Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes with Oreo Cookie Crusts

Delicious.

These mini chocolate cheesecakes are very easy to make, super yummy, and a great idea to serve at a party rather than cookies or cake.  You can make them in muffin tins, rather than needing to go out and buy a "mini cheesecake pan."  That's what I did.  The Oreo crust adds a nice crunch, and the creaminess of the melted chocolate and cream cheese is not too sweet.  I served them at a party and everyone loved them; I had lots of requests for the recipe.  I topped mine with Hershey's "Hugs" because I liked how the black and white stripes looked, but feel free to top them with anything you like (or nothing at all).  It would be nice to use peppermint Kisses for the Christmas holidays, perhaps.  Anyway, I hope you try them and like them as much as I do.

Ingredients:

Ingredients.

24 whole Oreo cookies

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

16 ounces of cream cheese, softened (two packages)

4 ounces of dark semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 whole eggs

24 Hugs candies (optional)

1.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  

2.  Lightly spray two muffin tins and set aside.

3.  In a food processor, grind the Oreo cookies to crumbs.  

Ready to be ground.

Crumbs.

4.  Melt the butter and combine with the Oreo crumbs.

In goes the butter.

All "butterfied."

5.  Spoon about 1 tablespoon of cookie crumbs into each muffin well.  Press the crumbs down.

All ready.

6.  Melt the chocolate slowly, over low heat, stirring often.  Be careful because chocolate can burn easily.

It's melting.  (Yum.)

7.  While the chocolate is melting, put the cream cheese in a large bowl and whip.

Whipped.

8.  Once chocolate is melted, add it to the cream cheese.

Ready to pour.

9.  Whip the chocolate and cream cheese until fully mixed.

Mixed.

10.  Add the eggs and whip again.

Eggs.

11.  Add the sugar and whip again.  Make sure the sugar is fully blended so the mixture isn't grainy.  If you have it, using fine baker's sugar may help (but it isn't necessary).

Sugar.

Mixture is complete.

12.  Spoon the mixture over the top of each crust.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheesecakes are set.  (When you juggle the pan, the cheesecake should not move).

Ready for the oven.

Cheesecakes have set.

13.  Cool to room temperature.  Remove from the muffin tins and refrigerate.  When ready to serve, top with Hugs candy (if you like).  Makes 24 mini cheesecakes.  Enjoy!

Side View.

So cute.

What a delicious platter.

Recipe inspired by Lauren's Latest.

Traditional Jewish Food: Vegetarian Kishke

Might not look delicious, but sure tastes delicious!

Kishke.  (Sometimes spelled kishka.)  What is it you may ask?  For one thing, it's a fun word to say.  For another, it's yummy.  Kishke is a food traditionally made by the Jewish people of Eastern Europe.  It's not elegant; it's basically peasant food.  It is sort of like a sausage - a mixture of meat and often a grain stuffed into an intestine.  People eat it by slicing off a piece and smearing it on some bread or a cracker.  It is quite delicious.  Most people who have experienced the kishke have had it because they tried it at a deli.  It is pretty rare for people to still make kishke at home.  So!  Let's be adveturous!  This recipe is a vegetarian version of the kishke.  Instead of intestine, there is no lining.  It's a mix of carrots, onion, celery, and whole wheat flour (and other spices). This is a perfect example of what happens in cooking - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  You probably have all of the ingredients right now.  It doesn't sound too exciting, and it doesn't look too pretty, but if you close your eyes and eat it you get something sweet, spicy, a little crunchy and just delicious. It is nice to have kishke in your fridge and take some to have for a little snack now and then, and since this is purely made of vegetables and whole grains, it is an extremely healthy snack.  Even though it has a funny name and a sort of strange look to it, I really encourage you to give this recipe a try.

Ingredients:

Ingredients.

2 stalks of celery, trimmed
2 carrots, peeled
1 medium red onion, peeled
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups whole wheat flour (or as mush as needed to make a moldable dough)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2.  Give the celery, carrots, and onion a rough chop and then put into a blender.

