Sour Cream Cheesecake

My mom and aunt have had a bet on the University of Texas vs. Texas A&M football game for as long as I can remember. Most likely longer than I could remember since I am pretty sure the bet is older than I am. Well my cousin and I picked up that bet when we both ended up attending these two fine institutions of higher learning. Okay one fine institution and tamu, but that isn't why I'm here today. Today I'm here to talk about the practice cheesecake I made before I see my cousin over Christmas and have to make her one for real.

This year the Aggies ended a losing streak and won, so I have to produce a cheesecake for my cousin. Now, I have very little baking experience so I decided to go with what seemed to be a pretty straight forward Alton Brown recipe. And while it is pretty easy to follow, some of the hardware needed proved difficult to get my hands on.

The biggest difference in this recipe than what I'm used to is that it called for using a solid 9 by 3 inch cake pan rather than a springform pan. We don't have this size pan, and several stores I checked did not either. So I just followed the recipe but baked it in a springform pan and cut out the water bath.

I do want to try using the water bath cooking method. While the final flavor of the cheesecake was excellent, the texture was a bit soft for my taste. It didn't run all over the plates or anything, but it could have been firmer, and I think cooking it to the recipe should achieve that.

But enough words, have some pictures.

butter for the crust

the crust is ridiculously easy and I will never do store bought again

why yes, that is 2.5 bricks of cream cheese. mmmmm fat

nobody tell Laura I used her mixer

pre-bake

no crack! #happydance

the left over crust bits really add a lot to the final product

Baked Penne with Sausage

Tonight was comfort food night at the Moore house. We got the Williams-Sonoma Comfort Food cookbook from work (working in a library has its advantages) and it is just stunningly beautiful. Most of the dishes are not even remotely vegetarian friendly and a lot of them would be difficult to impossible to create meatless versions. We did decide to try the baked ziti with sausage recipe with vegetarian sausage. The sausage was okay, but in the future we will use faux sausage crumbles rather than links. We also switched out the ziti with penne because we found a whole grain penne.

Baked spaghetti has been a staple in our house, so we decided to try another approach with it. And this recipe did have some additions that we will reuse in the future, namely red pepper flake in the sauce. We both agree that most anything can be made tastier with red pepper flake. Also the addition of roasted eggplant was much needed.

We give this one 4 out of 5 stars. The added plus is that we have plenty of left overs for lunches this week. Oh good God, I just said that. My life is sad sometimes.

Stay away from the Tofurky Italian Sausage (the dish was good despite this part)

 sauce with roasted eggplant and sausage

 pre-bake

more pictures here

Mushroom and Sun-dried Tomato Risotto

I have to start this out by saying Mmmmmmm!  Risotto is delicious.  Mushroom and sun-dried tomato risotto is the most delicious thing.  Ever.  That being said, you have to have time.  And patience.  But mostly time (and a really supportive pair of shoes).  This recipe was from Vegan With a Vengeance.  The recipe was simple to follow, but it required a lot of time standing over the stove with almost constant stirring.  This is best done with another person so you can stir in shifts .  Do not, under any circumstances, send your husband to the store for a bottle of wine while you make it, or you can end up tired and cranky.  I'm just saying.  The payoff is worth it, as it is creamy mushroom deliciousness.  

We subbed dried porcini mushrooms instead of the ones the recipe called for.  It was a definite 5 out of 5 stars.  We'll be making this one again as soon as I'm fully recovered.

 mmmmmmmm

more pictures here

Vegetable Lasagna with Garlic Bread

Cheesy goodness was on the menu tonight. We tried a new vegetable lasagna recipe that we found online. It was pasta free and called for thinly sliced zucchini, chopped eggplant and chopped yellow squash. All three were roasted in a mixture of olive oil, garlic and dried thyme.

We switched out the portobello with baby bella and the button mushrooms with cremini. In the future we will use all cremini and saute the whole batch. Also, I didn't let the tomato sauce simmer quite long enough and it was still a bit too liquid which made for a messy final dish. Despite that, it was quite tasty and we will definitely make it again. We give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

yellow squash

 lightly roasted zucchini

mushrooms, mmmmm

 Parmesan

final result

more pictures here

Chickpea and Spinach Curry

Night two for Vegan With a Vengeance, with my first attempt at a curry. We made a few alterations to the recipe. First was using ground ginger since the fresh ginger we had wasn't so fresh any more. Second was using ground cardamom in place of cardamom pods, which our usual grocery store didn't seem to have. Upon spice testing toward the end of the cooking process, we added a little more curry powder as well as salt.

The dish was good, but a little more bland then the copious amounts of spice would suggest. My coworker of Indian heritage, told me today that she lives off of curry, so I'm hoping she can give me some good tips on uping the heat of the dish. In the future, we will definitely make sure we have some fresh ginger also more tomato and tomato juice. We give this one 3 out of 5 stars with high hopes of a better dish on the next attempt.

mustard seed and onion

 spices and tomato added

 cooking down the spinach

 simmer with the chickpeas

 we went with a bed of rice

more pictures here

Jerk Seitan with Coconut Rice

Tonight we revisited Vegan with a Vengeance with delicious results. The main dish was jerk seitan (page 159). The recipe says to marinade the seitan for an hour, but I went ahead and set it up around noon and let it sit for about six hours. The only other variation we took from the recipe was to add more cayenne just before cooking, about a teaspoon or so more which gave the final dish a bit more heat.

