Cheesecake

Nothing beats a good cheesecake. This is what I decided to make this year the finale of the Thanksgiving meal. I told you I made sure that I wasn't going to spend too much time in the kitchen. I felt like relaxing this year and I made sure of that. Besides, cooking a meal that could serve 10 people when only 2 will be eat didn't seem to make much sense. But I ma happy with the way these turned out. I made on full pie with two mini cheesecakes with a cheerio crust.

I had realized that I made more filling than I had anticipated and need to find some way to use it all up. Luckily, honey nut cheerios can be a nice substitute to the graham cracker. Still has the nice sweet crust crunch. You should try it. I think I'll make myself a new batch this weekend.


Makes 2 full  or 4 mini cheesecakes

Cheesecake

2 Pre-Made Graham Cracker Pie Crust (See below for homemade crust)
24 oz cream cheese
12 Tbsp condensed milk
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat your oven 350˚F

Combine the cream cheese and vanilla extract. Eat in each egg, one at a time. Then add in the  condensed milk. Mix thoroughly.

Take your pie crusts and divide the mixture evenly. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. The center should be slightly loose.

Let it cool completely then place in the fridge for at least an hour. This may be done in advance.



Homemade Graham Cracker or Cheerio Crust

4 c Honey Nut Cheerios or 1 box Graham Crackers
1/2 c melter unsalted butter
Pie tins

Preheat your oven to 350˚F.

Crush the cheerios or graham crackers until almost a powder consistency. It is fine if there is still little pebble pieces in tact. You may use a food processor for this.

Place the now crushed cheerios or graham cracker in a bowl and mix in the melted butter. Combine thoroughly until clumpy. Divide the mixture into two pie tins and mold into crust shape and bake for 15 minutes.

When done, remove from the oven and let it fully cool before adding your cheesecake mixture.

Spinach and Mushroom Pizza

Tis a time for pizza once again. The one thing I notice about thin crust is that it tends to bake up a little quicker than the regular thick. Means faster time less time I have to wait to eat. Yum! Anyway...This time around it's just simple ingredients. I didn't do any thing special with them. Just the usual sprinkle and spread evenly of fresh spinach and white mushroom slices. I reserved some of the fresh spinach so that I can place it on top after it's bake, so it'll have a mix of cooked and fresh. Another easy weeknight good eats.

Now I'm thinking about dessert pizzas? Even breakfast pizzas.  Hmm...the ol' hamster wheel in my head is turning and turning and turning.

Serves 2-3 depending on pizza size

Spinach and Mushroom Pizza

1 homemade or pre-made pizza dough (recipe)
1/2 c marinara, pasta or your choice of pizza sauce.
3/4 c sliced white mushrooms
1 small bundle of fresh spinach (stems shortened)
1 1/2 c shredded mozzarella
extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven to 450˚F

On a lightly floured flat surface. Roll out the pizza dough to your designed size. Place the dough on a baking sheet.

Perforate the dough with a fork all around. Spread the marinara sauce evenly on top, then sprinkle 1 cup of the shredded cheese, follow by 2/3 of the fresh spinach and mushroom and the rest of the mozzarella. Drizzle a a little olive oil over and bake in the oven for roughly 10-15 minutes or until the crust has turned a light brown.

When the pizza is done take the rest of the fresh spinach and spread them on top.

Fire-Roasted Bell Pepper and Broiled Eggplant Pizza

I took an initiative and made a large batch of pizza dough. I'm going to be having myself some homemade pizzas for the next few weeks. W00T!! It was nice getting my hands dirty once again mixing up dough. Kneading it to the right consistency. Is it weird to say that I was way too excited to see the dough double in size. Goes to show how much I miss being in the kitchen.

For the first pizza, I fire-roasted a yellow bell pepper on my stove top to remove the skin and broiled the eggplants in the broiler at the same time. Did a little scoopage to separate the skin from the eggplant after.

