Mom's Turtle Cheesecake for a Special Son's Birthday

A note to More Time Readers:  I've moved the blog to WordPress and it is now published at moretimeatthetable.com.  Please change your links, favorites, etc.  I'll publish both places for a while, but not for long!  Great thanks to smart, gorgeous daughter Emily Morgan for managing the migration and for being my super-tech.  Follow Emily on fightthebees.com.

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When your children are growing up, if you're a baker (and sometimes even if you're not), you bake a cake for their birthdays.  I wonder if that's still true?  Most of the time my kids' parties were simple affairs---celebratory and fun, to be sure--but sort of cake and ice cream parties for a bunch of their buddies or maybe even just the family and neighbors.

(below:  Sean, a marvelous cook, making his world-renowned pizza--one of my frequent requests.  He's also a fine brewer.  Nice combination, huh?)

38 Power Foods, Week 19 -- Kiwi -- Quick Individual Kiwi Tarts with Gingersnap Crust

An ultra thin ginger snap smothered with hot pastry cream serves as the "crust."

How the Quick Kiwi Tart with Gingersnap Crust came to be...

While I love to bake a pie as much as the next woman (more than most, I'd guess), I also like nearly instant desserts that are luscious and don't wear out the soles of your trainers.  (Like after you've cooked for company all day and still need dessert.)  I have a pocketful of favorites like a 30-second pumpkin custard (it'll be in my soup book) and a blink-done  individual chocolate flourless "cake." I also have no-bake favorites like a strawberry ice cream parfait layered with crumbled ginger shortbread and fresh peaches. In cases of real emergencies, I buy ice cream and cones--and not just for the kids.

38 Power Foods, Week 17 -- Berries -- Fresh Berry Cake

Just looking at this cake will tell you that it's not difficult to make and it's NOT.  A quick glance at the recipe, however, might put you off.  Don't let it.  There may be a little reading involved, but the cooking and baking are fairly simple and don't take long.  In fact, though it's two layers, you only bake one cake.  After it's cool, you cut it in half.

But listen, if you're not a baker, this is just the cake for you... because you can get away without baking a cake at all!  Just buy a Sara Lee pound cake and cut it into layers--maybe three?--and do a loaf-shaped cake on a pretty rectangular tray.  Follow the rest of the directions for the berries and filling and there you are!   You could also bake a box cake into cupcakes, slice them, put half in a pretty coffee cup and decorate from there.  Whatever you do, this is a beautiful, tasty cake for Easter, Mother's Day, or the Memorial Day picnic.  (Assemble this cake where you're serving it.)  If you don't have a special cake plate, don't worry about it.  Whoever eats this will be happy no matter what.  Next time you run in Good Will, see a funky antique shop or a garage sale,  keep an eye our for great serving pieces.  No need to spend a fortune at the department stores. 

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream with Blueberry-Lemon Sauce

 I'm not a big plain homemade vanilla ice cream fan; I like coffee ice cream.  But add some beautiful hot fudge or sliced fresh peaches and I'll eat vanilla.  I'll even make it.   And it does fill the bill for a crowd.   It pleases nearly everyone.

When it's northwest blueberry time (warm days/cool nights make the best berries), I'm likely to make some fresh, quick blueberry jam for toast.  For years, I've filled freezer bags or containers full of these berries and kept them until blueberry season (not the Chilean season) begins again. (Store frozen and unwashed; rinse just before using them.)  I'm able to make great muffins, pancakes, or top my yogurt all year long without resorting to Fed Ex fruit.  Regular readers know my drill.  This year, I went for a beautiful blueberry topping (similar to the jam or conserve of other years) for that ice cream, but paired it with a bit of lemon to offset the sweetness of the blueberries.

A bloom bursting on beautiful blueberries!

Pie 101 - Derby Pie

"Derby" Pie or  Pecan-Chocolate-Bourbon Pie.  Can you say decadent?

When someone needs something baked, I do it if I can.  If I have the time.  Not everyone bakes.  I love to bake and need an excuse now that there are only two of us in the house.  If I bake for an event, I somehow always manage to make enough so that we can share a sample or even have a tiny sweetness for ourselves.  (If it's pie, it's usually for Dave; I eat a bite, that's it.  He loves pie too much for me to eat much.)

(Aside:  After I saw how many people read my basic Pie 101 post, I thought I'd begin a series (quite intermittent) on pies.  I hope  you like them.  Anywho, read on.)

