Strawberry Cheesecake

This is a combination of two recipes plus a little bit of my changes. One is Natasha Kitchen and the other is Sugar Spun Run. This is the first time I've had tried one of Sugar Spun Run recipe, won't be my last. Go checkout both of these bloggers, they are great.

For the Crust:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs, from 15-16 whole crackers
• 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350. Line the bottom of 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine graham crackers with sugar then stir in melted butter.  Mix until moisten. Press crumbs into your prepared pan,  going 3/4of the way up the sides. Bake in the center of the oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.  Cool to room temperature.

Cheesecake;

4/ 8oz cream cheese blocks, room temperature 

1 1/8 cup sugar

⅔ cups sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla 

⅛ teaspoon salt

4 large eggs room temperature, lightly beaten 

Lower oven to 325

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add cream cheese and stir until smooth and creamy (don’t over-beat or you’ll incorporate too much air)

Add sugar and stir again until creamy.

Add sour cream, vanilla extract, and salt, and stir until well-combined. If using a stand mixer, make sure you pause periodically to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula so that all ingredients are evenly incorporated.

With mixer on low speed, gradually add lightly beaten eggs, one at a time, stirring just until each egg is just incorporated. Once all eggs have been added, use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl again and make sure all ingredients are well combined.

Pour cheesecake batter into prepared springform pan. Wrap springform pan with foil, bake on cookie sheet pan.

Transfer to the center rack of your oven and add a pan of hot water to the rack below cheesecake.  Bake at 325 for about 75 minutes. ( mine baked for about 90 minutes) Edges will likely have slightly puffed and may have just begun to turn a light golden brown and the center should spring back to the touch but will still be Jello-jiggly. Don't over-bake or the texture will suffer.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on top of the oven for 10 minutes. Once 10 minutes has passed, use a knife to gently loosen the crust from the inside of the springform pan (this will help prevent cracks as your cheesecake cools and shrinks). Do not remove the ring of the springform pan.

Allow cheesecake to cool another 1-2 hours or until near room temperature before transferring to refrigerator and allowing to cool overnight or at least 6 hours. I remove the ring of the springform pan just before serving then return it to the pan to store. 

Strawberry topping;

1 pound strawberries,  rinsed, hulled and thinly sliced. Plus more to garnish.

1/3 cup sugar 

1 Tbsp lemon juice.

In a medium saucepan,  combine chopped strawberries,  lemon juice,  and sugar. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and continue simmering,  stirring occasionally for 20-23 minutes,  or until the sauce is thickened. Cool to room temperature.  Add to top of chilled cheesecake, cover top with sliced strawberries.

Brown utter Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

I got the original recipe from  https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3702298631017277805/6687584762283069962

I was in Such a hurry I just threw these together really quick.  They are great cookies. I did change a couple of things. I browned unsalted butter and added mini M&Ms. They will be perfect just the way they are without any changes.

• 1 cup brown butter softened
• ▢1 cup sugar

• ▢1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• ▢2 tsp vanilla 
• ▢2 large eggs
• ▢3 cups all-purpose flour 
• ▢1 tsp baking soda
• ▢½ tsp baking powder
• ▢1 tsp salt
• ▢1 cups milk chocolate chips 
• 1 cup mini m&m's

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder. Set aside.
• Cream together butter and sugars until combined.
• Beat in eggs and vanilla until fluffy.
• Mix in the dry ingredients until combined.
• Add 12 oz package of chocolate chips and mix well.
• Roll 2-3 TBS (depending on how large you like your cookies) of dough at a time into balls and place them evenly spaced on your prepared cookie sheets. (alternately, use a small cookie scoop to make your cookies).
• Bake in preheated oven for approximately 8-10 minutes. Take them out when they are just BARELY starting to turn brown.
• Let them sit on the baking pan for 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

Pico De Gallo

 

4 tomatoes on the vine

1/4 large white onion

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves along with some stems.

1 jalapeno seeds removed, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon Cumin 

Juice of one lime

Coarsely chop tomatoes and onion. Place both in medium bowl. Add cilantro, jalapenos,  salt, Cumin and lime juice, toss to combine.

Greek Salad

 This is a salad from https://natashaskitchen.com/greek-salad-recipe/#jump-to-recipe

One of my favorite blogs to follow. I cannot wait for Natasha cookbook to come out so I can cook through every recipe. Go check out her blog.

Also, this salad is wonderful!

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• 1 romaine lettuce head, chopped
• 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 bell pepper, (any color), chopped
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (or slice heirlooms when in season)
• 1 English cucumber, sliced
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives,sliced into thirds
• 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Greek Dressing Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
• 1 garlic clove, pressed or finely minced
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

• Rinse, chop and spin dry romaine lettuce and transfer to a large salad bowl. 

• Add remaining salad ingredients to the bowl: sliced red onion, sliced bell peppers, halved tomatoes, diced cucumber, diced avocado, kalamata olives, and feta cheese.

• Combine all Greek dressing ingredients in a mason jar and shake to combine. Just before serving, drizzle dressing over the salad to taste and toss to combine.

Macadamia chocolate bars

 These make a huge amount of cookie bars or cookies. At the end of the recipe there will be some ideas of how to store the batter if you do not want to make a half sheet of cookie bars. 

These are great tasting bars. I got the chocolate and white chocolate bars from Whole Foods.

Make sure to plan ahead with your brown butter so it will be cooled.

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• 2 cup browned butter, cooled

  1 cup butter, softened 
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  2 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

• 1 ½ cup white sugar

• 6 eggs, room temperature 

• 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

• 1 1/2 teaspoon  butter extract

• 7 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• 3 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 ½ teaspoon salt

• 3 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts

• 2 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

• 2 cups coarsely chopped milk chocolate 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

• Brown butter and cool.

