Dulce de' Leche Cheesecake with a Chili Chocolate Ganache

As a rule I don't like cheesecake... most of the time I will even turn down a piece if it's offered. I've always figured that if I was going to eat 800 calories than I darn well better really enjoy them. Cheesecake usually has an unpleasant sweet/sour tang to me and it's always kind of moist yet dry all at the same time. Occasionally I've seen one dressed up beautifully with all sorts of scintillating toppings and I've given it a hopeful taste only to realize that it was just like every other cheesecake that has let me down.

But this cheesecake that I am going to share with you has erased all of my fears and disappointments and has helped me to realize that it's not that I don't like cheesecake, I don't like bad cheesecake. Needless to say my hips will never be the same.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake with Chili Chocolate Ganache
Adapted from Taste of Home

1-3/4 cups crushed gingersnap cookies (about 35 cookies)
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Cheesecake:
3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup 2% milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (13.4 ounces) dulce de leche*

Chili Chocolate Ganache:
1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsn unsalted butter

*I found the Dulce de Leche in the Hispanic section at my local Walmart

Using a food processor grind up the gingersnaps, walnuts, sugar and cinnamon until fine. Add the melted butter until ingredients are moistened. Pre-grease a 9" springform pan, wrap the outside bottom and sides in a double layer of aluminum foil. Apply the crust mixture evenly on the bottom and half way up the sides of the pan.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the milk, flour and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour into crust.

Pour dulce de leche into a microwave-safe bowl; microwave at 50% power until softened. Drop dulce de leche by tablespoonfuls over batter; cut through batter with a knife to swirl.

Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan. Bake at 350° for 60-70 minutes* or until center is just set and top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer.

Pour the chocolate chips, chili powder and heavy cream into a microwave safe bowl. Mix together, microwave in 30 second intervals until all of the chocolate is melted. Add the butter and stir. Allow the ganache to cool until it is lukewarm, spoon over the top of the cheesecake and smooth. Cover and refrigerate the cheesecake overnight, when ready to serve unmold it from the springform pan.

*It took me 75-80 minutes in my gas oven for the cheesecake to cook.



Serve this with a glass of cold milk to help cut the richness.

French apple tart for Sam

Whenever my husband has a birthday I make him a home made desert and their are several reasons for this. Partly because what says I love and appreciate you more than a homemade dessert? And secondly because I am a bad gift giver, I don't mean to be but several factors come together to make my gift giving rather, how can I put this nicely? Underwhelming, boring, and predictable. The number one reason is I can't seem to hold back the excitement of buying him a gift so I usually give it early (this year he got his gift a week early)and what's worse than giving a bad gift? Giving the bad gift early or late! And number two it's usually something predictable and unexciting (this year was a new work out dvd from Beach Body fitness that he wanted) so I have to make up for my gifts with a pretty spectacular and tasty dessert, I am not a creative gift giver but I have flair in the kitchen... and what man doesn't love a little flair in the kitchen right??

When I asked him what dessert he wanted for his birthday he requested an apple pie. After cooing about how darn cute it was for a guy that's a first generation immigrant to request good ol' American apple pie. I set out to make a delicious one that said I love you much better than my workout DVD, and don't think the irony of making him a fattening dessert while simultaneously gifting a workout DVD was lost on me. I rationalized that it was his birthday after all, who doesn't have a sweet something or other on their birthday?

So out came my inherited, "Baking with Julia" book and after some deliberation I decided on the French Apple tart. It took me around 4 hours of work, several moments of frustrated cursing and a bit of nail biting regarding how the finished product would taste. Fortunately, all of the work paid off and it was delicious. From now on it will be my stand in when an apple pie or tart needs to be made.

A few words on the recipe before I post it; the pastry dough is extremely forgiving which is a huge plus for me. For some reason the house was a bit humid, which rarely happens in Arizona and my butter and shortening would only stay cold for moments after taking them out of the freezer; so as I made my pastry dough I had my suspicions that it wasn't going to work or taste very good. Except it did! Sure it fell apart after I rolled it out and I ended up, out of desperation patching the holes by squishing them together with my fingers. I felt sure that the crust was going to be tough and nasty because I had manipulated it way more than anyone should ever mess with a pastry crust. Except it wasn't, it was tender and flaky probably owing to the massive amounts of butter and shortening. I would rate the pastry dough as being pretty idiot proof, which is great for someone like me. The only change I'd make is adding a tablespoon or two of sugar for sweeter desserts. It's a great all purpose dough but I think it would have worked better with a teensy hint of sweetness.

