black and white cheesecake

Warning: except if you have company coming, do not make this cake unless you are prepared for the consequences of eating it all yourself! It’s that good!

The back story – I got a link to Mel’s Kitchen Café blog from a friend’s podcast and was browsing through her desserts and came across a recipe for black and white cheesecake. It’s a cross between brownies and cheesecake and she blatantly admits ripping the recipe off Martha Stewart. I was amazed to see, after checking Martha’s website, that Mel did not change a thing and the directions were word for word from Martha’s recipe. Struck me as rather odd but what do I know – there are no copyrights on recipes, but I would have thought she (Mel) would have put a little spin on it.

Anyway, I do like both brownies and cheesecake and thought I’d give it a try – had company coming so it’s always nice to have something different. My first attempt was following their directions for a 9 X 13 pan, but I cooked it in a 7 X 11 pan using a little less sugar than the original recipe called for – I always find most recipes far too sweet. The result was pretty yummy, still sweet enough but the next try, I revamped it for an 8X8 pan – you need a lot of people to eat a 7 X 11! Also, I thought it would be better with more of the cheesecake part. Basically, I made half of the brownie part, but the same amount of the cheesecake and I think it is now perfect!

ready to bake

There is a bit of fiddling around – you make the brownie part and it has to be chilled for a half hour or so, then you bake the base for 15 minutes and wait for it to cool (another 20 minutes), then you add the cheesecake filling and top it with the remaining brownie bits and then bake the whole thing for another 25 minutes. I hate having to wait around for things like that, so I found that you can make the brownie part and refrigerate it even overnight before proceeding so it saves a bit of the rigamarole and you can plan your time better than having to hang out in the kitchen waiting around.

baked

Brownie Mixture

1 C plus 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3/8 unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
10 Tbsp softened butter
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

In medium bowl, cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until all incorporated, scraping down the bowl a few times. Sift in the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, gradually, low speed until all mixed in. Dough is quite stiff and thick – make sure the butter is very soft.

Prepare 8 X 8 pan with foil sling, sprayed lightly. Reserve 3/4 C of brownie mix. Press remaining in the prepared pan, cover both with plastic wrap and refrigerate both for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hrs.
Preheat oven to 325F and bake base for 15 minutes – don’t overbake because it gets cooked again with the cheesecake mixture and you don’t want it too hard.
Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack to room temp, about 20 minutes.
While waiting, make the cheesecake filling.

Cheesecake filling

8 oz cream cheese, softened
scant 1/2 C powdered icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
Mix cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla in a medium bowl.  Beat to smooth.
Spread over cooled base; break up reserved dough by small spoonful and scatter on top. Bake until filling is set, 25 minutes.  You want it to be still slightly jiggly in centre.
Cool to room temp and then refrigerate 4 to 6 hrs before cutting into squares – lift out of pan and cut it into 25 squares or as desired!
If you'd like the pdf printable version of just the recipe, email me maoger@shaw.ca

and the secret ingredient is....

Last year when sister Janet and I were in Australia, I discovered these yummy eats – the original vendor in Manly called them figgy seed bars.  https://travelwithmysis.blogspot.ca/2017/03/arrowtown.html
I was in love with them! We later went to New Zealand and visited Janet’s friend’s brother whose wife made ‘Sticky Seed Flapjacks’ from a recipe book she had. They were close to the Manly bars but something was missing and when I told her I liked to hack recipes, she offered me hers as a starter.
Apparently Birdseed Bars are a thing in NZ because in one of our lodgings (they all had several cookbooks, Jamie Oliver being most popular!), I found another recipe by Angela Langbein - she's sometimes on PBS TV here - which I unabashedly copied.

Back at home in Thunder Bay, I began experimenting.

