Monthly Archives: May 2018

Lemon Bars with an extra crunch

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As promised;

For the Crust, you will need                 

8-9 graham crackers (each 2 1/2 by 5 inches)                  

1 cup of nuts. I used raw pistachios, which I toasted off first. But Almonds and Pecans also work.

Sugar  

    2 tablespoons regular fine white sugar

    5 tablespoon Turbinado              

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Pinch of salt                  

For the Filling                 

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, room temperature                  

1  8-ounce container of marscapone cheese (or substitute another 8-ounce package of cream cheese)

3/4 cup sugar fine white sugar                  

2 large eggs                  

Pinch of salt

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon (2 to 3 teaspoons zest and about 3 tablespoons juice). If using Meyer you may need to check for tartness.  This also works for Orange and limes

DIRECTIONS  

Make the crust: Preheat oven to 325  degrees. 

This is the Lemon version with the extra sugar layer crust

This is an orange version with the single step method crust

Note – this crust is made in two parts!

  • Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. You can fold the extra foil over the edges.
    • I don’t recommend using a foil pan for this. They are too thin and bend when moving. You want the solid stability of the hard pan. 
  • In a food processor, blend 5 graham crackers, 1/2 cup of nuts with 2 tablespoons of fine sugar until finely ground; add 2 tablespoons of the butter and pulse until it looks like damp sand.
  • Transfer the first level of crumb mixture to prepared pan, and pat in gently. Bake 6-7 min

Second layer

  • In the same food processor, blend remaining 3 graham crackers with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts and 4 tablespoons of turbinado sugar until finely ground; add the remaining 1 tablespoon of the butter and pulse until moistened.
  • Add the layer to the prebaked layer.  Pat firm, sprinkle on the remaining 1 tablespoon of turbinado sugar.  Bake until beginning to brown, another 7- 10 minutes. 

While crust is baking, Make the filling:

  • Place the 16 ounces cream cheese in the (wipe processor bowl clean first) food processor; blend until smooth. Add sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice; blend 
  • When ready, remove the crust from the oven and pour the mixture on the top layer over the hot crust in pan; smooth top.
  • Return to oven, and bake until set (filling should jiggle only slightly when the pan is gently shaken), 35-45 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and cool completely in pan.
  • When cool, cover very loosely with plastic wrap; chill until firm, at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days).
  • Use foil overhang to lift cheesecake out of the pan. With metal spatula, lift cheesecake from foil; cut into squares.
  • You can sprinkle confectionary sugar or top with candied lemon peels etc.

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From Fort Mason to Recipe Testing Saturday

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Thursday & Friday

On Thursday we had a buddy in town for work so thought we would try out a Bay Area favorite eatery Brenda’s French Soul Food.

The food at Brenda’s rocks. Simply said, as you have seen me write before of my love of the Old Skool Cafe, Brenda’s is going to give them a run for the money for my top favorite. We went with the always standard of fried chicken with greens, smokey Shrimp & Grits. To start the meal we jumped on the garlic shrimp spread. So good it was worth not being kissable for a few hours. While stuffed, we had to try the flight of beignets with its plain, chocolate and apple options along with the special chocolate bread pudding. The food was nicely prepared, fresh and hot. Service was a bit off that night, but I heard they were running short staff. But not being in a hurry, we weren’t stressed about it. They also have a nice selection of jarred condiments and pickles for purchase. The place does get crowded and doesn’t take reservations. So be prepared to wait during prime times.

 

Friday was supposed to be a “me” day, but between getting caught up with errands, groceries, and some paperwork it sure didn’t leave me a lot of time. After running over to the grocery store, we ended up out of time for a movie. So we decided on dinner out at Eric’s for Chinese food. While usually a long wait, we scored that night with no wait.

Saturday

the hot grilled eggplant sandwich at Readers

the hot grilled eggplant sandwich at Readers

In an attempt to avoid Sunday’s annual excuse for stupidity, the Bay To Breakers madness (now its not that I don’t like the event itself, rather the entitlement that it seems to instill in its very white and male partiers) we took a ride over to Fort Mason to check out Readers Bookstore/cafe for some books and lunch with a side stop at Flax before heading home to work in more edits.