I rolled out one of the dough into a super thin crust. Once baked it will be nice and crisp. I tend to prefer thin crust now-a-days, but I still like those bready ones, too. The sauce isn't anything special. It's just the canned version. I used Hunt's 4-cheese pasta sauce, which is pretty tasty. The cheese is shredded mozzarella. What you have here is a veggie-licious dish. Have it with a beer or a can of pop. Perfect for those movie and pizza nights. :)

Serves 2-3 depending on pizza size.

Pizza Dough
4 C All Purpose Flour plus (extra for dusting or you may use cornmeal)
2 c warm water (110 to 120˚F)
1 packet or 2 tsp dry active yeast
2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (plus extra for the bowl and basting)
1 tsp sugar

Combine the water, yeast and sugar together. Let is sit for roughly 5 min..

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and oil. Blend well. Add in the yeast mixture and mix all together until it forms into a dough ball.

On a well-floured surface. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes until almost elastic in feel. Place the dough into another bowl lubed with olive oil. Cover with platic wrap and a towel and keep away from light until the dough rises and doubles in size. Roughly 1-2 hours.

When the dough doubles, lightly punch down the dough to release the gases inside.

Layout the dough on a well-floured surface and divide into 4-6 balls. Wrap unused dough in plastic wrap and keep in the freezer until ready to use.



Fire-Roasted Bell Pepper and Broiled Eggplant Pizza


1 pizza dough (homemade or store dough)
1 yellow bell pepper
2 japanese eggplants
2 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c marinara, pasta sauce or your choice of pizza sauce
extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your broiler. Slice the eggplant in half and baste is with some olive oil. Place on a baking pan and broil for 15-20 minutes. Flip half-way through. Once slightly charred on both sides remove from broiler and let cool before handling. Scoop out the meat and discard the skins. Give it a rough chop and set aside.

Turn on one flame of your stove to medium-high. Place the bell pepper directly on the flame. You want to char the skin until they have blackened. Use a pair of tongs to turn the bell pepper. Once most or all the skin has been charred, let it cool for a couple minutes before handling. Using the back of a knife or a straight edge, scrap off the skin. Then remove the seeds and give the bell pepper and rough chop.  Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450˚F.

In a lightly dusted surface, roll out the dough until 1/8-inch thick. Place the dough on an ungreased baking sheet. Take a clean fork and perforate the dough all around, then evenly spread the marinara sauce. Take 1 cup of the cheese and sprinkle it over the sauce. Followed by the eggplant, then the bell pepper, then the rest of the cheese.

Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the entire pizza and bake for 10-15 minutes. Or until the crust looks lightly brown and crisp.

Serve warm.

Bread Lasagna

Bread lasagna? Let's rewind to how it all began, which was yesterday. It was your average Monday. I had spent most of my day working on a script I had been writing for a while. When suddenly, the doorbell rings loudly several times. It was once of those multiple rings as if someone urgently wanted you at the door. It turned out to be the UPS lady. I sign for the package. A large box was eerily light.

As part of Foodbuzz's Tastemaker program, I received a couple loaves of bread to sample from Nature's Pride. I remember receiving sample from them last year as well. I do love my breads and I wouldn't turn down an offer like that. This time around the bread is for their new OvenClassics. The two loaves I received were Honey Wheat with Fiber. (30% less sodium than regular wheat bread, 10 grams whole grains and 4 grams of proteins per slice. -- In case you were interested in the nutritional value of it.)I immediately open one and ate up the end piece. Really tasty. Soft and not too chewy as some breads. Having these toasted with some jam or butter. Ooo...that sounds really good right now. I'm thinking about the sandwiches I'll be having with the rest of the bread now.

So, I check the time and realize that I need to think of something for dinner. I'm making ever effort to cook more when I'm not working on set. I had a craving for pasta so I cracked open one of the pasta sauces I had in pantry. That got me thinking...what if I used the bread as the pasta, what would that be like?