The filling is great but next time I would double the amount I make. I ended up a bit short on filling and I am not really sure why. I actually used 2 more apples to combat the problem and I was still short. It's possible my apples were smaller than they should have been or perhaps their was a miscalculation with the cookbook. Next time I'd double it.

Without further ado here's the recipe:

Flaky Pie dough
makes enough dough for 4 open faced pies or 2 double crust pies

5 1/4 cups pastry flour or all purpose flour
1 tbsn. kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks (6 oz.) cold unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups (11 oz.) solid vegetable shortening, chilled
1 cup ice water

To make the dough in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, put the flour and salt into the bowl and mix together. Add the butter and mix on low until it is cut into the dry ingredients and the mixture looks coarse and crumbly. Add the shortening in small bits and continue to mix on low. When the mixture is clumpy and curdy and holds together when a small bit is pressed between your fingers, add the water and mix only until it is incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and fold it over on itself two or three times, just to finish the mixing and to gather it together.

Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or for as long as 5 days. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for 5 days or frozen for 1 month. If you are going to freeze it divide the dough into quarters prior to freezing.







French Apple Tart

Crust:
1/4 of recipe for flaky pie crust

Filling:
6 Granny smith apples
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsn. all purpose flour
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 cup fresh, fluffy bread crumbs
2 tsp. (approximately)fresh lemon juice
1 tbsn. vanilla (the original recipe doesn't call for this but I added it to fit with my personal taste)

Topping:
2 to 3 granny smith apples
1 tbsn. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsn unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar

Preparing the crust:
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick and fit it into a 9 inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Let the crust chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Blind baking the crust:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees farenheit. Fit a piece of parchment paper or foil into the tart shell and fill with pie weights, rice, or dried beans. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Transfer the crust, with the pie weights to a rack and let cool while you make the filling. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees farenehit.




Making the filling:
Peel and core the apples, try to get 10-12 slices from each apple. Place the apples in a bowl and toss with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, vanilla, and bread crumbs. Add a squeeze of lemon juice. Spread the apples on a jelly-roll pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the apples give up their juices, start to form a sauce, and are soft enough to mash. Scrape the apples into a bowl and mash with a potato masher or a fork. Don't be overzealous- a few small lumps and bumps will add interest to the filling. Taste and add more lemon juice if you think it needs it, then cool the filling for about 15 minutes.










Filling the shell:
Spoon the filling into the shells, the filling should come to right below the rim.



Preparing the topping:
Peel and thinly slice three granny smith apples. Toss them with the tablespoon of lemon juice to keep them from browning. Arrange the apples in a circular pattern starting from the outside, slightly overlapping the slices. Work around the pie until the filling is completely covered. Brush the apple slices with butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar.




Baking:
Bake the tart for 25-30 minutes (I baked for 40 minutes) or until the top is beautifully glazed and the apple slices are edged in black. The tart is best served warm from the oven.

Stuffed Peppers

I love stuffed peppers and I feel like they've been given a bad rap. They can be so much more than the quintessential ground beef,rice, and tomato sauce version that most of us have been underwhelmed by. Peppers lend themselves well to being seasoned creatively; I've made a Mediterranean version with ground lamb and beef seasoned with cloves and cinnamon, tomatoes herbs, spices and pine nuts. I've also done an asian fusion with ground chicken, bok choy, scallions and a few other items. Stuffed peppers don't have to be boring and bland, they can be savory and customizable not to mention affordable on a tight budget.

The recipe I am sharing today is similar to a basic stuffed pepper recipe but I've pepped it up with lots of garlic, fresh herbs, mushrooms and onions along with some fire roasted tomatoes. These aren't your grandma's stuffed peppers and really why should they be?

Basic stuffed peppers
makes approximately 6 peppers

1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup White button Mushrooms
1/2 of a white onion
4 cloves garlic
1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes (I used Hunt's fire roasted)
Cayenne
Salt
Pepper
Cinnamon
Parsley
Thyme
Basil
6 peppers, tops and seeds removed
1 cup Medium Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil, place peppers in the boiling water and cook for 10-15 minutes. The peppers won't immediately feel soft when you are taking them out of the water but once they sit for a few minutes they should be pliable without being mushy.