This is an orange version with the single step method crust

This is the lemon version with the two-step crust

Then I thought it would be a good time to work up a test batch of the new recipe I have been tinkering with for the Pistachio Crusted Lemon Cream Cheese/Marscapone Crunch Bars.

While the first one was cooling, I worked up another variation as an Orange Creamsicle Bar for Paul.

Of course, the Boss just got comfortable and watched hoping for me to drop something. But sorry, Dino – not today little man.

 

Sunday

Poor Dino, he is getting tired of our walks too. Since I discovered the podcast Up & Vanished, We have been extending our walk time while I listen to episodes. Which is fine except when its meal time. I think he will be glad when Paul is up and active again. 🙂

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Book Club Goes South Of The Border; So Did My Cooking This Week

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After a rough week – I needed to “stress cook” with Mexican themed dishes

To balance the very healthy dinner the other might, and inspired by the book that we’ve been reading for Book Club this weekend; The Uncomfortable Dead, with its Mexican theme,  I decided to look into some older recipes and given I needed the distractions – went out to try these Mexican themed recipes.

Mexican Wedding cake/cookies

First I tried my hand at a batch of Mexican Wedding cake/cookies (aka Russian Teacakes or Snowballs); it would seem that most cultures have a version of this butter, sugar, flour & nut recipe and everyone has an opinion on what makes them authentic and the “best”. So while mine didn’t come out the way I planned with a cute little crescent or ball shape, and they looked more like “pillows” than I intended they still ended up tasty.  I think I went short on the amount of flour I was supposed to add so they spread during the bake – but from the feedback, I got – lots of folks said to keep it that way. This cookie has always been a favorite one of mine, that one of my Aunts would often make, but I tended not to eat them when out in public, because some versions (especially the Italian one) have hazelnuts. Which is one of the few foods I am strongly allergic too. But in the spirit of Book Club, I thought, “let’s go ahead and I’ll make them” and to make them my own, I did a rough toast and grind of not one nut, but three;  toasted pistachios, almonds, and pecans! Now the recipe is super old school, including the mixing, is all by hand, and I mean “hand” no mixers or spoons. So you can imagine the mess at one point.

Pickled Carrots and Jalapeños

Back in the day, when I first moved to San Francisco, I came across a tucked away Taqueria in the Mission that the owner used to make buckets of pickled carrots and jalapeños. They weren’t something I had tried before moving here. So while she is now long past, I always try to look for that perfect heat and crunch. So “hot off the presses” from the fermentation class I took in April, I decided to also whip up some of my own pickled carrots & jalapeños for Book Club.

 

Cherry tomato and Red Wine Jam

The primary dish I had planned to bring to Book Club I started the prep on Friday night so that a certain someone could sleep in and not hear me banging around the kitchen. This dish is actually one from Pati Jinich’s Cherry tomato and Red Wine jam on goat cheese covered toast. She is the lively and creative host of Pati’s Mexican Table which I have been tuning into more and more

When I first read this recipe, I had an “hmm so it’s like a warm Mexican style bruschetta” moment, but like the cookie, most cultures have some kind of combination of tomatoes, cheese, and bread as a starter. Still, the recipe looked good, and I thought I’d give it a try. I have to say I’m glad I did. It was a super easy recipe to make, the outcome was very very tasty.

Note to self: It holds up well so would be perfect for entertaining (think the annual holiday open house) by doing parts of the prep the day before, the do the simmer in the morning and spoon it out just before serving.

The only thing I felt I needed to do differently from the recipe, was adding a little squirt of lime into the tomatoes before spooning out. I think next time I could use a little extra zing with some diced jalapeño too. But overall a definite win.

Also managed a few treats for the guys!

If you follow this blog you know that over the holiday I did some fun bookmarks and “Keepers” from old jewleryWell I figured it would be fun to create some old school bookmarks to surprise the Book Club with as a companion theme to the book “The Uncomfortable Dead“.

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