Saturday, October 29, 2011

Third Time's a Charm....

They say that the third time is the charm.  This is my third attempt at making a full size cheesecake.  The previous attempts all tasted great, but failed miserably at setting up.  I did use a different recipe this time, so I'm hoping that will make a difference.

My dear friend Amy made this recipe earlier this year because she wanted to try a to make a cheesecake and she is a lover of all things pumpkin.  If you want to see the recipe and her results, check out her blog.  It's a pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust.  Can we say yummy?!?

It's a very simple recipe.  The crust has gingersnaps and pecans.  Super tasty!




The filling was simple and easy to make.  The big difference between this recipe and the other one that I've used is that this recipe has the cheesecake sit in a water bath.  It seemed to make a huge difference.  The cheesecake set up nicely.







The new recipe seems to have made a difference because it set up very nicely.  It didn't taste like the one that Amy made earlier this year, but it was still yummy and a big hit.




Stay tuned for more yummy cooking experiences.  Happy fall and happy cooking!!




Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Warm, Filling Cheesy Goodness

Today's post is all about classic comfort food that fills your tummy and warms you inside.  Since I currently don't have a job, some of my time during the day is spent watching TV.  One of new favorite shows, that is on during the morning here in Oregon, called The Chew.  It is a show that is all about food and basically they cook, eat and talk.  It's hosted by some of my favorite chefs/people...Carla Hall(former contestant of Top Chef), Michael Symon(Iron Chef), Clinton Kelly(from What Not to Wear), Daphne Oz(Dr. Oz's daughter), and Mario Batali(Iron Chef).  It's a really fun show and there's always great food.  I seriously recommend that if you like food at all and are home during the day because of a day off or sickness, check your local listings and find The Chew.

On yesterday's show, Michael Symon made what he called a pork pie.  It was very akin to a shepherd's pie.  His pork pie had ground pork, bacon, kale and some other vegetables topped with mashed potatoes and cheese.  They suggested that you could also make this vegetarian by using squash instead of pork.  If you'd like to see for yourself just how yummy this looked, click here.


As I watched them dish out this cheesy goodness, I thought to myself that I needed to have some shepherd's pie.  So...shepherd's pie is on the menu for dinner tonight.  Technically, a shepherd's pie is made with lamb.  Tonight's dinner was made with ground beef, so it will be a cottage pie.  I didn't exactly follow a recipe and it is far from a "traditional" shepherd's pie, but here are some pics of the step by step process.  I used frozen vegetables because of the easiness of it, but you certainly could use fresh ones.  Also, a "traditional" shepherd's pie wouldn't have any cheese on it, but as far as I'm concerned everything tastes better with cheese.  Here are some pics of the step by step process.













Hope everyone is enjoying the fall and those of you that live in colder climates are staying warm.  This is a great meal to warm you up on a cold fall or winter day.  Pumpkin cheesecake with gingersnap crust coming later this week.

Happy Cooking!!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Autumn Pear and Pumpkin Soup

On Tuesday, we had a church activity called a Souper Supper.  We talked about making soups with the things we had stored in our homes.  For dinner, everyone was to bring their favorite soup.  I decided it was a good chance to try out another new recipe.  I had found this recipe and thought it would be the perfect fall soup, plus we had fresh pumpkin.  The flavor was really great.  You start out by cooking onions in some chicken broth until tender.  My dad suggested adding celery and maybe some more onions.  


Once the onions are tender you puree them with the pumpkin and toss it back in the pot with the pear nectar, cream or half and half and the spices.  





The spices are very simple, ginger and white pepper, but someone at the activity suggested curry might be a fun spice to add.  I also added a little cornstarch to thicken it up a bit.  It was a big hit at the activity.  Recipe says to garnish with fresh pear, if you like.


This really is the perfect fall soup.  Check it out and Happy Cooking!


Monday, October 10, 2011

Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies...Yummy!

Today was the perfect rainy fall day to spend baking pumpkin spice whoopie pies!  For those who don't know what a whoopie pie is imagine an Oreo, but bigger, with a cake like cookie and a plethora of flavor options.  This recipe calls for pumpkin mixed with a spice cake mix.  The filling is a spiced marshmallow creme filling.  I found the recipe here.  





The filling is really heavenly...cream cheese, butter, and marshmallow creme, how can you go wrong. 




 I wrapped each pie individually in wax paper and placed them all in the freezer.  They were fantastic out of the freezer.  They weren't exactly frozen, just slightly chilled.  Super Yummy!






