4th of July Cheesecake

I know it’s really late to be posting about the 4th of July, but this is a great summertime recipe.  This was adapted from Ina Garten’s Raspberry Cheesecake recipe. Ina is one of my most trusted Food Network chef/host, although the show spends too much time on table decorations and scripted guest clips, in my opinion.

The name of this recipe is slightly misleading as the cheesecake itself isn’t flavored raspberry. It’s more of a lemon cheesecake with raspberry topping. I think the lemon zest in the recipe helps lighten the flavor, but you can certainly leave it out if you prefer a plain vanilla cheesecake flavor. Also, a little lemon zest goes a long way, so avoid overdoing it unless you want a lemon cheesecake. In this case, I think the lemon should just complement the fruits, rather than overpower or compete with those flavors.

4th of July Cheesecake

Adapted from Ina Garten’s Raspberry Cheesecake

For the crust (9-inch springform pan)

1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs (about 10 crushed graham crackers)

1 T sugar

6 T unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Wrap the bottom of the springform pan with foil.

Combine the ingredients until moistened. Pour crumb mixture into the springform pan and form the crust by pressing the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and up the sides of the pan.

Bake for 8 minutes and cool to room temperature before adding cheesecake filling.

For the filling:

1 1/4 pounds cream cheese (2 1/2 8-oz boxes), at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3 whole large eggs, at room temperature

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

1/8 cup sour cream

1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest (1 lemon)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Once the crust is done baking, raise the temperature of the oven to 450 degrees F.

Cream the cream cheese and sugar together with a hand mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium and add the eggs in, one at a time. Reduce the speed of the mixer again to low and add the sour cream, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly and pour into cooled crust.

Put the pan on a baking sheet with high sides. Place the baking sheet into the oven and carefully add water into the baking sheet (as much as allows). This will create a steaming effect in the oven and helps to prevent cracks in the cheesecake (supposedly, hasn’t always worked for me).

Bake the cheesecake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature of the oven to 225 degrees F for 45 minutes. At this point, the center was set and the toothpick came out mostly clean. Let the cheesecake cool to room temperature.

Once the cheesecake has cooled, prepare the topping. Heat up a cup of strawberry preserves in a small saucepan over low heat on the stove. Once the preserves are liquified, pour it over the cheesecake and spread with a spatula, as needed. Top with strawberries and blueberries (or whatever else you want or have).

Best of Summer Eats #1: Barbecue Ribs

I know it’s not quite officially summer yet for another month, but once it starts hitting the 60 mark in Minnesota, it’s summer for us here. One of my favorite things to eat in the summer and something that represents summer to me is barbecue ribs. Nothing like a grill out with ribs, baked beans, corn on the cob, potato salad, and ice cold beer on a hot, sunny summer day.

Unfortunately, all we have is a smaller Weber charcoal grill that we can’t even use on our balcony. So when we make ribs, we make them in the oven. But you can still get ribs with great flavor and fall off the bone tenderness.

I got a 4lb rack of pork spare ribs and rubbed them with a dry rub and put it in the fridge overnight. I used this recipe for Apple City Barbecue’s Magic Dust. I made half the recipe since it makes A LOT of rub and I didn’t know if it would be any good.

The next day, I stuck the ribs (meat side down) in an oven set at 250 degrees F for 4 hours. After 4 hours, I took the ribs out and flipped it over. Be careful when you flip them over as the meat will be falling off the bone at this point. Then I basted the ribs with some Famous Dave’s Rich & Sassy sauce (I know it’s better to make your own BBQ sauce…another time!) and stuck it in the oven for another half an hour. After that, I turned the broiler on and watch the sauce on the ribs start to caramelize. Be attentive or it will burn before you know it!

Serve with baked beans and potato salad.

The History of Sriracha

The New York Times did a story on the man who created sriracha – at least the Huy Fong brand of Sriracha (you know it – the one with the rooster logo and green cap). I have never tried the other brands. You could call it brand loyalty. You can read about what some people have done in honor of their love for sriracha. I wouldn’t go that far. But anyway, it’s an interesting read about one of my favorite ingredients/condiments. In fact, I just used it last night to make some spicy tuna rolls!

Simplest Loaf Cake

Rarely do I see a recipe on a website/blog and want to make it immediately. First, I have to make sure I have all the ingredients. If not, I have to make a run to the store and get whatever I’m missing. Then, I also have to think about how much time it will take and if I want to postpone it til the weekend. But I saw this post on Dorie Greenspan’s blog for the “simplest loaf cake.” The list of ingredients was short and I happened to have them all on hand. And the bf was at home with nothing to do, so he got the job of actually making it!

Dorie recommends serving a chocolate sauce over it, but with us being on the verge of summer, we decided to top it with whipped cream and berries. We cut up some strawberries, sprinkled some sugar over it, and let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours to let the syrup form.  The combination was just like a strawberry shortcake, and probably the easiest one I’ve (we’ve) ever made from scratch. The cake itself was everything you’d want from a pound cake.

What I like best is that it uses canola oil as opposed to butter. I just have an aversion to using a recipe with lots of butter in it. (Except with cookies…2 sticks of butter split up among 2 dozen cookies–doesn’t seem as bad, so long as I limit myself to a cookie a day!) Also, canola oil has health benefits – it’s low in saturated fat and it’s high in healthy unsaturated fats. I’m not sure how using oil as opposed to butter affects the texture and quality of bakery items. But you will definitely not miss the butter in Dorie’s recipe. We also used low fat sour cream to reduce the fat content even further. Check out this recipe from Epicurious for a Lemon Loaf Cake and look at its ingredient list! Too bad they don’t give you the nutritional info, like Dorie/Parade does. You probably wouldn’t want to know!

More Banh Mi Love

The banh mi has become a very popular topic in food columns/blogs lately. Here’s an article from The Heavy Table about the different banh mi offerings in the Twin Cities. It also includes a stop at my favorite place, Saigon (where I still haven’t visited since it’s relocation).

There will also be a review of Jasmine Deli in The Hot Dish, a food blog on the City Pages website, sometime this week that will also discuss their banh mi.

NYT Banh Mi Article

The New York Times published an article yesterday about non-traditional banh mi popping up in neighborhoods throughout the US. There are some great ideas in there. I especially like the idea of a banh mi pho, which is filled with traditional pho components!