Fresh out of the oven. Yum! (Looks like one of the eggs slipped off)

I toasted the bread in the oven for several minutes and cut off the crust. I assembled it like you would with any lasagna. Bread, sauce, cheese, bread, sauce, cheese and to top if off an egg. I baked that up for a good 15 minutes and what you got here is one tasty delicious meal.

There are three other varieties of the OvenClassics as well. Give them a try and see what you can make with them.

Btw...if you haven't already Vote for me on the Marx Foods Mushroom recipe challenge: Here (Pinoy Style Mushroom Fried Rice)
Serves 2

Bread Lasagna

6 slices Wheat Bread - Nature's Pride Honey Wheat
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
2 c Marinara sauce
2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 450˚F. Place the bread on a baking sheet and toast for 5-10 minutes or until toasted.

Let is cool for a couple of minutes then cut off the crusts as close to the edge as possible. (you can same the toasted crusts and tuen them into breadcrumbs)

Take a shallow baking dish and place two slices on the bottom, top with some cheese and some of the marinara. Repeat this two more times one on top of the other.. On the top makes a little nest with the cheese and crack one of the into it. Any additional sauce you can spread around it.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes just until the egg whites are cooked.

Serve warm.

Lemon and Pistachio Cookies

I remember tasting these cooking at Stir It 28. Esi of Dishing up Delights was the one who contributed to serving up these deliciously yummy cookies. I had more than a few of these over the course the event. I went for seconds and thirds. Maybe even fourths. Suffice to say...I enjoyed them quite a bit. So the day before Easter rolls around and I'm in need to bake something. I barely had time to plan out a meal to cook. I wanted to be sure that I make a little something. Simple and easy, which these cookies were. The original used meyer lemons, but I only had regular one. It still tasted great. with the bits and pieces of pistachios. These are definitely worth making again.

Makes roughly 30 cookies.

Meyer Lemon and Pistachio Cookies
(Adapted from Dishing Up Delights)

3/4 c (4 ounces) roasted pistachios, ground until almost powdery (chunks are ok)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon zest
2 egg yolks
Coarse sea salt for finishing

In a medium bowl, mix together the pistachios with the flour and salt. Set aside

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugars, and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about three minutes on high speed. Beat in yolks. Turn off mixer, dump in flour mixture, then beat on low speed for just a few seconds, or until the dry ingredients are absorbed. Refrigerate dough for one hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment .

Scoop 1-2 tablespoon balls of the dough, placing 12 to a sheet. Sprinkle each dough mound very lightly with coarse salt. Bake for roughly 6 minutes Cookies are done when the centers are set and the edges are nicely browned.

Cool on a rack. 

Calzone

Lately my mind's been everywhere. I'm working on a couple different projects right now, so most of my time is spent getting things together for those. So that uses up a lot of my mental energy. By the time it comes to eat I'm a t a loss as to what my belly is craving. In this case pizza was on my mind again.

Well it's doesn't look like much of the familiar calzone shape. But i like to consider it as one. I used one of those Pillsbury pizza crusts. When you take it out it look square shaped. I halved the dough to make two. Spread some shredded mozzarella, layered on some fresh sliced roma tomatoes and baby portabella mushrooms and some avocado. Why not? If you've been following this blog over the past year, you'd know that I love avocados. Besides it's one of those ingredients you wouldn't necessarily find in a calzone. Let alone as a topping on pizza. To I place accordingly on the dough and seal it up. poked a tiny hold on top to let the steam out. Easy last minute meal for the busy mind.

Just look at that tiny string of cheese hanging in between the two pieces. Tempting ain't it?

Makes two plump calzones

Calzone

1 can Pillsbury pizza dough - halved width-wise
1 c sliced baby portobella mushrooms.
2 roma tomatoes - sliced
1 c shredded mozzarella - plus extra
1 small ripe avocado


Preheat your oven to 425˚F

To make one:
Place the dough flat on an ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle some of the mozzarella on one side of the dough.  Leave the other half untouched. Be sure there is a 1-inch space from the edge of the dough. Top a slices of the roma tomato, mushroom the avocado.