Ready to blend.

3.  Blend the veggies into a fine mush.  

Blended.

4.  Top the veggie mixture with the spices and blend again.

Spices added.

5.  Add the flour to the veggie and spice mixture.

Flour.

6.  Blend everything again.  Pour the mixture into a bowl and test it's texture.  It should be a sticky, moldable dough.  If too moist, slowly add more flour until the correct texture is reached.  Feel free to taste it too, and adjust the spices to your liking.

The right texture.  

7.  Put half the mixture onto a large piece of foil and roll the foil tightly around the mixture to make a "sausage."

On the foil. 

Sausage.

8.  Do the same with the other half of the mixture, creating two cylinders, and place on a cookie sheet.

Ready to go.

9.  Bake on the center rack for 1 hour.  You may slice and serve now. Alternatively, they freeze very well.  Also, many people like kishke crispy rather than as a spread.  If you do, slice the kishke into about 2-inch slices, put the slices on the cookie sheet and continue to bake until browned and crispy.  Makes 2 about 8-inch logs.  Enjoy!

The final product.

Recipe inspired by the grongar blog.

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Soup with Parmesan Tomato "Croutons"

A delicious bowl.

This is a lovely, simple roasted tomato soup.  One thing that is important to note: because there are so few ingredients in this soup, you need to make it during tomato season and with fresh tomatoes from the farmer's market or your own garden.  If the tomatoes are not that delicious, the soup won't be that delicious.  You have been warned :o).  I like to make this soup with heirloom tomatoes for a nice change from the typical tomato soup, but feel free to use normal red tomatoes if you like.  I do recommend using a sweet vidalia onion as the onion in the soup, however.  I also create these parmesan topped cherry tomato "croutons" to float in the soup, but that, of course, is optional as well.  I served this soup on a cold night with the apple grilled cheese, and it made for a cozy supper.     

Ingredients:

Ingredients.

About 2 pounds large heirloom tomatoes

1 vidalia onion

4 medium cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt (and some to taste)

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper (and some to taste)

3/4 cup vegetable broth (or more if you like a thinner soup)

1/4 cup chopped parsley

dash of fat free half-and-half (optional - adds some creaminess)

For the croutons:

3-4 cherry tomatoes

dried basil

grated parmesan cheese

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.  Cut the large tomatoes (the cherry tomatoes you leave for later) and the onion in quarters.  Peel the garlic cloves.  Put all the cut up veggies on a tray, sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and parsley.  

Tray - so colorful! 

3.  Put in the oven to roast for 30-40 minutes, or until the veggies get soft and have blackened edges.  (Because the garlic cloves are so much smaller, you may need to remove those and roast the tomatoes/ onions longer).

Blackened edges.

4.  Dump the roasted veggies into a big pot.  Add the broth.  Bring to a boil for about 10-15 minutes.

Veggies and Broth.

5.  While the soup is boiling, cut the cherry tomatoes in half.  Sprinkle the tomatoes with basil and top with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.  Put them on the same tray you roasted the other veggies on.

Ready to go.

6.  Broil the cherry tomatoes for about 1 minute, or until the cheese begins to bubble and brown.  Remove from oven to cool and set aside.

Ready to go.

7.  Using an immersion blender (or a regular blender), blend the veggies and broth into a smooth soup.

Blended.

8.  If you like, add a dash of half-and-half.  Taste soup and add salt and pepper to taste. Top each bowl with some cherry tomato croutons.  Enjoy!  Makes 2-3 servings.

The final product.

Recipe adapted from the Brooklyn Supper blog and Joanna Goddard's blog.

Aged Cheddar & Apple Grilled Cheese on Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Yum.

