Cheesecake

My first time making cheesecake was a few years ago; the Christmas after we were first married.  We spent that Christmas in San Francisco and I think I was feeling extra homesick for a full on Christmas meal and extra anxious to use my new Kitchen Aid mixer or something because why I decided to make a full cheesecake for just the two of us is now beyond me....  I digress.  I made a cheesecake and followed the directions explicitly making sure that the cream cheese was at room temperature.  (Which for those of you who don't know, this is a cardinal rule of cheesecake making), but somehow I still screwed it up and the final texture was that of cottage cheese.  It still tasted right, but the texture was all off.  My sister (the baking one) claimed, "Yeah, I knew you'd screw it up." (Why I love my sisters.... they tell it like it is.)  And I hate to say she was right... Baking is still not my strong suit although I will say I have evolved... with cheesecake making at the very least.

I have since learned it's a bit of a fickle thing to make and I hardly had any experience of eating it, much less making it, growing up since I acquired most of my baking skills from my mom and she wasn't that big of a fan of cheesecake.  As her and my grandma say "it's not sweet enough".  So I put my cheesecake fantasies to bed after that Christmas until I heard about this epic cheesecake from my husband's family that comes from his Great Aunt Lona.  I never met Lona, but her cheesecake recipe lives on.  Johnny's family was talking about it over Christmas one year and I asked his mom to send me the recipe as everyone was raving about it being the absolute best cheesecake that they had ever had.

I was still a bit apprehensive of another failure, so put it aside for a few months until Johnny's birthday came around.  I decided to make it as his 'birthday cake'.  I spun it as "let me make a family recipe for you", but the truth is he's quite agreeable and I'm quite convincing.  Plus I was dying to try it after hearing the Aunt Lona story and after finally getting the confidence to give cheesecake-making another try.  Perhaps this was due to my tarnished ego from my sister's comment (tear).  I made it then for the first time and it was an instant favorite.

Johnny's birthday landed on Easter that year so we had plenty of family in town to help us finish it.  (I did learn my lesson there, no more enormous desserts for two.)  After cooking a huge Easter Brunch, dinner the night my family came in and a birthday dinner for Johnny, my dad claimed that it was the best thing he ate all weekend.  My brother loved it so much he asked for it for his birthday cake and I made it for my dad again for Father's Day which was the same weekend as my brother-in-law's birthday, so made a double batch (which I would not recommend, very messy!).  He has now requested it again and also had a slice for breakfast the other day... Okay, you get the point.  Everyone loves this and you will too!

The funny thing about this recipe is Aunt Lona would not be pleased.  I screwed it up.  As in, I screwed it up but I have no interest in making it the right way because the wrong way is so good.  The recipe was a family recipe and, like the recipes that have been passed down in my family, was quite loose.  The ingredients listed 2 - 1/2 lbs of cream cheese, which I read as two AND a half pounds of cream cheese, but what it meant was two 8 oz packages of cream cheese since that's how you buy them.  I wondered why the first time I made it, it was practically overflowing out of the pan and I had to put the extras in another dish wondering if I had had the wrong size pan.  In the end it turned out great so I forgot all about the pan-size-to-filling ratio.

Later, my mother-in-law told me how the first time she made it she did it 'wrong' (meaning the same mistake that I made) which was when I then realized that I had indeed even made a mistake.  After careful thought I decided that I don't dare change my version at the risk of disappointing so many!  It turned out so delicious I decided to just modify my 'mistake' version of the recipe so that the filling would be the appropriate amount for a 9'' spring form pan.  All of this required very careful and meticulous math skills which only a spreadsheet loving lady like myself could figure out, but phew, it's done and the modified version has now been tested several times as well so rest assured, yours will not be overflowing.

As you may well know I don't make many things without a sauce to match.   And Aunt Lona sadly didn't provide one although I'm quite certain I would NOT have screwed that one up since sauce is indeed my strong suit.  I used a blueberry one I found in one of my Barefoot cookbooks and I have to say that it goes quite well although you can certainly use whatever type of sauce that you like best.  A mixed berry sauce would work well as would even just some fresh cut fruit if it is in season.  I made it this year for my dad's birthday and since my family isn't big on change especially when it comes to food, so I just kept it as is, including the blueberry sauce that I originally debuted it with.  I have included it here if you want to make it as well which I would very strongly recommend because pretty much everything is better with a sauce.