Bring the other halve of the dough over and seal the edges. Cut a small slit at the top to let the steam out while baking.

Bake for 15-17 minutes until the crust is browned.

Sweet Potato Bake (Pizza Style?)

This was my attempt at trying to make a crust out of sweet potatoes. I had 3 of the white variety. I though of making potato chips, but slicing them was a bit of a chore at the time. So I grated and chopped it finely andmixed it up with some olive oile, salt, pepper, and paprika. Baked it until It looked ready. I prebaked it before adding the toppings. It came out a bit soft and it was still soft even after baking with the toppings. But it was actually really good. I used a fork to eat it, but it was definitely tasty. I'll eventually figure out how to properly crisp up a sweet potato in the oven. For now I'm content with some of the resulting dishes I've had.  It was actually fun to tear into it.

Serves 2-3

Sweet Potato Bake (Pizza Style?)

3 small to medium sweet potato (white variety)- peeled grated
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp paprika
1/2 Tbsp dry thyme
extra virgin olive oil
1 c Bertolli Arribbiata Sauce
1 1/2 c shredded cheese
1 small tomato - deseeded and chopped
1/4 c sun dried tomato - rough chopped


Preheat your oven to 450˚F

In a bowl, mix together the grated sweet potato, salt, pepper and paprika. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Press down firmly until it forms a crust 1/4-inch thick. Pre-bake for 10-15 minutes.

Crisp Cheesy Breadsticks

A little reminder if you haven't entered the B + B 1-year giveaway you've still got time.  Click here.

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I needed a way to jazz up some leftover sourdough bread. I wasn't in the mood for a sandwich and I wasn't in the mood to bake up anything that would keep me in the kitchen for way too long.  So I figured breadsticks were in order. These ones had a nice and toasty crust with a slightly soft center. It was a good balance of soft and crunchy.

I cut off the crusts. When I was a kid I wished bread would always come without the crust. But of course we all know it doesn't work that way. Brushed on some olive oil on both side and some garlic powder. The garlic powder is optional. Baked them for a food 10 minutes, then sprinkled ssome shredded parmesan cheese over them and baked them for another 5 minutes just until the cheese has melted through.  I had this with a side of some of the Bertolli Arrabiata sauce I had left.

These are great appetizers, too.

Makes 14 stick.

Crisp Cheesy Breadsticks
4 sliced sourdough - 1-inch thick
extra virgin olive oil
shredded parmesan cheese
garlic powder - optional

Preheat your oven to 400˚F

Cut the crusts off the the sliced of bread. Coat both sides with olive oil as well as spinkly a seasoning of the garlic powder. Cut the slices in 1-inch thick sticks and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 5-10 minutes until the surface as browned.  Give them a turn half way though for and spinkle some parmesan cheese on top. Baked for another 5 minutes.

Serve warm with a side of marinara sauce.

Baked Tilapia Enchiladas

There's still time to enter the B + B 1-year giveaway, if you haven't yet.  Click here.

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I remember reading a post over at The Adventures of Tavolini, where Lini mentioned having fish enchiladas one day. That got me thinking and I'm still slightly on my tortilla kick when I realized that enchiladas was something I hadn't made yet. I bought a some tilapia fillets for my enchiladas. you can also use cod, sole, or mahi mahi. Made some chunky pico de gallo where I added some leftover pineapple chunks sitting in the fridge. That was the only thing I stuffed into the tortillas along with the baked fish. For the red sauce I used some Bertolli Arriabata Tomato sauce.  Sprinkled a good amount of cheese on top and melted them.

Also as being a part of Foodbuzz's Tastemaker program, I was fortunate enough to have gotten to sample some of Bertolli's new sauces. I was surprised at the lovely box it came in. It was one those open flap type box, too. Which was really cool to open. Both sides of the flap had recipes which utilize one of the sauces. In the main compartment held two glass jars.