Strawberry Shortcake for Memorial Day

 When it's my friend Sue's birthday, or at least if I can find one, I send her a birthday card with strawberries on it.  Sometimes I can't find one.  Sue loves strawberries and so when I knew she was coming for our Mother's Day cook-out, I knew what the dessert was going to be.   It'll be just perfect for Memorial Day, too, though I'll be busy making carrot cake sheet cakes for a graduation party.  (Carrot cake was one of my first posts as a blogger.  Things, luckily, have really improved!  If all goes well, I'll take some better photographs than I did three years ago.)

Taking vanilla bean out with my kids' Mickey Mouse spoon.

I only make Strawberry Shortcake once or twice a year, so I try and make it light, layered with lots of ripe fruit, full of textural and temperature contrasts, and touched just enough by two kinds sweet cream--frozen and fresh whipped.  It's a celebration  of the start of summer, though if we're lucky, we have strawberries coming for a good part of summer in Minnesota.

For the best Strawberry Shortcake, you need each ingredient to be fresh and/or the best you can find or make.  So for this dessert, I made the shortcakes as well as homemade vanilla ice cream. (Baby spoon used at right still in drawer and my kids are 25 and 34.  We've moved 20 times since the oldest was a baby, so it's been through at least 20 kitchens.  Geez.)    Ripe strawberries (some mashed) and just-whipped cream, of course.   My other tiny, but critical element is a gentle smear of raspberry jam on each half of the sliced sweet biscuits we use for shortcakes.   This recipe makes enough for 8 with a few shortcakes leftover for breakfast the next day. (Slice them, spread with butter, slip under the broiler and serve with jam and lots of hot coffee.)
 

Fresh Berry Cake for Mother's Day--Bake or Not

Looks like Mother's Day!

I hope you're looking for a cake to make for your Mom for Mother's Day.  If you are, you're sooo wonderful.  What mom wouldn't love someone who baked a great-looking and yummy cake like this?   I made it to take to a friend's for Easter and took it unassembled as I wanted it as fresh as it could be. 

Just looking at this cake will tell you that it's not difficult to make and it's NOT.  A quick glance at the recipe, however, might put you off.  Don't let it.  There may be a little reading involved, but the cooking and baking are fairly simple and don't take long.  In fact, though it's two layers, you only bake one cake.  After it's cool, you cut it in half.

50 Women Game-Changers in Food - #44- Nigella Lawson - Guinness Gingerbread

A tender, quite moist gingerbread from Nigella.

Gingerbread is Christmas, right?  Maybe New Year's Day?  Certainly a cold-weather dessert.  Except that I love it.  I'd eat it in July if I were willing to turn the oven on.  Which I'm not.*  So that's why it's April and there's Nigella Lawson's gorgeous Guinness Gingerbread on the blog. (Two "n's" and two "s's" in Guinness--tells you  alot about how much I know about Guinness.  I did tour the brewery in Dublin once and actually drank a tall one.)  If you've been following along on this trip, I've joined a group of great food bloggers who are each week cooking, testing, and writing about one of Gourmet Live's 50 Women Game-Changers.  And, you guessed it, this week (number 44) is Nigella's week--I'm so grateful.  After all, I needed a reason to make gingerbread in the spring.  Didn't I? (Cold and nasty in St. Paul today after a great, warm spring.  I was happy to have a warm kitchen.)
   *I have just installed a combination microwave/convection oven above my range.  This may help with summer baking.  More later!

No Reservations (Valentine's Day at Home)

Alyce's Tuna with Marinara and Spinach with Onions*

 
To get you in the mood, kick off with Van Morrison's "Moondance."  
Or, if you'd rather, "Someone Like You."
          Note: If you right click on the song title, you can open youtube in another window and keep the music playing.......................................
                    
If you'd rather just order pizza (I know you!) and watch a movie, stop here and look at the best movies of 2011 and call for delivery.   Wow, that was a short blog!   But...if you're in the mood for food at home, read on.

Since everyone and their mother is now a food or wine writer, it's a bit crazy to see just how many articles there are about cooking for Valentine's Day or drinking for Valentine's Day.   "I Wine You to Wine Me," is out from Wine Spectator.  Phew.   The desserts, the bubblies...  It's all somewhat odd, eh?  Because the word has always been that one goes OUT for Valentine's Day--something I've seldom done.  Why?  Too crowded, too expensive, and rushed food.  Enough reasons?  I will admit, however, that if you have children of any age in the house, going out looks better and better.  Who wants to be searing a great piece of salmon while your loved one lights the candles only to be confronted with a dirty diaper, a bloody nose, a soccer practice, or a boyfriend crisis?
 

