Basque Cheesecake

 

                                                                  Basque Cheesecake

This cake has intrigued me but I hadn't had the opportunity to make it until this week. This cake is very easy to make and very tasty. It is a convenient dessert because you bake it the day before you serve it. I regret that I didn't take a picture of it because it is very unusual looking. It looks like you have burned it because the top is so black when it is finished baking. Never fear, it doesn't taste burned. I looked at many recipes and all of them varied. One called for 12 egg yolks and no whole eggs. Most called for 5 whole eggs, some 6, some 5 eggs and a yolk. Most called for heavy cream rather than crème fraîche. Most called for 32 ounces of cream cheese but one called for 40 ounces. The amount of sugar varied. The oven temp ranged from 400º to 500º with varying cooking times. All said they produced delicious cakes. The recipes left me confused and so I made the decision to do what I did and hope for the best. The cake was delicious and so I think what you do can be very loose. Don't stress on amounts. One recipe added lemon zest. The original recipe from La Viña in San Sebastian in Spain used no flavoring and so you can use vanilla or lemon zest or nothing. I think the lemon zest would be a good idea if you us heavy cream. Do that according to your own taste. One chef has used blue cheese which would be delicious. The crème fraîche is used rather than heavy cream for tang. Most recipes don't use flour but some say there can be weeping if you don't. I skipped the flour and had no weeping. This is definitely a recipe you can play with. I chose the lower temperature of 400º F because baking the cake at 450º F to 500º F made me nervous. Depending on your oven, you might need to raise the temperature at the end of baking if you bake at 400º F to get the blackened look. The cake must be dark brown. I found this article in The Guardian helpful when deciding what to do: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/dec/01/how-to-make-the-perfect-basque-cheesecake-recipe-felicity-cloake

Ingredients:

32 ounces of Philadelphia brand cream cheese at room temperature

5 whole eggs at room temperature

1 egg yolk at room temperature

1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cup sugar depending on your preferred sweetness

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups creme fraîche at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

(1/4 cup AP flour, optional)

Instructions: Preheat your oven to 400ºF. Grease a 9" springform pan. If you don't have a 9" springform pan you can use a 10" pan. Cut two 15" square pieces of baking parchment paper, grease them and place them in the pan. This will actually involve crushing the paper at the sides They will hang out over the edge of the pan of course and you will need to place them 90º of each other. Place the cream cheese, eggs and egg yolk, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a food processor. Process until smooth. Add crème fraîche and if using flour sift it on top. Process again until fully incorporated. Process only a short time. You shouldn't over mix. If you don't have a processor you can use an electric mixer or mix by hand. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap on the counter to get ride of bubbles. Refrigerate for an hour. Bake for 50 minutes on a baking sheet, until browned and almost burned looking on top. Watch it carefully so that it doesn't actually burn. The center should be quite jiggly. It will set as the cake cools. Now is another time the recipes varied. What I did was refrigerate the cake when it cooled, uncovered, until the next day. I took it out of the refrigerator about an hour before serving. Use the paper to remove the cake from the pan. Some recipes recommend serving the same day you bake but it was great the next day. It is recommend to serve it with fine sherry. We didn't have any sherry and served it with port, which was delicious. 

Glazed Pineapple Carrot Cake

 This carrot cake is much less sweet than the carrot cake that is standard today, the one with the super sweet cream cheese frosting. That frosting is way too sweet for me and I always scrape it off and leave it on my plate. The glaze on this cake is relatively light. This recipe is from the first Sunset Favorite Recipes cookbook.

                                                   Glazed  Pineapple Carrot Cake

 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted then measured

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

3/4 cup buttermilk 

2 tsp vanilla

8 oz crushed pineapple, well drained

2 cups finely shredded carrots

1 cup chopped nuts such as walnuts, pecans, or almonds

1 cup flaked coconut

Buttermilk Syrup (Recipe Follows)

Sift flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl. Beat eggs with the oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients all at once and mix util smooth. Mix in pineapple, carrots, nuts, and coconut.

Pour into a lightly greased and floured 9x13 baking pan. Bake in a 350º F oven for 45 minutes or until the center springs back when lightly touched. Remove the cake from the oven and lightly prick it all over with a fork.

Slowly pour the hot Buttermilk Syrup over the cake. Serves 12.

Buttermilk Syrup: 

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp tsp baking soda

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup butter

2 tsp light corn syrup.

1/2 tsp vanilla (hold back until the other ingredients have boiled)

Combine all ingredients except for vanilla in a saucepan and bring to boiling over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Buttermilk Pancakes

                                                                 Buttermilk Pancakes

                                                      (Or Sour Milk Pancakes in a Pinch)

This is a quick and easy recipe that was my mother's. If you don't have buttermilk on hand you can make them with sour milk. I will give instructions for making the sour milk at the bottom of this recipe*. Sometimes the batter is thicker than I like when I am using buttermilk. In that case, I just add a little regular milk to the batter to thin it.