There were also cinnamon sugar roasted pumpkin seeds and salted pumpkin seeds made today and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  Sorry no photos of the cookies.  I'll get some up another time.





Coming soon Autumn Pear and Pumpkin Soup.  Happy Cooking!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Biscuits and Potatoes

Biscuit attempt number 2 went better, but they still didn't rise very much.  I think I may still be rolling it out thin.  My dad's other thought was that the self rising flour is old.  The biscuits still taste good and are still fluffy in the middle.  If anyone has any other thoughts on why the biscuits aren't rising, please make a comment or send me a message.



If you've never heard of or seen a purple potato before than you're in luck.  



As you can see, the potatoes aren't so purple on the outside and speckled once they're peeled.  My parents and I have been informed that they make the best mashed potatoes and that they're super creamy.  I didn't notice any difference in flavor between the purple potato and any other potato.  I will say that once mashed it is one the least visually appealing foods I've ever seen in my life.  You judge for yourself.



Always fun to try something new.


Happy Cooking!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Fall is in the air...

Fall is definitely in the air here in Oregon and the smell of cooking pumpkin is in the kitchen.  The pumpkins are here and this was the first of many pumpkin recipes that will be made this fall.  My dad picked about 20 pumpkins a few days ago and so I decided it was time to start making some delicious pumpkin dishes.  My first project was homemade pumpkin butter.  My friend Katie recommended an excellent recipe.(http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/10/pumpkin-butter-and-pepita-granola/)  I essentially followed it, but I made my pumpkin puree from scratch.  Thankfully my dad peeled and cleaned out the 20 pumpkins form me.  I then chopped them up and boiled in some water until they were tender.



Once the pumpkin is soft and tender, I threw it in the blender and food processor and pureed it until smooth.

The great thing about this puree is that it can be frozen and used for ANY dish that calls for a can of pureed pumpkin.  There are no spices, so it can be used for a savory dish like a soup or something sweet like a pie.  Once the pumpkin puree was ready I followed the recipe from smittenkitchen.com.


Pumpkin puree with sugar, spices, and apple juice

Cans in a hot water bath  

The final product

**Important Note:  In all of my research for a good pumpkin recipe, I discovered various means of preserving it.  Some recipes suggested a hot water bath.  Others suggest putting in air tight containers and storing in the fridge for up to three weeks or in the freezer up to a year.  According to multiple recipes, the USDA now suggests that you should not traditionally can pumpkin or squash puree.  They say that it is too thick and not enough acidity.   They also say that a hot water bath or pressure cooking doesn't get it hot enough to prevent botulism.  My opinion is that people having been making pumpkin butter for decade. I've had pumpkin butter before and never had any problems.  I guess what I'm trying to say is do what you feel most comfortable with.  

Purple mashed potatoes, biscuit attempt number 2 and more pumpkin recipes to come.

Happy cooking and enjoy the fall! 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Dinner Party (Part 2)

So I've covered the side dishes from dinner in August, but now it's time for the main protein of the meal and dessert.  I have a new love of pork tenderloin.  It's a great cut of meat and when cooked right stays very moist and nice and tender.  With 11 of us at this dinner party, I got a HUGE tenderloin from Costco.  The pork alone was good, but the glaze that I put on it was AMAZING!  I made a rhubarb glaze.  The rhubarb was fresh from the garden.  The sauce also had cran-apple juice in it.  It is my new favorite glaze/sauce.  It's a sauce that I think you could use on pork, ham, chicken or maybe even turkey.  I forgot to take some pics of the glaze during the cooking process, but there are some of it over the tenderloin.





For dessert, I attempted a mixed berry cheesecake.  I had tried this cheesecake recipe once before, but used frozen berries.  The first attempt was a flop because I was too lazy to let the berries thaw all the way, so I when I say it was a flop it really was.  When I pulled the springform off the pan it literally oozed all over the counter.  It tasted fine and was more like a cheesecake flavored pudding.  On attempt number two, I used fresh berries and tried to try as much of the juice out as I could.  This time it held up pretty well except the middle fell apart.  I'm not sure what my problem is because I've made this recipe before in mini form and didn't have a problem.  
Proof that I can make the cheesecakes in mini form


Knowing that I had problems with this cheesecake before, I decided I should make a second dessert just to be safe.  I decided to make a mixed berry cheesecake with some of the extra berries and sauce that I used for the cheesecake.  It was essentially a strawberry shortcake, but it had strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.  It was super yummy and very pretty to look at.  


Happy Cooking!