The only kids now at home sleep under the table!

Kathy's Apple Pie

Kathy's pie

My hairdresser works about a half-a-block from my house.  Her name is Kathy.  I chose her because... she works about a half-a-block from my house.  When we moved here, I cried at leaving Jen, my hairdresser of 13 years in Colorado.  So I didn't even look for anyone special; I just chose the closest "girl" and tried her.  I mean, you've seen my hair.  What could go wrong?  And, if it did, how much time would it take to grow a bit?  Luckily, everything has worked out fine.  My hair's just right.
When Kathy did it the first time, I sent Jen a pic on my cell phone.  "She's got the color spot-on, but it's a wee bit short," said Jen.

Peaches and Cream (and Cake) Two Ways or Have Your Cake and Eat it Two

 I don't want to live in a world without peaches.  Really.  And I only like canned peaches pureed into Bellini Soup (is there such a thing?) or on top of cottage cheese for lunch in the winter if I'm just desperate and out of time and am feeling tres fat.  And while, "Sorry don't get it done, Dude," is one of the more famous John Wayne quotes, I often remember him in front of a campfire, "Open me up a can of those peaches."  Poor cowboys.  They didn't have fresh peaches.  Just cooked, peeled, old canned things.

In St. Paul, we've had peaches from several places for a few weeks.  And some of them have been glorious.  We're still waiting for Colorado western-slope, but that's as it should be.  Having lived in Colorado for years, I'm not addicted to those peaches.  In fact, I like peaches from other states better.  (These are fighting words, I know.  Sorry, Colorado.)  There's just not enough rain in Colorado for fruit trees.  Around Penrose,  (south of Colorado Springs) there are some apple orchards that nearly bite the dust every few years despite large-scale irrigation.

Here are some of my favorite ways with peaches:

Unadorned and sweetly loved

Into a salsa for fish or pork or chicken or as a salad all alone with avocado

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 Here's the link for the salsa recipe here at More Time at the Table.

Grilled with a little fresh cheese, thyme and a squiggle of honey

Here's the salsa served with a grilled pork chop and my mustard tarragon green bean salad.

 This year, I've been baking in the wee, small hours of the morning. (Don't you love that song?)  It's the only way to get something in and out of the oven without adding to the heat index.  I tried Peaches, Cream, and Cake in two varieties, taking each to friends' houses for dinner.  I can always be counted on to bring dessert.  Besides, it transports easily.

First off was Peach Shortcake and I recommend it highly if only because the shortcakes bake quickly and you could even do them in a counter top oven should you be blessed enough to have one.  I am not.  Second was Elvis Presley's Favorite Cake with Peaches and (homemade) Ginger Ice Cream.  For some reason (not wanting to appear the forever blogger at dinner)--I only have a pic of the cake.  But you'll get the idea.

Pagliacci's New York Cheesecake

Pagliacci's New York Cheesecake--Made and photographed this year in St. Paul

I don't double blog.  Or if I do, I do it rarely.

This cake, however, belongs on both blogs.  I've made it for Dave's birthday since l984 and for lots of other occasions since.  In different reincarnations.  Chocolate, pumpkin, toffee, cranberry compote.  You get the idea.

For some reason, the recipe ended up on the Dinner Place blog.  Forgive me.  So if you need the recipe, go here:

More later as you sing a new song,
Alyce

Whole-Lemon Tart (Tarte au Citron)- or Life is Sweet and Sour

Tarte au Citron...

 When we study music or art, we find ourselves interested in the life of the artist.  What was happening when he wrote that first symphony or when she painted that particular picture.  It may be that cooks have similar tendencies...to make or bake dishes that reflect current life.  When you're feeling unloved, do you make comfort food like beef stew or chocolate chip cookies?  When you're celebrating, is it rare lamb and risotto?

As I ready the house (Who bought all this stuff?) for the move, I find myself baking.  As if I have nothing better to do?   At going-away dinners with friends, I continue to offer to bring something and end up with what could be the easiest part of the meal (dessert-and it isn't) at a time when my pans should be packed already.  Pans of frosted scratch brownies, tiramisu and this lemon tart have been baked (or made, in the case of the tiramisu) and carried around town.  I'm still drooling over cookbooks, though I may have packed nearly everything but one JOY OF COOKING, one SILVER PALATE COOKBOOK and a wine guide that are staying here for reference. Well, there are, as well, a slug of cooking magazines I haven't donated.  I have 17 book boxes full of hymnals and cookbooks.  Somebody should shoot me and put me out of my packing misery.