Maybe at some point I should try a taste-off, but when you have one version that is so unbelievably delicious why mess with a good thing?  I love this recipe because it is not one of those cheesecakes that are unbelievably dense.  It is quite light for cheesecake which comes from the whipped egg whites.  I'm sure the original way with much less cream cheese would be even lighter as well and maybe someday I'll find out but for now I'm sticking with my version.

Trish's Tips:  So many... First of all this is great for entertaining because you have to make it in advance. The sauce can be made ahead as well.  I figured out that the mistake I made the first time I made my cottage cheese like cheesecake was not scraping the bowl after each addition, so although it is a bit of an annoying step, it is extremely important to have a consistently creamy texture.  Otherwise the batter and bottom of the bowl hold the harder unmixed cream cheese and it chunks into the creamy stuff.  The concept of a water bath:  This is what true bakers will use.  You wrap your cheesecake pan in loads of tinfoil and then put it on a cookie sheet that you fill with water and bake it that way.  This supposedly keeps your oven moist and prevents the cheesecake from cracking although I'm not sure what it does in terms of texture as I don't do it.  I tried it before and felt so wasteful using all of that aluminum foil and it leaked anyway.  So try it if you are a perfectionist, but if you are using a sauce it covers the crack anyway.  I just put a pan of water in the oven on the shelf below to at least keep the oven moist and tell myself that this helps, although I'm not sure that it really does.  Seriously.  Room temperature.  People.  As in, leave the cream cheese out the night before or at least for 4 hours.  The eggs I will take out an hour or so before as well as the heavy cream.  If you haven't beat egg whites before you may not know what "until stiff" means.  First off your bowl must be impeccably clean and dry as anything, ANYTHING will interfere with them whipping.  When you scoop out your whisk and they stand straight up that means stiff, they first will be soft peaks which means that you will lift the whisk out and it will slightly come down on itself like a little wave.  After gently, gently folding the egg whites in at the end it's okay if it doesn't look like a totally consistent mixture, it will turn out and is better than over mixing and deflating the whites... okay, that's it.  happy baking!

soft peaks

stiff peaks

Aunt Lona's Cheesecake (almost!)

Ingredients:
Crust:
2 cups honey graham cracker crumbs (about 1 1/2 packets or about 14 grahams)
8 TBL (1 stick) melted butter (plus additional to grease pan)
2 TBL sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Cheesecake:
3 eggs
36 oz cream cheese
6 TBL sugar
4 1/2 tsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Before beginning make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.  Heat oven to 325.  Using a 9'' or 10'' spring form pan, lightly grease the pan with butter.  Pulse in a food processor all ingredients for the crust.  The mixture should look like wet sand.  Using your fingertips or the flat bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup, firmly press the mixture over the bottom and up the sides of a spring form pan. (It doesn't need to come all the way to the top.)  Put the crust in the freezer while you complete the next steps.

Separate eggs, putting egg whites in the bowl of a mixer and egg yolks in a separate bowl.  Beat egg whites until stiff.  Move to a separate bowl.  (No need to clean the bowl, just scrape well.)

In the same (now empty) mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until creamy, about 30 seconds.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and the beaters well with a rubber scraper.  Gradually add sugar, flour, salt and vanilla.  Beat until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.  Scrape the bowl and beaters well again.

While beating, add egg yolks one at a time or if they have broken drizzle in slowly.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and beaters after each yolk.  After it is well mixed, on low speed beat in heavy cream.

By hand, fold in egg whites and scrape the batter into the crust and smooth the top.  Fill a separate pan with water and put on shelf below cheesecake.  (This will emulate the 'water bath' that I have chosen not to use.)  Bake for 1 hr 15 minutes to 1 hr 30 minutes or until the edges start to brown and the center is only slightly jiggly.  Refrigerate for at least four hours but preferably overnight.

Blueberry Sauce:
Adapted from Ina Garten
This is much less fickle than the cheesecake.  Add more or less sugar depending on how sweet you like it or more or less blueberries depending on how thick you like it.  Play with it, try other berries as well.

Ingredients:
Juice of 2 oranges
1/3 cup sugar
4 half-pints of fresh blueberries or about 16 oz of frozen blueberries
grated zest of 1 small lemon
2 tsp cornstarch
1 TBL freshly grated lemon juice

Combine the orange juice, sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.   When the mixture is translucent and thickened, stir in the blueberries and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, just until a few berries have burst but most are still whole.  Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice and let cool.

