Chocolate Cheesecake

One of my favorite desserts to make is making New York style cheesecake. I love to bake them...I don't know the reason, but I can remember back in high school and college I loved to bake them for family and friends.

My husband always "joked" with me on our way to Chicago to visit friends and to go shopping, that we were going to buy this factory that was for sale and turn it into a homemade cheesecake "factory". Not really a factory but more of a location. I was just amazed at some of the preservatives that cheesecake manufacturers place into their desserts. Well as you can see we did not open that cheesecake factory, but the love of making cheesecakes continued.

This past holiday season, I made chocolate cheesecake. Oh it was so good! It just melted in our mouths...I can taste it now.

Chocolate Cheesecake

1 crumb-nut cheesecake crust or graham cracker crust

3 packages of softened cream cheese

3/4 cup of sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 eggs

3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup turbinado (if you prefer you can replace with equal amounts of white sugar). I think the turbinado makes it less sweet
1 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Chocolate chunks (can be chocolate chips, broken chocolate pieces, etc.)


Preheat oven to 450° degrees. In a large mixer bowl place the softened sour cream and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Blend/beat on medium speed until smooth. Next add flour, blend 1 tablespoon at a time and mix well. Add eggs and beat well. Now add the cocoa powder and turbinado, oil, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and mix until well blended.

Pour the cheesecake mixture into your springform pan that has the graham cracker crust already formed within. Make sure the bottom of the pan and sides are latched on securely. Once the cheesecake mixture is in the pan, place the chocolate chunks throughout the cheesecake. Gently push the pieces within the cream cheese.

Bake at 450° degrees for 10 minutes. Without opening the oven door, lower temperature to 250° degrees and continue cooking for 30 minutes more. Without opening the oven door, turn off heat and let cheesecake sit in oven for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and loosen sides with knife. Let cool and chill.

Sausage Broccoli Bake

We love to try new recipes and this recipe we made over the holidays. It is one on the top of our list now. If you are not a lover of meat in your breakfast casserole dishes, you could remove the sausage and add another vegetable or another meat substitute.

Sausage Broccoli Bake

Ingredients
3/4 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
3 green onions, chopped (or use a small yellow onion)
2 cups fresh broccoli florets, cooked and drained
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
8 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup ricotta cheese or cottage cheese depending upon your preference
1/4 cup milk
seasoning salt (or use white salt)
black pepper
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 firm plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

Set the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 11 x 7-inch baking dish or a medium-size oval casserole dish. In a skillet cook the sausage meat with onions over medium-high heat, stirring until the sausage is browned; drain fat and transfer to a large bowl. Add in cooked broccoli and 3/4 cup shredded cheese; toss to combine, transfer and spread into bottom of prepared baking dish. In another bowl combine the eggs with 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, cayenne, ricotta cheese and milk, then season with salt and pepper; pour over the broccoli/sausage mixture. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese (or you can use cheddar in place of the Parmesan) then arrange the tomato slices over the top. Bake covered for about 30 minutes; remove from oven and uncover. Bake for another 15 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Yummy Blueberry Ice Cream

One of the traditions in our family has been that you pick whatever you would like to eat for your birthday dinner. My nephew had a birthday and he selected some unique food combinations but all of it was yummy. Each family member brought a dish that he had requested, the dish that I brought was blueberry ice cream.

So I looked at various recipes and then created this recipe of my own. I must admit I was a little skeptical of blueberry ice cream, but you know what? I was pleasantly surprised.

2 cups blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Place the blueberries, sugar and salt in a sauce pan and turn to medium-high heat. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, mashing berries and stirring with a fork. Simmer the mixture, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes and then cool slightly.

In a blender, puree 3/4 of the mixture with milk just until smooth and stir in cream. Chill this mixture until cold in the fridge overnight. Place the remaining 1/4 mixture in the refrigerator as well.

The next day, pull out the "chucky 1/4 part of the blueberry mixture" that was in the refrigerator and place on your counter-top. Then pour the chilled ice cream mixture into the ice cream maker and follow your ice cream maker directions.

Half-way through the ice cream making process spoon in the 1/4 of the "chunky" blueberry mixture that was placed in the refrigerator into the ice cream maker (very slowly). You need to be careful that the blueberry "chunky" mixture does not harden to quickly and stop the turning of your ice cream maker.

Corn, Mixed Vegetables & Potato Soup

Recently I have enjoyed trying new soups that I tweek to "Our Table of 4" tastes. Last night I made this new soup, "Corn, Mixed Vegetables and Potato Soup".  My husband and daughters just devoured the soup and wanted more. It went excellent with a garden salad for a good "warm" meal.