I typically blog original recipes, but this is too good not to share.  Dorie Greenspan is a fine food blogger and an even finer cookbook author who lives in both New York (where she sometimes "mans" a cookie cart in Manhattan) and Paris. The book Paris Sweets (2002) is not terribly new (her newest is Around my French Table), but it's a go-to for French boulangerie or patisserie dessert recipes written for Americans, as well French.  If you'd like to see the patisserie from whence the recipe came ( Rollet-Pradier in Paris), click here.  By the way, the directions for this tart are easy to follow and the results are easy to eat.  Thanks to Dorie.
 

courtesy Clarkson-Potter

And while life is bittersweet (I love people in both places-), this tart seems to reflect just about how I feel right now. Oh, and, by the way, this is simpler to make than chocolate chip cookies.  Cheaper, too.  If you don't have a tart pan (a 9-11" metal pan with fluted sides and a removable bottom), use a quiche dish or a plain old pie pan.

TARTE AU CITRON  From Rollet-Pradier, Paris via Paris Sweets, Dorie Greenspan

                                      (Read More at epicurious.com)

1 partially baked 9-inch (24-cm) tart shell made from Sweet Tart Dough*
1 average-sized lemon (about 4 1/2 ounces; 130 grams), rinsed and dried
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 tablespoons (12 grams) cornstarch
1 stick (4 ounces; 115 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven 325 degrees F (165 C). Line a trimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and put the tart shell on the sheet.

Slice the lemon into thin wedges, remove the seeds, and toss the lemon and sugar into the container of a blender or food processor. Blend or process, scraping down the sides of the container as needed, until the lemon is thoroughly pureed and blended with the sugar, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the mixture into a bowl and, using a whisk, gently stir in the whole egg and the yolk, followed by the cornstarch and melted butter. Pour the filling into the crust.

Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake the tart for 20 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (180 C) and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and lightly browned. Transfer the tart, still on the baking sheet, to a cooling rack and allow it to cool for at least 20 minutes before removing it from the pan. The tart is ready to be served when it reaches room temperature.

This is like lemon bars on steroids..

*I like traditional Pate Sucre (uses ground almonds), but this works, too.

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the 'Hood

If my cream soups are packed, I'm leaving.

If your cream soups are packed, am I leaving?

Did you pack the bones?  Well, then where are they?

One more wine group

Dinner with Britta, too

Will post as possible!

Sing a new song,

Alyce

Dave's Cranberry Almond Chocolate Bars with Tangerine Zest And a Little Christmas

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Chocolate Begins Here....

Chocolate, chocolate everywhere and lots of drops to drink.

Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate.  Christmas is chocolate.  Sounds like a good song.  And it's just the fourth day of Christmas.  Four calling birds.  And so on.  Until Epiphany...which can also go on.

The chocolate bark from our goodie tray this year is a bark that Dave had made for me for Valentine's Day a couple of years ago.  Truth to be told, his bark is better than mine.  Candy maker, I'm not, though my toffee was to die for this year.  (pat pat)


This bark is at the top and center of the goodie tray.  Gotta have chocolate on a holiday cookie platter.

If you're bringing a little goodie to the New Year's Eve party, maybe you might want to try this sweet bark, which is tres lovely with a nice red.  Of course, I favor Pinot Noir, but you might like a big Cabernet Sauvignon, a Zin or even an Italian red.  No special dessert wine needed.  Just have a little plate of this chocolate ready for dessert.  If you have a neighbor drop by for coffee, this is just the thing to pull out.  Make someone happy.  This recipe came from the Food Network (courtesy Dave Lieberman), as do so many scrumptious things these days.  There is hardly an easier dessert to make except perhaps to clean strawberries and arrange them in a bowl come summer.  And that's not really making dessert.

Dave's Cranberry Almond Chocolate Bars with Tangerine Zest

1/2 c slivered almonds
3 cups chocolate morsels (I like 1/2 milk chocolate and 1/2 bittersweet)
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/2 tangerine, zested

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Line a 13x9" baking pan with aluminum foil.

Lay out almond slivers on baking sheet.  Bake in oven until light brown, shaking the baking pan occasionally to mix them around, about 10-15 minutes.

Melt the chocolate morsels in a double boiler over low heat.  Mix in the cranberries, almond slivers and tangerine zest.

Pour into prepared pan.  Smooth the chocolate mixture out into an even layer.  Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until hard, at least 1 hour.  Use a knife to break up chocolate into jagged, varied sized bars.

Oh, I almost forgot this...Jen gets Emi's Hair all beautiful for Christmas!