Green Bean and Walnut Salad

I love this salad and I wish I could say that I loved all salads.  I like some salads, mostly those that involve some type of cured meat and cheese.  Or a warm mushroom one with prosciutto that we made for Valentines Day and I have yet to post.  And with my love of carbohydrates any salad that involves some kind of pasta or grain I am usually a fan of, but the regular old pre-dinner salad to me is usually a bore.  Especially those at a restaurant that are labeled as 'side salads' and involve iceberg lettuce, a wedge of tomato and potentially a cucumber slice with a choice of dressing.  Yuck!  No wonder so many people don't like salads.

Although as much as I hate that type of salad I can't say I'm creative enough to come up with much better on my own.  I'm definitely not the type of person who just throws together a salad with what's in my refrigerator.  I know that I could, but it just wouldn't taste good.  Or I should say, doesn't taste as good.  I was inspired to try to be that kind of person like my friend, Marcie, after having dinner at her house one night.  She just grabbed some sunflower seeds, whatever lettuce she had at the time, some peppers and broccoli, and whipped together a dressing that is her husband's absolute favorite dressing and it was delicious!  Inspired I bought a huge bag of sunflower seeds and tried to recreate hers.  And... Let's just say there's still an enormous bag of sunflower seeds in my fridge less the tablespoon or so I used to build the salad.  It just wasn't the same.

I'm even bad at salad bars!  I always end up with all of these random ingredients, which all don't really go together.  I think I get excited by all of the choices and end up with just a hodge podge mess that isn't very good.  I need some direction.

That's where this salad comes in.  It is definitely a 'recipe', but one that after making a few times I can make without the directions and aside from the green beans I almost always have the other ingredients on hand.  It's my version of a thrown together salad.

I'm expanding my horizons and learning that the salad definition is a bit looser than I grew up thinking it was.  It doesn't even have to be lettuce!  Like this one.  I love to make green beans as a side dish and originally thought of this as more of a side dish than a salad, because it can be served hot or cold but as I dissect the recipe here it's pretty obvious that it belongs in the 'salad' category.   Plus I love to use green beans because they are generally readily available.

So to hell with green salads I say!  I'm trying something different.  A green salad with no greens that is.  Definitely not your run of the mill 'side salad'.

Trish's Tips:  The nice thing about this salad is it keeps for a day or so in the refrigerator, even if it's dressed.

Green Bean and Walnut Salad
Adapted from Ellie Krieger
Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
1/2 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
1/4 C walnut pieces
3 TBL finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 TBL finely chopped red onion
2 TBL walnut or olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Put the green beans in a steamer basket over several inches of boiling water for 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium serving bowl.

Toast the walnuts in a small dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes, then coarsely chop and set aside.

In another small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar and mustard.  Add salt and pepper.

Toss enough dressing with the green beans to coat.  Then top with walnuts, parsley and red onion.  Toss to coat and serve warm or at room temperature.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Macaroni & Cheese

If I had to pick a last meal this just might be it.  Either this or the #14 at Urban Belly.  (Completely, utterly, totally different than this, but it is outstanding.  If you live in Chicago you have to go there.)  I think if I was the type of person who could eat whatever I wanted I would indulge in Macaroni & Cheese every other day or so.  Like just a normal lunch on a Tuesday.  And I am certainly not the dieting type, but this is quite indulgent with the pound and a half of cheese and almost 6 cups of milk, but look at it this way, you are getting your calcium intake for the day, or at least a large portion of it, right?  

I remember as a kid requesting macaroni & cheese as lunch coming home from kindergarten.  Funny how even at such a young age I took such pleasure in eating.  It was the blue box that I'm sure you enjoyed as well.  Which even after my love for this much more gourmet macaroni & cheese, I do still have fond memories of the blue box.  Granted you have to look past the fact that the cheese comes in powder form, but it is undeniably good.  I was in a phase for a while when Johnny and I would make it as a side dish for dinner (because that's way more grown-up, right?) and was certain that he made it better than even the blue box inventors could even imagine it to be.  I had it once last year and realized that it was better in my memory than in reality, although I certainly won't pretend that I won't have it again at some point, for memory sake, you know?