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup onions, medium diced
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
4 cups corn (roughly 2 bags, 1 pound each of frozen corn)
A few mixed vegetables
2 1/2 cups potatoes, medium diced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 quart chicken, vegetable or beef stock (we used beef stock since that is what we had on hand)
6 ounces milk or half-and-half (I used a little bit of both to give it a creamier flavor

Heat oil in a stockpot. Saute onions, garlic, and cumin over medium heat until the onions are transluent. Add corn, potatoes, mixed vegetables, salt, pepper, and stock. Bring to a boil and reduce and simmer for 20 minutes. Potatoes will roughly be cooked around this time. Slowly add milk/half-in-half, stir and heat through.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

We have had great prices in cabbage this year at our local grocery market. It doesn't matter if it is red or green cabbage, it has been great. I have taken on the deal of making stuffed cabbage rolls. Hope you enjoy one of our family favorites.

Stuffed Cabbages Rolls
12 cabbage leaves
 Filling:

• ½ pound ground beef + ½ pound ground pork/sausage
• 3/4 cup cooked rice
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup milk  

Sauce:

• 1 cans (8 ounces ) tomato sauce
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup cold water

Preparation:
Drop cabbage leaves into boiling salted water; cover and cook for 3 minutes. Drain well.

For filling, combine ground beef and ground pork, rice, chopped onion, egg, and salt, pepper, and milk. Mix well and divide into 12 portions. Place a portion into the center of each cabbage leaf. Roll leaf around filling; fasten with toothpick. Place in a baking dish.

For sauce, combine tomato sauce, tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, and 1/2 cup of water and pour over cabbage rolls.

Bake covered in a preheated 350° oven 40 to 45 minutes. Remove rolls and discard toothpicks. Place pan with juices over medium heat or transfer the juices to a saucepan and place over heat; stir cornstarch and water mixture into the sauce; bring to a boil and cook until thickened.

Two of Our All Time Favorite Recipes...Falafel and Tzatzki

One of our most favorite meals that we have been making on a regular bases recently has been falafel. I guess you could say we have been craving the medeterian cuisine recently. My daughters have been loving it as well. Here is a recipe that we have been perfecting each time and now I think we have perfected it to our taste buds.

In addition, my daughters have an all time favorite of tzatziki, that they have been dipping the falafel into (as well as my husband and I drizzling the tzatzki onto our falafel inside of a pita). My younger daughter will not touch anything yogurt related, except for this recipe. Enjoy. I apologize for not taking a photograph of these two recipes.


Falafel

1 can of garbanzo beans (drained).
1 yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (I did use black pepper, in that I had this and not cayenne pepper)
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 T all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil for frying

Drain the garbanzo beans and rinse. Combine in a food processor with the onion, garlic, and parsley and grind to the consistency of a coarse meal. Add the cumin, coriander, and pepper and pulse to mix.

Dissolve the salt and baking soda in ¼ cup water in a large bowl. Add the garbanzo mixture and stir to mix.
Add the flour (I add a little each time) until the mixture will hold together when molded. Mold into 8 flat, round like disks, roughly 2 inches wide.

Pour oil into a tall pot, roughly 3-5 inches (I have played with this and really do not have a good depth). Heat over medium heat until the oil registers 350F. Working in batches, deep fry the disks until golden brown (roughly 8-10 minutes). Transfer to paper towel to drain and serve at once.

Tzatziki16 ounces (2 cups) of thick Greek yogurt (we like the Meijer brand of whole fat yogurt – it a thicker yogurt similar to a Greek yogurt
4 to 10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup of diced or grated cucumber (make sure that you let the water in the cucumber drain out of the colander, otherwise the tzatziki will be very runny).
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Prepare all ingredients in advance. Combine oil and lemon juice in a medium mixing bowl. Fold the yogurt in slowly, making sure it mixes completely with the oil. Add the garlic, according to taste, and the cucumber. Stir until evenly distributed.

Yield: about 2 1/2 cups

Taco Seasoning Mix

One of the things that we love to experiment with is making our own homemade seasonings, whether it is for tacos, chili powder, blackened seasonings for tuna, mahi mahi steaks, etc. This is one of our family favorites! It is very easy to make and keeps well.

Taco Seasoning Mix
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Makes 3 Tablespoons of seasoning and mix, which is equal in strength to a ¼ ounce package of commercial seasoning mix.

Rockin' Hummus

One of the things that my girls really enjoy doing it going to the library. Our library has something that is really pretty cool (we think). It has a coffee store built within the library but on the outside of the library in the hallway. The great thing about this coffee store is that you can get a latte, a mocha…ice tea…juice…milk, really anything that fits all budgets and desires. In addition, one thing that you can do is bring your own lunch!


This past summer, my daughters and I have been packing our lunch and going to the library. The girls get the biggest kick out of it.

Hummus
4 cups chick peas (roughly 2 ½ cans drained) or if you cook your own via dried beans (roughly 1 lb)
1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
½ cup warm water
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemons
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin


Combine the chick peas, tahini, warm water, olive oil and juice of one lemon in food processor. Process until smooth, scrape down side of bowl when necessary. Add garlic, salt, cumin and pepper (to taste if you like) and process to blend. It will keep well in jar in the refrigerator and makes roughly one quart.