlena Spieler

1 medium lemon
14 oz small, shaped pasta, like orecchiette, elbows, ditalini, or mini farfalle
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
6 oz feta cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper to taste (fresh ground, if possible)
2 c loosely packed argula leaves (about 4-5 ounces)


Remove zest and squeeze juice from lemon. Set aside.

Cook pasta according to the directions until al dente. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl. Add lemon zest and juice and mix well. Make sure zest is evenly distributed. Add olive oil, and set aside to let the pasta cool. (If you're rushed for time, you may skip the cooling.)

When ready to serve, add the feta cheese, season with salt and pepper, and toss. Toss in argula, and serve.