Carbs and cheese in any form, what's not to love?  I love pretty much all of it.  Plain pasta with just some olive oil and parmesan, a good, crunchy baguette with some aged gouda.  I could go on and on, but at the risk of having carbs and cheese for dinner tonight I'm going to have to stop there.  So, being a carbs and cheese lover and my absolute love and obsession for mac 'n cheese I think that I would describe myself as a macaroni & cheese connoisseur.  I've tried it at several restaurants and most don't even come close to this recipe.  I'm more of a fan of the creamy types than the stringy cheesy ones.  (And no, I'm not talking about Velveeta.)  I want the cheese flavor without the goopy stringiness of the cheese.  And I want a traditional macaroni & cheese.  One with cheddar as the main ingredient, no Velveeta and no blue cheese or bacon or peas (and I am not even going to bring up the subject of hot dogs).  Just mac 'n cheese.  It's not called mac 'n meat n cheese.  Or mac 'n cheese & veggies.  It's called MAC 'n CHEESE. Which is also precisely the reason why it should be made with MACARONI!  Not penne, not shells, macaroni!  I don't know how some people got so off track?  Well, I will tell you who didn't, Martha Stewart, whom this recipe comes from.  

I'm kind of embarrassed to say that this is the only macaroni & cheese that I have ever made.  I've seen several others but always have that hesitancy of knowing that it just won't be as good as this one and why would I waste my time, good ingredients and calories on one that isn't the absolute best!  And I'm certainly not the only one who thinks so.  I made it for many fellow Midwesterners (we definitely know good macaroni & cheese as it is on nearly every menu here in Chicago) and many have claimed it the best.  Also, my sisters who are big carbs and cheese fans, perhaps even more than me, claim it as the best too.  And if you don't agree with me, agree with Martha, this is her most requested recipe!

You can try the adult approach and serve this as a side dish.  As I googled recipes for side dishes to go with this, many came up with the statement that macaroni & cheese itself is a side dish, not a main dish.  I vehemently disagree.  Why can fettuccine alfredo be a main dish and this can't be?  If this was my side dish then the main dish would be ignored, so I figure if you are going to do it, then do it.  I would certainly recommend keeping your sides on the lighter and healthier side to balance out the richness of the dish.  I made some roasted tomatoes, which were delicious on their own, and as I have seen many recipes for macaroni & cheese with tomatoes on top of the macaroni, I thought that they would go well with this and they did.  I also served crudites with white bean dip as an appetizer and just a simple green salad to start the meal with.  But regardless what you make it with; you know what everyone really cares about.  The macaroni & cheese will be the star of the show so serve it with whatever, just save the hot dogs for the summer.  

Trish's Tips: The macaroni must be cooked very underdone.  The time will vary based on what brand you buy but anywhere from 2-5 minutes.  Try it before draining the water.  It shouldn't be crunchy, but should be much more underdone than al dente or anything you would consider eating.  It will cook in the oven and if it is perfectly cooked coming out of the water it will be mushy by the time it comes out of the oven.  You could make this in advance and refrigerate it, but it would be slightly less creamy.  The original recipe calls for whole milk, but I have always used skim and it has been fine.  Fresh bread crumbs will also give you the perfect crunchy topping and store bought just won't do.  I bought a mini baguette and ground up in the food processor, but if you already buy sliced white bread that will work too.  The leftovers are certainly delicious but do lose the creamy consistency.  

Macaroni & Cheese

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Serves 12 as a side dish or 6-8 as a main course

Ingredients:

6 TBL unsalted butter, plus more for buttering dish

6 slices white bread or one mini-baguette cut into cubes and ground in food-processor.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups

5 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt, plus more for water

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

4 1/2 Cups (18 oz) grated sharp white cheddar 

2 Cups (8 oz) grated gruyere cheese

1 lb elbow macaroni

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside.  Melt 1 TBL butter and pour over breadcrumbs in a medium sized bowl.  Toss to coat and set aside.  

Cover a large pot of water and bring to a boil.  Add plenty of salt and when dissolved, add macaroni.  Cook 2 to 4 minutes or until no longer crunchy, but not yet al dente.  Drain and rinse under cold water.  Set aside.  

Mix cheeses together and then remove 2 cups for topping.  Separate into two bowls, cheeses for sauce and cheeses for topping.  

Warm milk in a saucepan over medium heat.  Melt remaining butter (5 TBL) in the same pot you used to cook the macaroni.  When butter bubbles, add flour and cook, while stirring with a whisk for 1 minute.  

While whisking, add warm milk a little at a time to keep mixture smooth.  Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until mixture bubbles and thickens.  It should coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 8 to 12 minutes.  

Remove pan from heat.  Stir in salt, nutmeg, peppers, and cheese for sauce (not including cheese reserved for topping).  Stir until cheese is fully melted and it is one creamy mixture putting the pan over low heat if you are unable to melt it without heat.  

Pour mixture into prepared dish.  Sprinkle remaining cheese for topping and bread crumbs over top.  Bake until golden, about 30 minutes.  Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.