One was a Four Cheese Rosa Sauce. The other was an Arrabiata sauce, which was a spicy tomato and red pepper. I've mostly known the Bertolli brand for their variety of pastas, but I enjoyed this sauce quite a lot. I still have some left, so I may just have some straight up spaghetti. For the other sauce I'm thinking something along the lines of lobster once again. We'll see what I come up with.

Makes 6 enchiladas

Baked Tilapia Enchiladas

6 taco sized totillas
2-3 medium sized tilapia fillet
Seasoning (salt, pepper, paprika or you own choice)
3 c salsa
1-2 c Bertolli Spicy Tomato and pepper sauce
2 c shredded cheese - mexican blend - queso, jack cheese, cheddar

Preheat your oven to 400˚F

Liberally season the tilapia fillets with salt, pepper, and paprika or you choice of your favorite seasoning. Place the fillets on a lightly greased foil-linned baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Let the fish rest for at least 10 minutes after baking to let the juices redistribute.

Preheat your broiler.

Take a tortilla and place a nice piece of the tilapia on the side closest to you along with to tablespoons of salsa. Fold in the sides, then roll the tortilla like a burrito.

Place them in an oven safe shallow dish. Pour over the Tomato sauce over and sprinkle the cheese evenly. Put the dish into the broiler for 2-3 minutes just until the cheese has melted.

Serve warm.

Banana Nut Donut Muffin

Yes, donut muffins!!! I remember seeing these things on the Food Network show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." I don't remember which chef or personality mentioned it, but I was mesmerized by the thought of a donut muffin. I had written it down on post that was afixed on my desk among the dozens of other post-its that decorate it. I had almost completely forgotten about it until I saw something similar on another blog, I forget which one.

The original wasn't really banana nut flavored. It was more a nutmeg-y kind. That's my little twist to it. I was about to make banana nut bread because I just wanted the house to smell of baked goods. Have you ever done that? Just baked something because you loved the smell of it, not necessarily you had a craving or had a need to bake?  But I changed my mine and instead of a loaf, I made muffins instead. The outer coating is just simple melted unsalted butter and granulated sugar.What you get is a muffin that looks like a donut.

Makes 12 muffins

Banana Nut Donut Muffin

1/2 c unsalted butter or margarine
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c Brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons soda
2 cups flour
3 large bananas, very ripe, mashed
1/2 c sliced almonds

Donut Coating
3 Tbsp melted butter
1/4 c sugar


Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in each egg. then add the flour mixture.

Mix well and place mixture into a greased muffin pan.

Bake for 25-30min  in a preheated 325˚ oven or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10min, remove from muffin pan.

Once the muffins have cooled, basted them all over with the melted butter and then coat them with the sugar. 

Sweet Potato Cakes

This was the result of another failed attempt at making sweet potato chips. One day I shall figure it out, but during this time, I didn't have the patience. I kept burning small batches and I finally gave up. I still had a pile of thinly sliced pieces of sweet potato.  So I chopped them into sizable pieces and piled them all in a bowl. Mixed in an egg, some flour and some green onion. and baked them in the oven. Yummy deliciousness of a nearly wasted veggie.

Makes 6-8 cakes

Sweet Potato Cakes

2 small sweet potatoes - peeled
1 green onion - chopped
1 egg
2-3 Tbsp all purpose Flour

Preheat your oven to 350˚F

Thinly slice the sweet potatoes, then give them a rough chop. Place the pieces in a large bowl. Add the egg, flour and green onion and mix together thoroughly. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Place large spoonfuls of the mixture into 6-8 bundles on a foil lined lightly greased baking pan. Baked for 25-30 minutes.

Serve with your choice of sweet and sour sauce, ponzu, or soy sauce.

Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips

Am I driving you nuts yet with this whole tortilla business??? I've seriously been  in a tortilla kick. February has become the month of the tortilla. You know when you get a new "toy all you want to do is play around with it for an endless amount of time. It's like that with the tortilla. Sad isn't it? 