Spoiler Alert – these are not a cheap, quick snack but they are well worth the effort. I made them several times over the summer, getting progressively closer but something was still missing.

date/fig mix

When I was out in Vancouver last October visiting other sister, Marnie, I found a homemade style granola bar at Meinhardt on Granville Street – they call it their ‘Grind’ bar (why, I don’t know) – it was quite different and not exactly my favourite thing but there was just something about it that triggered the missing component for me – theirs did have an ingredient list and there it was, staring me in the face – molasses!
After many batches and trials, here’s my last version:
Figgy Nutbars

nut mix

 
1 1/2 C chopped pitted dates
1 1/2 C chopped figs
1 C cashews
1 C hazelnuts or almonds
2 Tbsp molasses
3 1/2 C old fashioned oats
1 C pumpkin seeds
1/2 C sunflower seeds
2Tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp sea salt
water - see below for amounts.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Roast nuts for 10 minutes.
Line half sheet tray (12” X 8”) with parchment.
Place chopped dates and figs in pot with 2 C water. Bring to a boil and simmer to soften. Take off heat and allow to cool slightly. Put into food processor (should now be about 4 cups). Add the molasses. Whiz/pulse 2-3 times – I like it chunky, so you still know there are dates and figs. Remove to large mixing bowl.
Put roasted nuts in processor bowl (no need to clean in between) with 3/4 C water and blitz till smooth. Add to date mixture.
In same processor bowl, put oats and salt and pulse about 1 minute to rough chop. Add 1/2 C pumpkin seeds, 1/4 C sunflower seeds and 1 Tbsp chia seeds and pulse for another 15 seconds. Add to date/nut mixture. Stir/mix by hand thoroughly.


oats mix
 

Spread mixture in sheet tray to 1.5/2 cm. Leave top rough/unsmooth. Sprinkle the remaining pumpkin, chia and sunflower seeds over. Put a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper over and press down all over to set them into the mixture.
Bake for 35 minutes.
Cool for 1 hour before cutting into bars.
Notes: not all figs are created equal, same for dates. Black Mission figs have much more flavour as well as darker colour, but are harder to come by and of course, more expensive. Next best in my opinion are Smyrna dates and quite acceptable. Medjool dates are the superior choice, but Deglet Noor dates certainly good enough here. I usually go to the bulk store for these and the nuts.
One of the biggest things I noticed was the difference in taste between raw and roasted nuts. Some people go with raw because health-wise, they are supposed to be better for you, but taste-wise roasting brings out so much of any nut. Also, very important, nuts and seeds need to be fresh and buy unsalted - I store mine in the freezer. Because of the high fat content, they can go rancid quickly. Unless you're using them every day and purchasing fresh each week, freezing is the best option. Vary the nuts - I've used pecans and almonds instead and you have to have a very discerning palate to tell the difference. Here's a quick hack - instead of the nuts, substitute almond butter (2 C for the nuts and water). I haven't tried it with peanut butter but that's another possibility. These make great snacks and I always take them with me when road tripping or air travelling and for sure when out hiking for more than an hour or two. Because there are no eggs or anything to go bad, I think they are safe without refrigeration for a couple of days but don't tell the FDA I said that! 

green goddess avocado dressing...

