Simply Cheesecake Experimenting

During the fall (it is now winter!) I enjoyed spending some time turning this . . .

. . . into this (okay, so I've only tried it twice).

The recipe for this chocolate pumpkin cheesecake is from a cookbook called "Simply in Season". I've had some problems with it. First off, I couldn't get the thick chocolate-y part to swirl very well.

So I thinned that part of the batter, with this result.

Hmmmm . . . still not getting the swirling part down. I may have to try layering it--pumpkin, chocolate-pumpkin--then swirling.

My second complaint with the recipe is that it isn't pumpkin-y enough for my taste. Too much chocolate, too little pumpkin. To remedy this (once the cake was already made) I came up with a pumpkin sauce to drizzle over it. Yummy! But not a permanent solution for the cheesecake itself. I've still got some work to do . . .

I was pretty pleased with the pumpkin sauce for its own sake though. Good on pancakes. French toast. In coffee. Over cheesecake. Over ice cream . . .

Once I nail either the cheesecake or the sauce to my liking, I'll post some recipes. Until then, happy experimenting! Let me know if you've got any tips!

Ginger Brew

A few months ago I bought some ginger root and club soda with the idea that I wanted to try making my own ginger brew. A few weeks ago it finally happened. There are scads of recipes on the internet, and I'm not even sure where my original came from. Basically, you just make a ginger/sugar syrup and add club soda to it by the glass. Not authentic maybe, but simple and yummy!

Here's what I did:

1/2 cup minced ginger (I whizzed it in the food processor)
2 c. water
2/3 c. sugar
zest of one lemon

Mix everything but the lemon zest together in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Once it boils, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, add lemon zest, strain and cool.

To mix soda:

Place 2-4 TBSP of ginger syrup in a glass with ice. Add mint sprigs and a squeeze of lemon if desired. Fill with club soda and stir to mix. Lots of pretty, frothy bubbles! Taste and add more ginger syrup as desired. I also added in some of the strained-off minced ginger for some extra bite!

Cook's Word: I definitely need to at least double the amount of minced ginger for the syrup. I had to keep adding syrup to my soda to make it pungent enough!

Long Beans

Here's one from the "archives" (of pictures I hadn't sorted and made use of yet). Long beans which I found at our local farmers market back in November. And cooked shortly thereafter. They were too beautiful to resist (though they look a little snake-y in the pan)!

I didn't want to break them up, because that would make them look just like normal green beans. So, into the pan with a little oil, then pesto. If you remember my post a while back on pesto, I had forgotten to mention that one of my favorite ways to use it is on green beans.

Sprinkled with a bit of parmesan cheese and served up with some steaming "black bean-butternut-rice-etc. casserole" and mixed greens.

Cook's Word: A bit crunchier than your normal green bean--I kept cooking them but they never got truly soft. Which is okay, because I don't mind an "al dente" bean. The length definitely made them a bit of a choking hazard, though, so I would probably cut them into small pieces next time. The flavor combination of beans with pesto? Winner!

Salad in Season

The plot. I am assigned to bring salad for a dinner with two friends.

I headed to the farmers' market on Saturday with pretty low hopes for finding salad greens. And my hopes were met. Only arugula and kale. Hmmmm . . . I tasted and was offered a deal for two bags. I picked up a bag of each plus some radishes and broccoli. A bit letdown, I was.

At the grocery store later, I found some beautiful red pears, green onions, a bit of bleu cheese, and pecans (for pie, but I thought I could steal some for salad).

Assembly time. The stems of the arugula and kale came off, and the leaves torn a little. I threw these into my shallow blue bowl with fancy rim. Next, a layer of thin radish slices and broccoli florets. Finally a swirl of pear slices and sprinkling of toasted pecans, chopped up a little. I waited to add bleu cheese until I was sure my friends would like it.

Dressing. This I got from my friend Barbara. Simple. Not the healthiest, but delicious and all-purpose. Two parts mayonnaise (I use "lite") to one part each of sugar and vinegar. Yum! I added a bit of freshly-ground black pepper too.

And don't you know. That salad was a hit. And I'm seriously thinking about re-creating it right now . . .

Pumpkin French Toast

With a shift in my schedule at work, I've been enjoying a bit more morning time at home and have been happily breakfasting some of those mornings. Last week I tried this creation--adding pumpkin puree to a french toast batter. I layered some bread in a dish, poured over the stuff, let it soak a bit, then microwaved for six minutes. I finished it off under the oven broiler (a little longer than I should have!) for a toasty top. This was truly delicious with my pumpkin caramel sauce and whipped topping all over it! Mmmmm . . . Next time, I think I'll up the spices and put even more pumpkin in. Only problem is, I don't really know how much I added the first time. =)

Broccoli Soup

Don't think I haven't been cooking just because I've been lax about posting here. I have so many little pieces of paper with scribbled notes and lots of photos floating around. Making time to grab hold of the right notes and the right pictures together just hasn't been at the top of my "To Do" list recently. My list from this morning--for example--included: calling a massage studio, cleaning my bathroom, putting canning jars away, and collecting money from a few people. But it said nothing about blogging (or laundry, which desperately needed putting away--see how that was past tense? I actually did that even though it hadn't made the list!).

Well, this isn't a blog about my life. It's about cooking. And I was able to find the scrap of paper that goes along with these pictures, so here you have it . . .

Creamy Curry Broccoli Soup

3 cloves garlic, smashed open
1/2 onion, chopped
glug of olive oil for sauteeing
1 TBSP butter (or just use more olive oil if you want vegan)
2 chicken and one vegetable bouillion cube (or all veg again)
4 cups water
5 cups broccoli pieces (I use stems too, since it will get pureed)
1/2 tsp. green curry paste

Method: Saute onions and garlic in olive oil/butter until soft. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until broccoli is tender. Process in blender or food processor until smooth. YUM!

Here's a picture of the curry paste I used. I suppose you could use red or yellow paste too with similar results. Sorry it's a bit blurry.

Cook's Word: I love pureed soups! So easy to throw everything in a pot and not worry about chopping just so since it'll all get whizzed to oblivion anyway--and I love the way the flavors meld when you blend a soup! I definitely like adding curry paste to this to make it a bit more interesting than a classic broccoli cream soup, and I'm thinking of doing this with pumpkin too. Beware, it gets hotter each day!

Special thanks to Mr. Froggy for helping to stir the soup!

Sarma

Sarma is a Turkish word meaning "a wrapped thing". You might be more familiar with the Greek term "dolmathes". More often than not, I call them "dolma", but that is a much broader term for a variety of stuffed vegetables. What they are is grape leaves filled with rice, currants, and spices. No meat this time, though I've tried with venison before. I'm still playing with how I like them, so no recipe yet. Just some play-by-play for fun . . .

about a TBSP of prepared filling is placed on a leaf

each bottom wing gets folded up like so . . .

then the sides are folded in as you roll it all up

done. (expect for steaming!)

steam in pan about 1.5 to 2 hours . . . they're worth the wait

As you can see, not a fast food. Rather time-consuming and tedious, a food well-suited to a cooking party with lots of friends around. The up-side is that they're yummy and fun to eat (finger food!). AND since you've gone to all the trouble and made a HUGE pot, there are leftovers for snacking!

I think this is a love affair that will continue to be refined with time.