Now preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Chop up the onions, mushrooms, fresh parsley, thyme and basil. Cook the onions and mushrooms in a pan with some Olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add the minced garlic and the chopped up herbs and cook until fragrant. Add approximately 1/2 tsp salt to this mixture. Finally once all of the items are cooked add the drained tomatoes, stir together and leave in the pan set on low.

Cook the ground beef, add 1/4 tsp salt, freshly ground black pepper, dash of Cayenne and a dash (or two) of cinnamon. Once the ground beef is cooked and drained add it to the vegetable mixture and stir well.



Place the peppers in a casserole dish and fill them with the ground beef/tomato mixture and then top with the cheese.

Cook in the oven at 375 until the cheese is melted. Serve and enjoy!



One of the differences in the recipe I am sharing is that I don't do the traditional method of filling raw peppers with a raw rice/beef mixture and that to me makes all of the difference. In a traditional recipe, by the time the filling is cooked the peppers are a mushy mess. In order to eliminate that problem I cook all of the ingredients separately and then combine them at the end. Everything is cooked appropriately and then assembled and in the end you get tender, soft peppers that aren't mushy and juicy, flavorful filling that isn't dried out. It's a win, win situation.

If you are cooking for only two like myself and don't really want 6 stuffed peppers to work your way through. Make only three peppers and use the left over meat/veggie mixture to make a meaty marinara sauce and serve it with spaghetti the next day. That's what I did and my husband didn't even know I was essentially serving leftovers.

Arabic pita bread

When I moved away from Michigan I realized something very disappointing. If I ever wanted to eat relatively authentic, fresh pita bread I'd either have to hop on a plane or learn to make it myself.

I like to use a recipe from Claudia Roden's book, The New Book of Middle Eastern Food it's easy but time consuming. The pitas are only good for a day or two but the leftovers can be fried to make pita chips for fattoush.

Arabic Pita Bread
1 tbsn active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/4 tsp. sugar
about 6 cups unbleached white bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2-2 tsp. salt
3 tbsn vegetable or EVOO

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water. Add the sugar, and when it begins to froth (this will be proof that the yeast is still active), stir in the remaining water. add 3 cups of the flour, 1 cup at a time, gradually, stirring vigorously. Let this sponge rest for 10 minutes or until it froths.

Stir in the salt and 2 tbsn of the oil and mix well. Add the remaining flour gradually, a little at a time (you may need less), until you have a dough that holds together in a ball. Knead well by hand in the bowl, or on a floured board, for about 10 minutes, until it is smooth, shiny, and elastic and no longer sticks to your fingers, dusting with a little flour occasionally if it is too sticky.

Put the remaining tbsn. of oil in the bottom of the bowl and roll the ball of dough around to grease it all over. This will prevent the surface from becoming dry and crusty. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place free of drafts for about 2 hours, until doubled in bulk.

Preheat the oven set at the maximum, 500 degrees farenheit for at least 20 minutes, and place a large baking sheet or baking stone in the hottest part.

Punch the dough down and knead again for a few minutes, then divide in half. Divide the first half into 8 lumps. Flatten each one on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin sprinkled with flour, into rounds between 1/8 and 1/4 inches thick and about 7-8 inches in diameter. Dust with flour and lay the rounds on a cloth sprinkled with flour. Arrange them 1 inch apart, so that they do not touch as they grow. Cover with another lightly floured cloth, an dleave to rest and rise again for about 20 minutes at room temperature.

When the bread has risen again, place 2 rounds at a time on the hot baking stone sprinkled lightly with flour, and bake for 3-5 minutes, or until they puff up like balloons and are slightly brown on top.

Wrap the breads together in a cloth while still hot, or put them in a plastic bag to keep them soft and pliable while you bake the rest of the breads.

Cilantro Lime Salsa

This is by far the easiest recipe I've ever posted on this blog. It's only three (well four if you count salt) ingredients and it has an incredible flavor impact. I came up with it when I noticed that when I would eat tacos from Mexican restaurants they would often put an onion/cilantro salsa on my tacos. They gave the tacos an incredible flavor that surprised me and I decided to try making my own and my cilantro lime salsa was born. Every time we have tacos this is what I make to go with it and it's always a hit. It also has the bonus of being the base for pico de'gallo so you can just add four or five chopped up roma tomatoes and one diced jalapeno and you'll have pico.













