Tiny Cheesecake

We regularly bring in treats for my office workgroup on birthdays, holidays or other special days we deem worthy of sweets and snacks. To celebrate a birthday this week, I brought in mini cheesecakes. Using a recipe from Paula Deen, I made the small graham cracker crusts and plain cheesecake. I like this recipe for portion control -- eat one cupcake-sized cheesecake and you're all set. Plus, I've always thought cheesecake was pretty rich, so I can enjoy the flavor without feeling like I've eaten a truck of cheese afterward.

The recipe does make about 12 small cheesecakes, but I found that I had some crust mixture left over. I do recommend being liberal with the crust -- the cheesecakes are better with more crust, believe it or not. I dropped about a tablespoon and a half of crust mixture into each muffin cup and pressed it down with a shot glass.

Although this recipe calls for peanut butter cup centers, I omitted them. I think this would work well with some fresh fruit topping like blueberries or strawberries. That doesn't work well for the office because it's a bit messy.

The plain cheesecakes are good all on their own!

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Minis

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
12 bite-size peanut butter cups

Filling:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or almond extract
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup of a standard muffin pan.

To make crust, in a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter until crumbs are moistened. Press crust into bottom of each muffin cup. Put 1 peanut butter cup into the center of each crust.

Beat cream cheese with a handheld electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar, flour, and vanilla, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Spoon cream cheese mixture over peanut butter cups and graham cracker crusts. Bake until just set, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Recipe from Paula's Home Cooking, Food Network

Homemade Ice Cream

Last week, I bought a Rival ice cream maker to replace an older, countertop maker that I've never really liked. I am planning to make homemade ice cream for my daughter's upcoming birthday party. Of course, I think it's a good idea to try out any new appliance prior to a big event. This weekend I made homemade chocolate ice cream and I think it turned out very well.

There is nothing better on a hot summer day than a big bowl of soft ice cream, fresh from the canister. I decided to make this on Sunday evening, with the temperature outdoors about 100 degrees in the shade. I might reconsider for next time. Visualize this scene: it's 100 degrees outside, I'm running back and forth to our ice cream maker (located about 20 steps from our deck outside the back doors) with ice and rock salt. When I'm not running to the ice cream maker, I'm checking the salmon on the grill and watching the ravioli that's cooking on the stovetop. My husband was feeding our daughter in her high chair (she was busy feeding the wiener dogs her macaroni and cheese over the side of the chair). It was really quite a scene. And the ice cream still came out well.

Chocolate Ice Cream

1 1/2 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder, approximately 1/2 cup
3 cups half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
8 large egg yolks
9 ounces sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place the cocoa powder along with 1 cup of the half-and-half into a medium saucepan over medium heat and whisk to combine. Add the remaining half-and-half and the heavy cream. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about 1/3 of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.

Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.

From Alton Brown, Good Eats on Food Network

How to Plan a Week of Meals.....Almost

I have been so busy lately. Cooking dinner has been a bit of a challenge. I decided to try a new approach: plan meals on the weekend, prep as much as possible on Sunday night and throw dinner together during the week. I used a meal plan from Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller.

This plan included three meals. Two of the three worked out pretty well. I've documented my week.

Sunday evening
I chopped all the vegetables for the week. It was a little bit of work, but I had everything prepped in under an hour. I was feeling pretty good about myself. I was confident the week would go well.

Meal number one: Maple Orange Chicken with Acorn Squash and Sweet Potatoes
Monday night
I classify this meal as a complete disaster. My husband agreed it was the second worst meal I've ever made. The worst meal was a goulash-like dish I cooked back in 1999 or 2000. I made that meal on the same night I got mugged outside my apartment. It was a bad night all around. I can't really pinpoint one problem with this meal. The chicken was dry, the vegetables were too mushy and everything tasted like overcooked leeks. I cooked this for the recommended amount of time, but that may have been too long. I still feel pretty certain that this meal would have been gross no matter how long I cooked it. We didn't order a pizza, but we did end up splitting an old cinnamon roll for dinner since this was pretty much inedible.

Meal number two: Black Bean Soup with Crab and Andouille Sausage
Tuesday night
This was a success. The soup was very easy to put together and it was tasty. I would definitely make it again.

Meal number three: White Pizza with Chicken, Pesto and Pine Nuts
Thursday night
This pizza was delicious. The idea is to use one of the chicken breasts from the first dinner for the pizza. It worked out quite well. I put it together in about 5 minutes and it took only about 10 minutes in the oven. I served a salad alongside and it was a perfect weeknight meal. I omitted the pine nuts this time around because I was out of them. I also thought some sun-dried tomatoes would be an excellent addition to this pizza. You could also add some other meat, like Italian sausage. There so many options and it's still quick and easy.