Ever since I was out in Vancouver visiting baby sister Marnie last Fall, I’ve been experimenting with and perfecting green goddess salad dressing. We had gone to Marcello’s, my favourite Italian restaurant over on Commercial Drive – we love their pasta and it comes with a salad – their version of the Italian chopped salad and I remembered it from years before – we asked the server what it was and were told it was their ‘house green goddess’ but that’s all they would say. Marnie texted her Italian girlfriend, who was impressed that we were dining at Marcello’s, and asked her what was in green goddess. After checking with her mom (the real cook in the family), she answered back, ‘garlic, herbs, mayo, anchovies…’. Thus, began my quest. Surprising to me, Marnie, who is an extremely picky eater, okayed the anchovies and the garlic! After Googling for the recipe, I tried it out a couple of times and we both thought it was suitable, but I had more experimenting to do to get it right.
I do find garlic troubling, so I very rarely use it and most often, I substitute shallots for the garlic in someone else’s recipe. I have tried real, canned anchovies and the anchovy paste – can’t really tell the difference in the finished product so use what is most convenient – the paste, of course – you’ll find it in a refrigerated section of the grocery store – on the box, it says, ‘refrigerate after opening’ so I don’t think it actually needs refrigerating in the store, but the canned anchovies also say ‘keep refrigerated’ but don’t specify the ‘after opening’ – I wonder if it’s a case of mis-translation or is that a debate for another day? I have seen canned anchovies in Italian food markets sold without refrigeration.
I also dislike mayonnaise – I was brought up on Miracle Whip, like the taste and, when you read the labels and compare, calorie wise, I’m sticking with MW.
You sort of need a blender or food processor for this especially is using the anchovies to get them broken down and I first made this in my Magic Bullet, thinking I could store it conveniently in the two-cup container but I found it tedious to blend as you had to take it off, unscrew the blades, scrape, stir and mix, way too many times. My next attempt was in my 10-yr. old Oster blender, a good piece of equipment that is stored in the bottom of my little portable kitchen island – too much trouble to take out so don’t often use. It was virtually the same as the magic bullet – too much scraping and stirring and then I had to find a suitable storage container and clean up! Next time, I used my hand-held stick blender in a 6 C tall pitcher - this was the perfect tool for the job! and the easiest to clean!
After many batches and trials, here’s my last version:

Green Goddess Avocado Dressing

1 ripe avocado, rough diced
1 shallot, peeled and cut in half
1/2 C Greek yogurt (2% is what I use)
1/2 C Miracle Whip
6 anchovy fillets, drained and patted dry (or 1 Tbsp anchovy paste)
juice of 1 medium lemon (1/4 C)
Put all the above in tall container. buzz with stick blender until mixed well.
Flat leaf parsley, tarragon, thyme, 1/2 C, chopped (measure after chopping by hand). Add to blended mixture and stir to incorporate. I like to leave this with the herbs un-blitzed. (No salt needed as the anchovies do the trick!)
Store in 2C preserve jar with snug lid – in fridge for a week or so – it stays thick, creamy, fresh and tasty, and makes a great dip for a veggie tray as well as a salad dressing!
It goes a long way in a salad - don't over-dress!

 

pot pies...

Certain family members like my pot pies! And part of the reason I love to cook is to make family happy. Every once in a while, I make a bunch of these – they are kid-friendly, freeze well and ready when someone needs a quick dinner or two! Mostly I make chicken because they are the easiest, ingredient-wise. If I made a roast turkey and had leftover turkey and gravy, they would be turkey pot pies without having to make the stock because of the leftover gravy. Anyway, I cheat a bit and use puff pastry here not only for the convenience but because they like the puff pastry, so much in fact that I’ve made these with no bottom crust and got complaints, so the puff pastry is important. To start from scratch, I make chicken stock as below and go from there.
Chicken Stock
Preheat oven to 375F
10 chicken thighs and 10 chicken wings (all three sections, chopped into thirds)

Place wings and thighs in large flat roasting pan (I use the bottom of my oven broiler pan – it dark metal which encourages a little browning, a good thing and adds flavour!) Spread them out and sprinkle with 1 T kosher salt and a good grind of black pepper. Roast for half hour. Stir around and roast for another half hour. Take out of oven, remove thighs and set aside.
In large Dutch oven, place the wings and all the fat and juice. Cover with cool water and bring to low boil. Add I small onion, cut in quarters, 1 carrot and one stick of celery.
The thighs should be pretty well cooked through. After they are cool enough, remove skin and pull the meat off the bones. Set aside the meat – about three and a half cups, rough chop into bite-size pieces, refrigerate. This can be used for chicken pot pie, plain ole chicken soup or whatever and still have flavor to it instead of being boiled to death in the stock.
Put the bones and skin into the stock pot. Simmer for 3-4 hours. Turn off and let cool. Strain off broth and toss bones and veg. Place broth/stock in fridge and cool overnight. In the morning the fat will all be in a solid layer on the top, easy to lift/skim off. You should have about 16 C good, strong, gelatinized chicken broth with lots of flavour and very little salt – you can add more to the individual recipe later. I portion my stock into sandwich ziplock bags, 1 C in each and lay them flat, freeze them – easy to pull out only what you need and easy to thaw!
Chicken Pot Pie – makes 5-6 individual pies. Preheat oven to 425F.