Cilantro Lime Salsa

1 white onion
1 bunch cilantro
1-2 limes
1/4-1/2 tsp salt to taste

Chop the onion and cilantro and combine in a bowl. Juice the lime(s) into the bowl with the cilantro and onion. Add the salt and mix well. Place in the refrigerator 30 minutes to 1 hour to let the flavors meld.

How we usually eat it, chicken tacos with cheese, black beans, regular salsa and cilantro lime salsa:

Chocolate raspberry pecan thumbprint cookies

These cookies are heavenly. I made them for a cookie exchange and they were a definite hit not to mention they have two kinds of chocolate; white and dark. Yum!



Pictures of the cookie making process:


The batter surprised me because it was rather crumbly but the cookies worked out fine even with the crumbliness.

Because the batter is crumbly you won't get a perfect ball and some of the batter will have a hard time sticking together. Just roll it between both palms and get it to stick together as best as you can.

The same thing goes for the pecans; just push the ball into the pecans and roll several times. The ball will probably become oblong and half the pecans won't stick but it didn't make much of a difference by the time they were baked and drizzled with chocolate.

I made my cookies double the recommended size and I ended up using a whole jar of raspberry jam. To form the cookies I used my thumbs and made some deep wells into the cookies. If the wells are too shallow when the cookies bake they rise quite a bit and don't look as pretty.



To drizzle the finished cookies with white chocolate I just used a ziplock bag filled with the white chocolate. Then I popped it in the microwave for around 30 seconds. Then I trimmed off the corner and squeezed the chocolate in lines over the cookies.


Chocolate raspberry pecan thumbprint cookies
Adapted from Cooks Country Magazine November 2010
makes 3 dozen cookies
Note: the quantities and instructions of this recipe have already been adjusted to make the size of cookie that I did. If you want to make smaller 1 inch cookies just half the recipe and it will give you three dozen.

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
16 tbsn. (2 sticks) unsalted, softened butter
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups pecans toasted and chopped finely
18 tbsn. seedless raspberry jam
1 cup white chocolate chips melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. With electric mixer on medium high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

2. Place pecans in shallow dish. Roll 2 tbsn. dough into 2 inch ball, then roll in pecans pressing to adhere. Repeat with remaining dough. Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared baing sheets. Using fingers make a well in the middle of the balls. Fill each indentation with half a tablespoon of jam. Bake until set, about 15 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Cool five minutes on sheets, the transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

3. Drizzle cookies with melted chocolate and let sit until chocolate hardens, about 15 minutes. Cookies can be stored in air tight container at room temperature for three days.

Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad

I found this recipe on cooking light's website around three years ago. I consider it a life changing event because it introduced me to chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce and all the amazing smoky spiciness they can impart to a recipe. If you've never tried chipotle peppers in adobo sauce give them a try.



Combine the lettuce, black beans, corn, onions and cherry tomatoes. I like to rinse the beans and corn really well and then pat them dry with a paper towel. While you're doing this throw some chicken on the grill to shred up for the salad.







Then get out your can of chipotle peppers and take one pepper out and chop it coarsely. you can puree' the rest of the peppers and freeze them in ice cube trays or you can store them in the refrigerator after removing them from the can.





Next add the chopped chipotle pepper, cumin, chili powder, garlic clove, cilantro, salt, lime juice and sour cream in a bowl. You might need to add a teaspoon of water to make the dressing easier to pour.


Puree it all together in a food processer


Mix the lettuce mixture and the dressing together. I like to add avocado slices, some cheddar cheese and a few tortilla chips crumbled up. It takes it from a tasty salad to another level of deliciousness.





Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad
adapted from cooking light

Dressing:
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2/3 cup light sour cream
1 chipotle chili chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 lime juiced
1 small clove garlic minced
1/4 tsp. salt

Salad:
4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
2 cups chopped grilled chicken breast
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 avocado sliced
1/3 of a red onion finely sliced
1 can black beans
1 can sweet corn

Optional:
Tortilla chips crushed
Cheddar cheese

To make dressing puree all ingredients in the dressing list together.

To prepare salad, combine lettuce and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss gently to coat. Serve immediately.