When I started making my own, I couldn't just stop at making burritos and tacos. I decided to make some chips as well. These are the plain unsalted kind. As much as I like the store bought stuff they can get a bit flimsy and sometimes have too much salt stuck on them. These are healthier, not oily and definitely sturdy for good dippage. I cut the tortillas into quarters. I saw them served like that once when I went to a Brazillian restaurant. Thought it was neat idea. Baked them in a 400˚F preheated oven and baked for 10 minutes. Just until they for slightly brown and was definitely crispy. Serve them as is. I had this with some fresh guacamole. Definitely holds the dip well than those flimsy ones. It has a good crunch, too.

Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips

Homemade flour Tortillas - cut into quarters or eighths


Preheat you oven to 400˚F

Place the quarters tortilla piece on an ungreased baking sheet. Baked for roughly 10 minutes or until tortillas have lightly brown and are crisp to the touch.

Serve warm or cooled with your choice of dips and salsa.

 

 

Homemade Croutons

There's not much to say about this one. A simple easy recipe to make croutons. Once in a while I like some added crunch in my salads aside crunch of the lettuce. I like croutons once in a while. I guess it depends on the mood I'm in. But I love it on caesar salad. They are relatively easy to make. Almost like a biscotti. Yet these are baked once. I used a couple sliced of sourdough, but you can use whichever bread you prefer. They don't really have to be one type. the neat thing is that they absorb some of the vinaigrette I lovingly drizzle over the greens. As you can tell by the photos, I piled them on there pretty good.

Served 2-3

Homemade Croutons

3 slices day old sourdough bread
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus extra if needed)

Preheat your oven to 375˚F

Using a serrated knife cut the bread in to 1/2-inch thick squares. Place them in a bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil and give them a toss. Make sure to coat them well. Then place on an ungreased baking sheet. Baked for 30 minutes. Give then a toss half way through to even out the browning and until crisp.

Serve with you favorite salad.

Chicken Pizza

Not much of an original title, but it is what it is. A chicken pizza. Well, actually the rest of the leftover roasted chicken and some of the spaghetti red sauce I had saved up from Christmas that was in the freezer. Just bought a can of Pillsbury pizza dough and some shredded mozzarella and I was good to go. This is another way of using up what left of the leftovers stocked up in my fridge, in which I'm happy to say has now dwiddled down to almost all of it being eaten up. W00T! I can move on to eating other things now. It was delicious and cheesy and chicken goodness.

Who knew leftovers could be so good the second time around?

serves 2-4

Chicken Pizza

2 c shredded roasted or cooked chicken
2 c spaghetti or tomato sauce
1/2 sweet onion - sliced
1-2 c shredded mozzarella
1 can Pillsbury pizza dough

Preheat your oven 400˚F

Lay out the pizza dough on a lightly greased baking sheet. Spread the sauce over the crust leaving 1-inch around the edge for the crust. Next layer the cheese, then sweet onion, chicken.

Bake the pizza for 10-15 minutes until the crust as risen and browned.


Serve warm.

Yam Fries

It's time to yam it up? Get it.  Yam it up. har har har. *crickets* Sorry, that was my bad attempt at being funny. Yams or should I say sweet potato. There's a couple different varieties out there. Mostly a lot of people are familiar with the orange variety. But there's also the white and purple variety. For these I used the white variety. They're oven fried and seasoned with herbs. They're great alone or serve them with a sandwich or burger. The possibilities are endless.

Yam Fries

3 medium yam or sweet potatoes
salt
1 Tbsp dry Basil
1 Tbsp dry thyme
1 Tbsp dry rosemary
1 1/2 Tbsp Extra Vigrin Olive oil
salt


Preheat your oven to 400˚F

Wash, peel and cut the yams into 1/4-inch strips. Place them in a bowl and toss together with the olive oil and dry herbs.

Lay them out on a lightly greased baking sheet and baked for 30-minutes. Give them a quick toss halfway through to give them an even browning.

When they are done season with a little salt before serving.