• 1. Cream butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla and almond extracts.

  2. 1. Cream butters, brown sugar, and white sugar together in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla and butter extracts.

     2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Fold in macadamia nuts and white chocolate.

     3. Line a 1/2 sheet baking pan with parchment paper. Smooth dough into pan.

     4. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until light golden brown.

        
        
        

     5. These make a large amount. You can cut the recipe down and make in a smaller pan or as cookies. I also like to chill the dough and scoop out dough and roll in balls, place on a cookie sheet and freeze, when frozen remove from pan and put in a freezer bag. Pull out cookies as needed. The other thing I like to do is add cookie dough to a covered container and store in refrigerator and scoop out and bake as needed. Cookies bake 10-13 minutes or until light golden brown.

Irish Soda Bread

 This recipes comes from Wyse Guide. I thought I would try it out four days before Saint Patty's day. This is a great recipe. I will make this more often then just for Saint Patty's Day. Go check out Kaleb's page he has so.e great recipes. I have made a few and have loved every one of them. He had some great chocolate chip cookies made with bread flour also. They need to chill overnight so start them the night before.

½ cup whole wheat flour 

3 ½ cups all-purpose 

⅓ cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

5 tbsp unsalted butter cut into cubes and kept cold

1 ½ cups buttermilk 

1 large egg

2 tbsp orange zest (about 1 large orange)

1 cup dried cherries slightly chopped if large pieces 

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix for 30 seconds until evenly combined.
• Add the cubed butter and mix on medium-low speed until the butter is worked into the flour mixture with pieces the size of a pea or smaller. Add the orange zest and dried cherries to the dry ingredients.
• In a large measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk and egg. With the mixer running on a medium speed, pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined with a few dry crumbs.
• Knead the dough slightly to make sure all the ingredients are combined. Form into a round boule, shaped on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, make a large X slash across the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until deep golden brown on the top and bottom, 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Korean fried chicken wings

My son who will not eat meat on the bone will actually eat these. These wings are so good. Be prepared to make a large batch if you make them.

The recipe is from American Test Kitchen. It is one of the first recipes I have made from their magazine. 

 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seed oil

 1 teaspoon garlic, minced to paste 

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger 

 1 3/4 cup water 

3 tbsp sugar

 2-3 tablespoons gochujang

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 quarts vegetable oil

1 cup all- purpose flour

3 tablespoon cornstarch

3 pounds chicken wings, cut at joints.

1. Combine sesame seed oil, garlic, and ginger in a large bowl and microwave mixture until bubbly and garlic and ginger are fragrant but not brown, 40 to 60 seconds. Whisk in 1/4 cup water, sugar, gochujang, and soy sauce until smooth; set aside.

2. Add oil to large Dutch oven until it measures about 11/2" deep and heat over medium high heat heat to 350°. While oil heats, whisk flour, cornstarch, and remaining one and a half cups of water in second large bowl until smooth. Set wire rack in Rim baking sheet and set aside.

3. Place half of the Wings in batter and stir to coat. Using tongs remove wings from batter one at a time allowing any excess batter to drip back into the bowl, and add to oil increase heat to high and cook stirring occasionally to prevent wings from sticking, until coating is light golden and beginning to crisp about 7 minutes. Transfer Wings to prepared rack, return oil to 350° and repeat with the remaining wings. Reduce heat to medium and let second batch of wings rest for 5 minutes.

4 heat oil to 375° carefully return all wings to oil and cook stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown and very crispy, about 7 minutes. Return Wings to rack and let stand for 2 minutes. Transfer Wings to reserve sauce and toss until coated. Return Wings to rack and let stand for 2 minutes to allow coating to set. Transfer to platter and serve.

Espresso Cheesecake

I took mom on timeout expresso cheesecake and changed a little bit . Please go over to her page and check out her great recipes and I will leave the original link to this cheesecake recipe to go check out . I don't like a lot of chocolate so I changed the crust and I also use semi sweet chocolate chips for the topping https://www.momontimeout.com/espresso-cheesecake-recipe/#recipe

Crust

2 cups Graham cracker crumbs

6 tablespoons butter melted

Cheesecake

24 ounces cream cheese softened 

¾ cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons flour

¼ cup espresso

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

3 eggs

Ganche Topping

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

4 ounces semisweet 

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese softened 

4 tablespoons butter, softened 

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup powdered sugar

preheat oven to 350

Add Graham crackers to food processor and blend, add butter

Bake the crust for 10 minutes and allow to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.

Add in the sugar and flour and mix until combined. Add the espresso and mix until just combined.

Pour in the heavy whipping cream and beat for an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until just combined.

Add the filling into the prepared crust and gently tap on the counter 10 to 15 times to remove any air bubbles.

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 200F and bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until the center slightly jiggles but the sides are set.

Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes slightly crack the oven door and allow to cool for an additional 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Once the cheesecake is set, prepare the topping by bringing the heavy cream to a boil (either stove top or in the microwave) and carefully pour over the chopped chocolate and allow it to sit for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Carefully pour over  cheesecake and smooth

Add the cream cheese and butter into a medium bowl and use a hand mixer or stand mixer to mix until light and fluffy.

Next add the vanilla and mix until just combined. Add in the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until fully combined.

Place the frosting in a piping bag fitted with your favorite tip and pipe around the outside of the cheesecake.

Preheat your oven and prepare an 8” springform pan with non-stick spray and set aside. Add Graham crackers to a food processor and pulse. Add in melted butter and salt and pulse until well combined. Press into pan and use the bottom of a measuring cup to pack down the crust bringing it about 1 inch up the sides of the pan.