Next week, in a quest to find easier ways to get dinner on the table, I'm going to try making a set of 12 meals at Menu Makers. I'm very excited and I can't wait to see how it goes.

Modified Cobb Salad

With temperatures climbing every day, I am happy to find any recipe that doesn't involve using the oven! I saw a this recipe on 30-Minute Meals with Rachael Ray and I knew it would be a good choice for a hot day.

I modified the recipe some in part because I couldn't find watercress at the grocery store and I forgot to get my chicken out of the freezer! So, I used only the steak and bacon and a bit of romaine lettuce. It was delicious. The marinade for the steak really gives it a great flavor. In addition, to save some time, I didn't make a homemade dressing. I used a small amount of raspberry vinaigrette already on hand and it was perfect.

I like the versatility of salads. You can add hardboiled egg, onion or even another type of meat. You could even cut out the meat entirely for a vegetarian entree. No matter what you try, it's bound to be good!

Cobb Salad: Double the Meat and Hold the Lettuce
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
2 tablespoons hot sauce, eyeball it
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling
2 pounds flank steak
8 pieces "thin cut" chicken breast cutlets
2 slightly under ripe Hass avocados - dark skinned, but still firm
2 vine ripe tomatoes cut into wedges
2 bunches watercress, trimmed and roughly chopped
8 strips bacon, thick sliced
1 lemon, zest and juiced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper
1/3 pound blue cheese, crumbled (recommended Maytag Blue)
Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill to high heat.
Mix garlic, steak seasoning, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Whisk in the extra-virgin olive oil. Divide the mixture between 2 shallow dishes. Add the flank steak to one and the thin chicken cutlets to the other. Toss to coat all of the meats thoroughly and marinate for 5 minutes.
While the flank steak and chicken are marinating, cut the avocados in half lengthwise cutting around the pit. Separate the halves then, using a spoon, scoop out the pit, then use the spoon to scoop the avocado from its skin. Chop the avocado flesh into bite size pieces add to a mixing bowl. Add the tomatoes, watercress and crisp chopped bacon. Dress the salad with the juice of 1 lemon and a generous drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

Grill flank steak 6 to 7 minutes on each side. Grill the thin cut chicken cutlets 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove both meats from the grill to a cutting board to rest for about 5 minutes. Thinly slice the flank steak on an angle, cutting the meat against the grain. Cut the chicken into thin strips. Add both meats to a platter or dinner plates. Top the meats with a mound of the salad. To make the dressing, combine in a small bowl the lemon zest and juice, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, crumbled blue cheese, whisk in 3 tablespoons EVOO. Pour the dressing over the salad. Eat and enjoy the lack of lettuce getting in your way!

Recipe from 30-Minute Meals with Rachael Ray

A New Chicken and Rice Recipe

I like the "traditional" chicken and rice recipe -- chicken, white rice, cream of mushroom soup. I think it's one of the first things I prepared for my husband when we began dating. Recently, on Paula's Home Cooking she made a chicken and rice casserole, with a few additions. I tried it at home and aside from the fact that it makes a very large casserole, it's really tasty. It's also very simple to make. I omitted the water chestnuts because I don't care for them. The pimentos and wild rice add a nice flavor to the dish. Since this has green beans, I didn't make another vegetable to serve alongside. With a simple garden salad, this casserole is a meal.

Chicken and Rice Casserole
2 (14 1/2-ounce) can green beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups diced cooked chicken
1 medium onion diced and sauteed
1 (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 (4-ounce) can pimentos
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 (6-ounce) box long-grain and wild rice, cooked according to package directions
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar
Pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 3-quart casserole dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.

My Birthday Dinner

Lucky for me, my birthday coincided with our recent trip to New York. I am a big Bobby Flay fan, so I chose one of his restaurants for my birthday meal: Mesa Grill.

Being from Kansas, I can't say that you don't experience a bit of sticker shock in New York City restaurants. But the food at Mesa Grill was worth every penny.

We ordered two appetizers: blue corn pancakes with BBQ duck and a stuffed tamale. The tamale was good, but the blue corn pancakes were absolutely fantastic. The pancakes were a little heavier than a regular pancake and they had a nice flavor. The BBQ duck was tender and moist. I've ordered duck in restaurants in the past, only to be disappointed. It is easy to overcook duck and it can be very dry. That was not the case on this night.