2 cups flour

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons light vegetable oil such as canola oil or 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

Beat the eggs until they are thick. Add the baking soda and the oil to the buttermilk and add the mixture to the beaten eggs. Place the rest of the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. Stir the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients. Lightly grease a griddle that is medium hot (350º). Spoon the batter onto the griddle to form the pancakes. When there are holes in the pancakes on the uncooked side, peek at the down side. If it is browned to your liking, flip the pancake with a spatula to cook the second side. Serve with real maple syrup, butter, and bacon. Makes an easy quick dinner.

*To make sour milk: place 1/4 cup lemon juice or white vinegar in a two cup measure and fill the measure the rest of the way with whole milk. Mix and let sit for about 15 minutes until curdled.

Banana Bread

This recipe is based on one that was in Sunset Magazine's first volume of Favorite Recipes which was published in 1969. Those were the good old days at Sunset and I miss that old magazine. I often double this recipe so that I can bake two loaves and am including the measurements for 2 loaves as well as for one loaf. A tip for recipes like this that use a small amount of buttermilk. If you don't normally keep buttermilk in your refrigerator, you can use powdered buttermilk. It keeps a very long time on the pantry shelf.

One Loaf:                                                            Two Loaves:

2 1/4 cups sifted flour                                           4 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour (570 grams)

1 tsp baking powder                                              2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda                                                1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt                                                             1 tsp salt

1/3 cup unsalted butter                                          2/3 cup unsalted butter  (150 grams)

3/4 cup sugar                                                         1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (330 grams)

2 large eggs                                                           4 large eggs

1 cup mashed banana                                            2 cups mashed banana

1/4 cup buttermilk                                                 1/2 cup buttermilk 

1/2 tsp vanilla                                                        1 tsp vanilla

Butter and flour one or two 9x5 loaf pans. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, beating well after each. Add the buttermilk, vanilla, and mashed banana. Sift the flour and measure it into another bowl. Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the bowl with the flour and whisk to mix. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Place in the loaf pan. Bake for about an hour, until a toothpick comes out clean. Place the pan on a cooling rack and cool 10 minutes. Then remove the loaf from the pan to finish cooling.

Beef Ribs in the Kamado Joe

One rack of beef ribs

Worcestershire sauce 

Dry Rub:

2 tbsp Kosher salt

2 tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp granulated garlic

1 tsp powdered thyme

Mix the rub ingredients together.  Remove the rack of ribs from the refrigerator an hour before you are ready to cook them to allow them to come to room temperature. You do not need to remove the membrane. Leaving it on will help the ribs stay together. Do trim off excess fat. Rub the ribs lightly with the Worcestershire sauce. It will help the ribs stay together as they cook. Rub thickly with the dry rub. You will have extra. Save it for the next time you want a dry rub. 

Set up the K. Joe for indirect cooking using some oak and bring it to 250ºF. Place a drip pan so catch the fat from the ribs. Roast them for about 3 hours, bringing them to 200ºF. Remove the ribs from the fire and cover them with foil. Let them rest for at least 15 minutes. Enjoy. They do not need BBQ sauce as the sauce would just cover the delicious smoke flavor.

 

Noodles with Crispy-Meat Sauce

I haven't made this in years, but I have the end of a roast to be used up and thought this would be a great way to do it. I had to search through my many old Sunset cook books and finally found it. Next time I want to make this dish the recipe will be here in my blog and I will not have to hunt for it. I no longer subscribe to Sunset Magazine, but  I did for many years when it was owned by the Lane family. The recipes could always be trusted to be good. This recipe is from the Sunset Pasta Cook Book, first published in 1980. I have made some minor changes to the recipe.

Noodles with Crispy-Meat Sauce
8 oz. fresh medium wide egg noodles, preferably home made
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup butter
1 large onion, diced
2 cups slivered cooked beef or pork roast
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves or 1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a wide frying pan over medium heat, combine olive oil and butter. Add the onion and cook until it has softened and starts to brown. Add the meat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is crisp and browned. Add the parsley, basil, salt, oregano, and pepper and cook until the parsley just begins to turn limp.
Cook the noodles in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and place in a serving bowl. Spoon the sauce over the noodles and toss lightly. Pass the Parmesan for individuals to sprinkle over their servings.
Makes 4 servings

Welsh Griddle Cakes

These little cakes make a lovely snack with a cup of tea. Both my children loved them. My older child loved them so much that they were the first thing he made all my himself. I saved the original recipe from a very old issue of Sunset Magazine. It was at least 30 years ago. Over time, I tweaked the recipe a bit to make it a little less sweet and dropped the salted butter/margarine for unsalted butter. Sunset suggested serving them with butter and jam but I like them plain.

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces

1/2 cup raisons or currants

1 large egg white

2 tablespoons milk

Mix the dry ingredients. Add the butter and then rub it with your fingers until you have fine crumbs. Add the raisins, egg white, and the milk. Stir just until the dough holds together. Roll the dough until it is 14" thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into rounds using a 2 1/2" cookie cutter. Roll the scraps and cut more griddle cakes. Cook on a griddle set at 350º or use a well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat placing the cakes slightly apart. Cook untie the bottoms are medium brown, about 3 or 4 minutes. Turn the cakes with a spatula and cook about another 3 minutes, until the other side is medium brown.

Makes about 10 griddle cakes