This is the most comforting, most delicious grilled cheese I have made thus far.  It's a great flavor combination.  It really is.  If you like these flavors, here is my recipe for apple cheddar cheese cake. I really say to all of you: MAKE THIS.  It's super easy, but feels fancy because of the ingredients.  As you may be able to tell from the above photo, I made mine on my panini press, but you can always make your sandwich in a pan the old school way.  I prefer Granny Smith apples, because their tartness mixes well with the cheese, but you can go with whatever apple you have on hand.  The secret is this: saute the apples until they are soft BEFORE you make the sandwich.  I always wondered, because I tried one time to put pear in a sandwich with brie (another classic pairing) but the pear was still hard when the rest of the sandwich was ready to go.  Anyway, try this out one time.  We had these on a rainy day for dinner, paired with my heirloom tomato soup (recipe coming soon) and it was a wonderful pairing and made you feel nice and cozy while eating it.

Ingredients: 

Ingredients.

4 slices of raisin bread

1 medium Granny Smith apple

about 4-5 slices aged cheddar

butter

1.  Slice the apple thinly and cook over medium heat in a small skillet with a little bit of butter.

Apples cooking.

Remove the apple slices from the heat when they are to your liking.  I like them soft but not mushy.  I cooked them for about 5 minutes, flipping the slices over every so often.

2.  Butter one side of each of the 4 pieces of bread and flip (gently) two of them over so that the buttered sides are down.  

Buttered.

3.  Slice the cheese and layer it on two the slices of bread that have the buttered sides down.

Cheese.

4.  Take the apple slices and put them on top of the cheese. Put another thin layer of cheese on top of the apples.

Apples.

5.  Top each apple-cheese mixture with the remaining pieces of bread, butter side up.

Ready to go.

6.  Put the two sandwiches on a panini press, grill, or in a frying pan.

Panini press.

7.  Cook until the bread is brown and crusty and the cheese is good and melty.  Makes two sandwiches.  Enjoy!

Yes.

With the heirloom tomato soup.

Recipe inspired by She Eats Bears.

Chipotle and Rosemary Roasted Nuts

Pile of Nuts

Close Up

These nuts are crazy good.  Flavorful - sweet with a little kick - and so addictive that if you don't move the bowl away you will find that you finished them all without realizing it.  They are also very easy to make.  I made these this year as holiday gifts and we served them at my family's thanksgiving.  Everyone who has encountered them has loved them, so don't just take my word for it.  If you follow this recipe, it makes about 8-10 servings, but I doubled the recipe for thanksgiving, and we had 14 people, and all the nuts were gone within 2 hours, so beware - they go fast!  Feel free to replace any of the nuts I used with nuts you prefer; just keep the amount of nuts the same ratio as the amount of spice.

Ingredients:  

Ingredients.

3 cups whole roasted unsalted cashews

2 cups whole pecan halves

2 1/2 cups whole raw unsalted almonds

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1/4 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed

3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

2 1/2 teaspoons ground chipotle powder

4 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves, divided

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, plus some to brush the sheet pan with

kosher salt, to taste

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.  Mix the nuts together in a large bowl.  

Nut mixture.

3.  Brush a sheet pan generously with vegetable oil.

Oil on sheet pan.

4.  Put the nut mixture on the sheet pan.  You don't need to worry about spreading the nuts out yet.

Ready to go.

5.  Top the nuts with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.  Then the maple syrup and orange juice.  Top with the brown sugar.

Brown sugar.

6.  Top the brown sugar with the chipotle powder.

Chipotle.

7.  Toss the nuts to make sure the mixture coats everything evenly.  I use a spatula to really flip the nuts over and get them covered.

Shiny.

8.  Top the nuts with half of the rosemary and some salt.  I used about 2 teaspoons of kosher salt on my nuts and it was perfect.  Toss and mix again to combine.

Rosemary.

9.  Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the nuts are a nice golden brown.  Be sure to stir often because nuts burn easily.  I stirred twice - about every 8 minutes.

Nice brown color.

10.  Once the nuts are done, top with the remaining rosemary and a little more salt.  Be sure to stir constantly as the nuts cool or they stick together, forming one big nut brittle.  Enjoy!

Yum.

SO good.

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten.