Pink cake, red drinks

Through our CSA we've gotten a lot of rhubarb. I've always been a fan of the classic crumble that almost everyone has a recipe for. But I didn't want that! I wanted something different. Something not the norm. Something like, oh I don't know, cheese cake....

My sister has a great recipe for cheesecake. Over the years it's been a classic staple at the hubby's birthday. Nothing says I love you and happy birthday like a peanut-butter chocolate cheesecake.

On the Whipped blog I visit there was a post about summer drinks, which reminded me of the Mexico vacation we went on this spring. It was filled with Mojiotos, Sol, and Sangria. I've always wanted to try making a batch of Sangria, so that's what I did this weekend along with the cheesecake.

The tartness of the rhubarb is a smooth match to the rich sweetness of the cheesecake filling. It was hard for me to eat just one slice.
And Sangria is my new favorite summer drink! So refreshing on the hot days we've been having, without leaving you feeling like you've had one too many beers in the sun. I would recommend it for any wine or non-wine drinker.


Rhubarb Cheesecake
2-3 cups crushed graham crackers
3 tbsp melted butter
2 pkgs cream cheese, room temp
2 eggs
1/2 cup + 1 tsp sugar
1 cup rhubarb, chopped
1 clove, crushed
2 tbsp water

For crust: Mix crackers and butter together until sticky. Press into the bottom of a spring form or other tall pie dish. Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes or until slightly browned. Remove and let cool slightly.


In a sauce pan heat rhubarb, clove, 1 tsp sugar, and water until rhubarb has broken down and is soft, about 8 minutes. Let cool.

In a mixer combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cream cheese till blended. Add eggs one at a time mixing slowly.

Pour over crust leaving about 1/4 cup back. Beat saved portion with the rhubarb. Spoon over other filling in dollops, using a knife to swirl into bottom filling. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Center should be slightly giggly and edges just browning. Let cool at room temp then place in the refrigerator till ready to serve.

Sangria

4 cups red wine

2 cups citrus soda (sprite, sun drop, 7up)

2 cups water

sliced fruit (lemon, lime, orange)

ice

Mix liquids together. Slice fruit into rounds, until desired ammount. Sqeeze leftover juice into mixture. Add ice, sitr, and let cool.

Upside Down

Summer time is great for cool drinks and fruity desserts. I had a jar of canned currents left over from a cooking class and a pineapple that we never grilled up over the week. So I guess it was kind of enevitable. They were canned with sugar, cloves, and a bit of vinager to make them sweet and tangy.

The carmalized pineapple is a favorite of ours to make either sliced on the grill and served as a side to steaks or brushed with sugar and used as a topping on ice cream. Of course everything on the grill is a favorite. In the summer if we aren't grilling it's because it's raining out.

Some cool rain wouldn't be bad right now. It's in the 90's in Minnesota, full into the humid summers that contrast to the freezing winters. Maddie has gotten better about the heat. We used to wrap ice in a towl and lay it on the floor for her to sleep on. She was also a fan of snoozing directly over the vents behind the couches. Now she tolerates the walks and runs outside, but still has trouble with the really hot days. Her fur coat is made for the winter and she loves season, oh boy does she love it!



Pineapple Upside Down Cake
1 pineapple, sliced into hollowed circles
maraschino cherries or tart currents
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp butter

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk

Heat butter and brown sugar in a sauce pan till slightly carmalized. Add pineapples and heat through. Remove from heat, let cool, place in a pan and pour remaining carmalized sugar over top. Fill the hollow of the pineapple with cherries or currents.

Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and beat 1 minute. Pour batter over pineapples. Bake at 350°F for 20-40 min depending on pan size until a toothpick tested in the center is clean.

Let cool. Slice the top of the cake flat and flip over so that the pineapple is on top.

Creamy Crème

Ah! here's that smooth texture I was looking for when I tried out Crème Carmel! This has all the thickness and decadence of ice cream, but adds some wonderful crunchy texture.

The ingredients can take on a mixture of different flavors. I've done regular vanilla, espresso, lavender, anise, and toffee. Each is a little different and can compliment a wide range of main dishes.

I've never made this dish by baking in the oven, my sister always taught me to do on the stove top. It's a little more work, but interactive and a fun way to insure you get the right consistency in the custard.... which I'm still working on.

I think a flame torch is a must for this dish, but I've heard you can use your oven on a broil setting for similar results. Just make sure to account time for setting up in the fridge and remember that there is no such thing as too thick when it comes to Brulee, only not setup!

Crème Brulee
6 egg yolks
6 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
powdered sugar, for topping

In a double boiler heat cream until small bubbles form on the sides, but not boiling. Slice vanilla bean and add to cream. After some time remove the bean, run a knife down to loosen the seeds, and add both the bean and the seeds back into the cream.

In a large bowl, beat egg yolks until slightly thickened. Add sugar and mix until dissolved. Temper the egg mixture by adding a little of the cream into the eggs and stir. Slowly pour the eggs into the cream, whisking constantly.

Continue to stir the mixture on a high heat. After 15-20 minutes the custard will begin to thicken. It should coat the back of a spoon.

With a strainer, pour into ramekins, removing the vanilla bean and any thick pieces. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 4 days, covered with plastic wrap.

When serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar and torch until caramelized on top.

Weekend farming

Our weekend was busy. Between golfing, yoga, gardening, bread baking, and dinner with friends we tried to find time to hit the Minneapolis Farmer's Market on saturday morning.

It's an interesting mix of food, flowers, crafts, and the odd/hopefully interesting items people try to sell.

Set below the skyline of the city, next to the police impound station are rows of stands that are filled each morning with local farmers. There are a lot of not-so-local farmers also. Many are Organic or CSA that travel up from southern minnesota or over from wisconsin.

It's a little confusing at first. There isn't really a rhymn or reason the the setup. There is a craft market at the beginging where you can find pottery and garden ornaments. The whole atmosphere kinda sucks you in and pulls you along with the other gawkers who are just there for the sights and smells.

Once you smell the fresh roasted cinnamon almonds you are almost in the heart of the stands.

There were many new vendors this visit. Home-made pasta, dog treats, many new salsa stands, and a fresh honey station where a flat of bees were keeping eveyone interested.

It was a nice saturday morning....

Bubble Bread

Don't they just look like little soliders all lined up for their marching orders? Into the oven with you! :)

I have a new Bread Book I'm trying out with a fresh batch of yeast. It's amazing what good yeast will yeild vs year old-sitting-in-your-cubbard-forever yeast.

This recipe is really easy to make and the individual rounds can be frozen and saved for a later date. I've done some twists that worked out really great too. Just make sure they have enough time to rise if they are frozen!



Bubble Bread

3 - 3 1/2 c flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1.25 oz yeast (1 pkg)
1/4 c warm water
1 c milk
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 egg
2 tbsp Parmesan
1/3 c melted butter
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme

Lightly grease a large bread pan or deep round casserole dish. In a large bowl combine sugar, warm water, and yeast till frothy. Add in 1 c flour and salt. In a small bowl mix milk, oil, cheese, and egg together. Add to yeast / flour mixture.


With mixer or by hand beat on a low speed, 3 min. With wooden spoon stir in remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Cover and let rise in warm place, free from draft, until dough has doubled.


Punch down dough and break off golf ball sized rounds of dough and dip in melted butter mixed with herbs. Place in prepared dish forming layers.


Cover and let rise again until bubbles have risen to almost the top of the dish, about 30 - 45 minutes.


Preheat oven to 400F. Bake 25-30 minutes or until tapping the top sounds hollow. Let cool, serve warm.

Weekenders

For Memorial Day weekend we headed up to my parents cabin in northern Wisconsin for a long weekend full of boating, fishing, biking, hicking, golfing, grilling, and everything else we could fit in.

We'd spent the previous week building a new 'Bags' set for the cabin. We tried to follow ACA standards and build the boards to a specific hight and weight the bags to an exact weight. While the boards worked out great, the bags done on my little house wife sewing machine burst after a few throws and I spent the rest of the weekend hand stiching the squares up before all the beans came flying out.

I will be ordering an industrial proof set this week.

We went on many walks with Maddie around the cabin and of course had to drive into Spooner and stop at the Bakery Shop and swing by the Natural Spring to fill up or water bottles before our bike trip. We had to search around for a place to ride but finally found a trail going behind some fields and into a woods that was peaceful and exciting to ride on.

Many of the spring flowers are opening up there. The woods are covered in white spots of Trillium flowers and there are some other little hidden flowers like wild violets and these forget-me-nots we fould on our walks...

It takes so little to amuse the puppers though. One floating log was all she cared about during our fishing trips (and about the only thing 'swimming' we saw)

Veggie Shells

Spaghetti Squash! Round three! ding, ding ding

I finally used up all of the Spaghetti Squash in this dish and also used some left over veggies. We are still making headway on our CSA box and try to add something extra to each dish.

Since we're also big meat eaters, I just had to add something besides veggies, but substitute immitation bacon for a veggitarian meal or just leave it out.

I enjoy using my homemade stock in recipes like this, where a thicker liquid helps the sauce and overall taste of the dish. The shells are very light on dairy, I'm guessing you could even cut the cheese and milk out completely and still retain the smoothness that comes from the mashed squash.

Squash Stuffed Shells with Asparagus
1 pkg large pasta shells
2 cups squash, cooked and mashed
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
2 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup chopped Canadian bacon
2 tbsp cup white wine
1/4 cup stock (veggie or bird)
2 tbsp cream or milk
10-15 stalks Asparagus, washed and cut into 2” pieces
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot of water with salt, boil the pasta shells to directions until al dente (slightly undercooked). Drain and let cool.

In a medium sauce pan heat olive oil and cook onion and garlic with a little salt through until soft and translucent. Separate 1/2 of the onion mixture into a large bowl with the squash, both cheeses, and pepper; mix well.
Stuff the cooled shells with the mixture and place in a shallow baking dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the remaining onion mixture with the bacon. Add wine and cook down. Add stock and milk heating through. Stir in the asparagus to heat it slightly until it turns a bright green color. Pour over the shells. Add a bit more stock to the bottom of the dish if it appears ‘dry’.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the asparagus is fork tender and the shell mixture is warmed through.