For dinner, I had Mexican spice rubbed pork tenderloin with bourbon ancho chile sauce and a sweet potato tamale with crushed pecan butter. The pork was tender enough to eat with a fork. The ancho chile sauce with sweet and spicy. I love sweet potatoes, so I enjoyed this adaptation on a traditional sweet potato.

For dessert, we had a peach and blueberry ice cream sandwich. Yummy!

I've had some really wonderful birthdays over the years. This one ranks toward the top of the list.

New York Food Show

To gather information for a research project I'm working on, my husband and I recently attended the Fancy Food Show sponsored by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade.

At this show, food manufacturers and distributors showcase their products for potential food buyers. With over 160,000 products, it's a little overwhelming to first-timers like me. We walked the show floor, sampling products and talking with vendors. This is a great opportunity to learn about different types of food, as you can find everything from cheese to olive oil to coffee.

One highlight of the show: I met Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa! She was there to showcase her new line of Barefoot Contessa products by Stonewall Kitchen. I have several of her cookbooks and I've made many recipes from each. I will admit I was a little shy about meeting her, so my husband dragged me to her. She was very nice and wished us good luck!

Quiche: It's Not Just for Girls

A friend once told me that men don't like to each quiche. Apparently, quiche has reputation for being a "girly" dish. I guess I was a bit surprised. I thought most guys would eat just about anything you put in front of them.

I like quiche and from what I can tell, my husband likes it too. I think it's a nice, light dinner or a great breakfast entree. I recently tried a recipe from Paula's Home Cooking. It is an easy, delicious recipe. I paired it with a basic garden salad and served it for dinner.

Spinach and Bacon Quiche
6 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Salt and pepper
2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach, packed
1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender. Layer the spinach, bacon, and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the egg mixture is set. Cut into 8 wedges.

Recipe from Paula's Home Cooking

BBQ at Home

I love barbeque. My husband and I began a BBQ tour last summer and visited a number of local BBQ joints in Kansas City, Lawrence and Topeka. I really enjoy comparing the smokiness of the meat, the quality of the beans and the crispiness of the fries at each place.

My problem? I can't re-create good BBQ at home. I like shredded pork sandwiches, meaty beans and hot, fresh fries. It's hard to do at home. I recently tried this recipe from 30-Minute Meals with Racheal Ray for chicken sandwiches. It actually turned out pretty well and I will definitely try it again. I didn't modify it any from the original recipe and it was easily made in 30 minutes.

So I solved my meat dilemmea, but you might be wondering how I got yummy sides at home. Takeout is a good thing.

Shredded, Saucy BBQ Chicken Sammies
1 cup chicken stock
1 bottle Mexican beer
4 pieces, 6 ounces each boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 tablespoon hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
2 tablespoons grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning, by McCormick)
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large sour deli pickle, chopped
6 to 8 slices sweet bread and butter pickles, chopped
6 soft sammy buns, such as soft burger rolls, split

Bring liquids to a simmer in a small to medium skillet and slide in the chicken breast meat. Gently poach the chicken 10 minutes, turning once about after 5 minutes.

While chicken poaches, heat a second medium skillet over medium low heat. To hot skillet, add extra-virgin olive oil and garlic and onion and gently saute until chicken is ready to come out of poaching liquids. Combine the next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl and reserve. When the chicken has cooked through, add 2 ladles of the cooking liquid to the bowl, combining with the sauces, spices, brown sugar and tomato paste.

Once the liquids and seasonings are combined, remove chicken, slice it, and transfer to the medium bowl. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken and combine with the liquids. Add the shredded chicken to the onions and garlic and combine well. Simmer together 5 to 10 minutes, using extra cooking liquids to make your chicken as saucy as you like. Combine sour and sweet pickles in a small bowl. Split rolls and fill with scoops of shredded chicken. Top with pickle relish and serve.

Recipe from 30-Minutes Meals with Rachael Ray

Brown Bag It

Both my husband and I take our lunch to work often. Our brown bag staples: turkey sandwich, pretzels and pineapple chunks. But a girl can not live on turkey alone! To spice up our lunch bag a bit, I recently experimented with some different types of chicken salad.

I have mentioned before my love of rotisserie chicken. Once again, those chickens have come to my rescue. This basic recipe for chicken salad (pesto, lemon, chicken and scallions) can be jazzed up with sun-dried tomatoes or any other add-in that sounds good to you. It doesn't have any mayo, but the pesto provides plenty of moisture.


Chicken Salad
1 tub (1 cup) store-bought pesto sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cooked rotisserie chicken, pulled from bone
4 scallions, chopped
1 jarred whole roasted red pepper, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Place the pesto in a large bowl and stir in the lemon juice. Add the chicken, scallions, roasted red pepper and toss coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.