The seitan was simple and flavorful with the large amount of spices used in the marinade. An onion and green bell pepper were sauteed for about 10 minutes before adding the seitan to the skillet. The seitan cooked for about ten minutes and then for a few more minutes when we added the marinade to the skillet. Total cooking time for the main dish was about 25 minutes.

The coconut rice recipe is from the same book (page 109). This too was simple and delicious. The jasmine rice cooked in coconut milk and water with a cinnamon stick and a little salt. Shortly before finishing, we added the zest of one lime to the party. Side note: we finally got around to getting a Microplane zester/grater and it is awesome.

Last but not least, we decided to add a simple greens salad much like we had with Salmon Cakes last month. We used salad greens tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, kosher salt and pepper. We also added some tomato and cucumber.

This dinner will be revisited in the future because it was so tasty. We give it 5 out of 5 stars.

ingredients for the marinade

onion and bell pepper

 the seitan patiently awaits its turn

 finished rice topped with toasted coconut

 pair with Shiner Bock for the yummy

more pictures here

A View of Tasty Things to Come

stay tuned

Left to my own devices

Laura and I both work jobs that require some night and weekend hours. For the most part we are able to get our schedules matched up so that we work the same schedules, or at least schedules that are at least some what alike. This week is one of the times that we are way off and won't have a night off together all week long, so cooking together can't really happen. Tonight Laura is working and I'm home alone so what do I make, Hamburger Helper. Yes, Hamburger Helper, I am sorry to say it but it is true.

In my defense I did have a large helping of broccoli to go with it. Maybe on my next alone night I'll try my friend Shawn's suggestion of cast iron skillet steak.

Gratin of Eggplant with Plum Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella and Lemon-Basil Pesto

Oh, fresh mozzarella how I love thee. Laura and I broke out the Cooking for Two: Perfect Meals for Pairs that was a gift from my friend Shawn and his wife (also my cousin) Jill . We like the book, but it does tend to lend itself to more expensive meals than we usually like to make. We found a pretty good deal on the fresh mozzarella and it was oh so tasty, but it isn't something we will splurge on that often.

Tonight's dish is from page 46, Gratin of Eggplant Layered with Plum Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella, and Lemon-Basil Pesto. Yes that is a mouthful, but an oh so tasty mouthful. The pesto was simple: blended pine nuts (that had been roasted in the oven), garlic, Parmesan cheese, fresh basil and lemon juice. The eggplant was browned in a large pan with olive oil and then the yummy layers began.

The pesto brought a bright flavor to the dish that I very much enjoyed. I used too much olive oil in the browning of the eggplant which resulted in far too much liquid coming out in the baking process. Next time we make this we will use less oil on the eggplant and slice it a bit thicker. The mozzarella could have been a bit thinner but that was tricky stuff to slice. Laura thought the cheese could of used a bit more time in the oven, but we both loooooved the fresh mozzarella anyway. We give this one 3.5 of 5 stars.

fresh eggplant

pesto (we eat a lot of garlic)

this will be better in the summer when plum tomatoes are in season

trust me, you really should wish this was a scratch and sniff blog

pre-bake

nom nom nom

more pictures here

Tilapia with Apples, Cabbage & Warm Cumin Vinaigrette

I don't know if you've heard,  but IT SNOWED here on Friday!!!  It was beautiful and so much fun to play in with Munchie.  Unfortunately, our cupboard was seriously bare.  So we finally risked life and limb today and ventured out to the grocery store.  I think we pretty much bought the place out.  While there we got the ingredients for tonight's dinner.  The recipe is from The Ultimate Cook Book (p 340) which was a gift from Uncle Phil and Aunt Cheryl (thank you for feeding our obsession!).
 
Zack prepped all of the veggies and I sauteed the onion, garlic, cabbage, chickpeas & a granny smith apple in a bit of butter and white wine.  The Tilapia was seasoned with salt and pepper and put on the stove top briefly before being baked in the oven.  The vinaigrette seemed more like an onion relish than a dressing.  It was made of sauteed red onion, garlic and cumin mixed with lime juice and white wine vinegar.

The original recipe called for bass, but Harris Teeter only had Chilean sea bass.  This particular bass has almost been fished to extinction.  The Tilapia seemed like a good substitution.  The vinaigrette also called for crushed cumin seeds.  There were no cumin seeds in the spice cabinet, there was some regular cumin.  We decided to use what we had because, damn it, we're kind of cheap.      

The result was a yummy, if slightly monochromatic dish.  Zack gave it 4 out of 5 stars even though he generally isn't a fan of cabbage.  I really liked the cabbage and tart apple combo.  I think we will make this one again.

 

 

more pictures here