Frozen puff pastry (thawed), I pkg is enough for 5 pies.
Place 3 cups chicken stock in saucepan and bring to low boil over medium heat.
To make this into gravy, make a slurry with 1/4 C cool water and 4 Tbsp cornstarch (you could use flour here, but I got into the habit of using cornstarch for a gravy thickener because it’s gluten-free and now I prefer it). Whisk into the stock, at a very low boil, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes. Add the 3 C cooked chicken and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add salt and pepper as desired/to taste – I add about 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Take off heat and allow to cool.

Add about 1 1/2 C frozen peas, carrots and/or corn or whatever combo you like – I take this out of freezer bag, rinse the frost/ice crystals off and drain well – no need to cook – that will happen while the pies are cooking. Add to gravy/chicken mixture. Let this cool completely. Optional, add 1 Tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley.

Roll out thawed pastry, as thin as possible. Cut dough and lay in aluminum pie tins – I found these 5-inch ones with a domed lid which are excellent for the freezer because it protects the top of the pie. Ladle 1C cup of filling into each. I take the edges and fold them over the top of the filling and then add a lid – poke steam vents in top of lid. Brush an egg wash over the tops just before putting into hot oven.

If you want to eat/serve right away, cook for 30 minutes.
If you’re going to freeze them for later consumption, cook for 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Add lids and a label with date and reheating instructions and put in freezer.
To reheat, preheat oven to 425F. Put frozen pies in for 15 to 20 minutes until you see it start to bubble through steam vents.

zippy, spicy relish...

Last year, son Derek had bought a jar of something called Millionaire Relish at our local farmers market. It was a corn zucchini relish preserve that was nice but it was incredibly sweet and he asked me if I could come up with something like it without all the sugar. I started off with a recipe off the internet that was called Zippy Zucchini Relish from ‘Canadian Living’ and I used stevia/krisda as the sweetener. It turned out okay and we ate it and missed it when it was gone. I could hardly wait for the zucchini to get big enough to try it again this year.
I made a batch, looking at my notes from last year. I noted that it was a little dry, needs more sauce. I personally hate recipes that don’t have exact amounts – like, 4 zucchinis, 3 onions…how big are they? How much do I need? So I’ve kept track. The original recipe had red peppers and I can’t eat peppers so I substituted corn. Also the original told you to use the food processor to make ‘rice’ of the zucchini. I thought this was a disaster – there was too much big chunks and too much small stuff that escaped from the colander when it was time to drain it…the second time, I opted to chop it by hand, aiming for ¼ inch dice for all pieces that would sort of match the size of the corn kernels. I also added fresh grated ginger which is wonderful! My first batch this year was pretty good and then I got the brainwave to grill the corn instead of throwing it raw in with the rest of the raw vegetables to stew – OMG! You won’t believe what a difference that makes! Anyway, here is my perfected final recipe – it’s sugar-free, low salt, gluten free  –  great on burgers, dogs, any grilled meat! enjoy!

4 small zucchinis (12 inch) cut into  1/4 inch cubes (8 C total)

1 large Vidalia and 1 large red onion, chopped  (4C total)
1/8 cup pickling salt
Put in large stainless-steel or glass bowl; stir to blend. Let stand for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Drain well; rinse and drain again.
Make sauce: in heavy saucepan large enough to hold all (Dutch oven) combine:
Krisda  - 4 packets (each packet is 2 tsp equivalent)
2 C white vinegar
1/2 C cider vinegar
1 Tbsp dry mustard
2 tsp celery seeds
1.5 inch fresh ginger, finely grated
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 Tbsp hot pepper flakes
Bring to boil. Add drained vegetables; reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
While this is happening, grill 6 ears fresh peaches and cream corn – leave in the husk, grill on medium heat, 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes. Let corn cool. Remove husks and silks. Cut kernels off and break apart. (6 C total)
Add corn to cooked vegetables. If it looks dry, add ½ to 1 C water.

Mix 1 Tbsp cornstarch with 1 Tbsp cool water and stir into relish; simmer, stirring, mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.
Pack into 12- 1 cup (250 mL) canning jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles, readjusting headspace if necessary. Cover with prepared lids. Screw on bands until resistance is met; increase to fingertip tight. Boil in boiling water canner for 15 minutes.

canning...

I make a lot of food with tomato sauce and have been canning tomatoes for several years – usually a job for the Labour Day weekend but I’m early this year because we went to Metro the other day and they had the 25-pound boxes of Roma tomatoes for sale – fairly cheap at $8 per box. I thought I’d write down what I do and maybe brag a bit about an outstanding piece of equipment I have!
I used to have an old food mill that was rather lame, seemed to be messy and a real pain and mostly just ground everything up. A few years ago, my daughter let me use this ‘tomatopress’ that she had – a friend had brought it from Italy for her and it’s good. It locks onto your flat surface, you load the hopper on top, place a bowl behind to catch the juice and pulp and then there is a chute at the side that spits out the seeds and skin and anything that won’t go through the fine sieve and you just turn the handle and watch it work. I was lucky enough to spot the exact one at Williams-Sonoma last year and I love it – I also use it for applesauce and mixed fruit compote.
My old method of doing tomato sauce was a two to three-day process – score the top stem of the tomatoes, throw them in boiling water to loosen the skins, put them through the food mill and then boil everything down to get a nice thick sauce. One time last year I had only a partial box and I decided to try roasting the tomatoes instead of boiling. WOW! What a difference, both in labour and in flavour!
This is my new method. Wash and clean the tomatoes. Set the oven to 400F convection with one rack on the bottom and one in the middle/high. Load the tomatoes in the broiler pan or whatever you have that has a bit higher sides – a cookie sheet isn’t deep enough. Do two trays at a time for one hour, rotating them half way through. Notice the little bit of char on the skins – that just adds to the flavour. After the hour, you will have nice soft cooked tomatoes and a fair amount of concentrated juice. Put through the food mill (I go three times to make sure you’re getting everything), dump results into a large pot to simmer away until all tomatoes are done. I don’t add anything – no salt, no sugar, no garlic, nothing, just a half teaspoon of fresh lemon juice to the top of each jar before putting the lids on (and then doing the water bath thing for 20 minutes). This way I can give them a as a gift to anyone regardless of their dietary restriction and they can use it however they want.

I ended up with 20 - 500ml/2-cup jars and got it all done by myself, no sweat in less than 8 hours total and didn’t have to worry about stirring and simmering and not burning anything!

guacamole....

This is a great dip with raw veggies - double it for a good, party-food appetizer!
Guacamole
1 avocado. Cut in half, take out pit and discard.
Using paring knife, cut down into each half to slice through into a 1/8 inch cross hatch pattern to make a fine dice. Use tablespoon around edge to scoop out.
Mash lightly or not as desired - I like it still chunky.
2-3 shallots, finely minced about 3 Tbsp
1 tsp salt
9-10 grape tomatoes, finely sliced.
1 tsp tabasco (or to taste)
2 tsp fresh lime juice (half a lime)
Mush together and mix well.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate or serve immediately!
Great with fresh veggies or crackers. 

Tip: to ripen avocado, place in closed, brown paper bag for a day or two or three, depending on how hard it was...

To get more juice out of a lime, slice it lengthwise, end to end, in half and then in quarters, same way. Squeezing end to end is easier and you can get every drop!