That's Cooking!

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I feel like getting all-kindsa serious up in here…because in some weird fashion, this cheesecake deserves it.

Without a doubt, this here slice of delights has been my single greatest culinary triumph to date.

(In the dessert realm, anyway.)

How so? Well, you see…

As a few of you astute readers may have caught on by now; for the last few months I have been working along with a friend, throwing roaming dinner parties under the guise of the Chicks with Knives Sustainable Supper Club.

It’s your basic underground, moveable restaurant kinda thingy. A la the Ghetto Gourmet.

We pick a date and write a menu, send out invites and lo and behold a fantatic set of total strangers show up at a secret location and good times are had by all.

It’s simply dreamy.

And my peaches? Thus far, it has been a smash-hit.

(Can I get a holla? Holla!)

We make the kinds of foods that rock our own world - being all Sustainable/Organic/Local and Ethical - and it has been our distinct pleasure to serve it to people who really seem to dig our vibe.

Hip-hop-hooray!

As an added bonus, I get to feed people the food I grow in my own garden, and the food my friends and neighbors have grown too. We serve local meats and fruits and veg and keep it as earth friendly as possible without getting preachy.

So really, it’s just lovely and fun and puts a smile on my face.

Which leads me to the cheesecake…the featured dessert at our most recent and most decidedly faboo, sit-down. An insane sounding Fennel Cheesecake. More to the point, a Crustless, Franchi Fennel Cheesecake with Candied Carrot Frizzle and Tree-Tomato and Grapefruit Sorbet.

Welcome to the wackness.

And yet, it worked like a DREAM! I swear.

So much so that I have made it three times since and am still getting calls and emails asking for the recipe. Raves I tell you, raves are all I hear. Such a nice thing!

There is just something so decadant and different about it. You will just have to try for yourself and see. It’s is creamy and smooth and rich and airy. All at once.

The fennel is not at all pronounced, but just lends a backround note that leaves you guessing. And if you don’t tell your guests that the garnish is carrot, they may never be able to figure out what it really was. (Just make sure you use a truely sweet carrot. Taste a few in your bunch to find out.)

Now me, I used all fair-trade/organic/homegrown/local ingredients and I swear it added to the specialocity of this…but even if you aren’t (like me) out harvesting fennel seeds, you can still make a good show of this…and I hope you will.

So try this my peaches, and taste the joy.

1 organic fennel bulb, small dice (about three quarters of a cup)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup organic, fair-trade, vegan sugar
1 tablespoon organic butter
2 teaspoons ground fennel or anise seed mixed with 1 T. sugar
2 pounds organic cream cheese
1 1/4 cup sugar
5 cage-free, organic eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons Ouzo, Ricard or Sambuca or 1 teaspoon anise extract
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 325F.

In a small saucepan, combine the fennel, sugar and water and simmer until the water is mostly evaporated and the fennel is sticky and translucent. Carefully pour out on to a Silpat non-stick baking sheet, non-stick baking sheet or parchment paper. Set aside to cool. Break up with a fork a few times as it cools to prevent clumping.

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Lightly butter a 10-inch Springform pan and dust the interior with fennel or anise seed. Knock out any excess. Wrap the exterior of the pan with foil. Set aside.

Using a Cuisinart, blend the cheese until soft. Add the sugar and blend for 2 minutes, to incorporate. Add the eggs, one at a time. Then add the lemon zest (if using. I didn’t use it.), alcohol (or extract) cream and sour cream and process for another minute. Fold the candied fennel into the batter.

To create a water bath, place the prepared, foil-wrapped, Springform pan into a larger roasting pan. Pour the batter in to the Springform. Place roasting pan with the cheesecake in it into the oven on the center rack and then pour the boiled water in to the roasting pan to create a water bath. The water should come half way up the sides of the cheesecake pan.

Bake for 1.25 hours or until just set; the center should still have a wiggle to it.

Turn the oven off and let the cake cool in there for up to two hours, then refrigerate for at least six hours prior to serving.

Makes one large cheesecake.

(I served this with carrot strips that I tossed in corn-starch, fried, and then dusted with confectioners sugar, slightly sweetened whipped cream and a tree-tomato and grapefruit vodka sorbet.)

© 2008 Fresh Approach Cooking
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© 2008 Rachael at “Fresh Approach Cooking” http://www.freshcatering.blogspot.com If you are not reading this at the aforementioned URL or in your RSS feed, the site you are looking at are violating my copyright. And that’s rude.

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake anyone? How about a Vegan Eggnog version?

The book the Professional Pastry Chef says: “The main difference between the New York style cheesecake and the regular cheesecake, is that here, the sour cream is part of the filling and is mixed with the other ingredients at the beginning. In the other cake, the sour cream is added as a topping after the cream cheese filling is partially baked. Secondly, in the regular cheesecake, the ratio of sour cream to cream cheese is just about equal. In the New York style, only a small amount of sour cream is used by comparison. Lastly, the New York style contains approximately half again as much egg.” Which I guess makes this cake NY style…

December marks the transition from the sweet confections of Thanksgiving to the more complex, rewarding foods of winter. Sure, there’s still Hanukkah with its fried latkes and apple sauce (an easy thrill) and Christmas with its sticky, gooey ham (which could fit comfortably on the Thanksgiving table) but, for the most part, when the weather gets cold, the food gets better. Case in point? Marcella Hazan’s Rigatoni Bolognese.

Bolognese is like the sophisticated, better dressed cousin of chili. Those dusty, over-aged canisters of cumin and chili powder in your cabinet have no place in a Bolognese; here, the marriage of ground beef and tomatoes is harmonized elegantly with a strange, elusive combination of milk (which gets absorbed into the meat first), wine (which gets absorbed second) and, finally, that most bewitching of winter spices: nutmeg.
Continue Reading

December marks the transition from the sweet confections of Thanksgiving to the more complex, rewarding foods of winter. Sure, there’s still Hanukkah with its fried latkes and apple sauce (an easy thrill) and Christmas with its sticky, gooey ham (which could fit comfortably on the Thanksgiving table) but, for the most part, when the weather gets cold, the food gets better. Case in point? Marcella Hazan’s Rigatoni Bolognese.

Bolognese is like the sophisticated, better dressed cousin of chili. Those dusty, over-aged canisters of cumin and chili powder in your cabinet have no place in a Bolognese; here, the marriage of ground beef and tomatoes is harmonized elegantly with a strange, elusive combination of milk (which gets absorbed into the meat first), wine (which gets absorbed second) and, finally, that most bewitching of winter spices: nutmeg.
Continue Reading

I had one favorite thing to eat when I was a kid. One dish I was loyal to above all else. I would request it when I was recovering from the flu, pneumonia, or strep throat. I would request it weeknights, weekends, and holidays. It was a simple dish, and one of four (maybe five) recipes my mom had in her entire culinary arsenal - we can get to some of the others in a future post. Above all, I favored her rice and mushroom casserole. As I remember it she combined rice, mushrooms (or creamy mushroom soup) and cheese in a casserole dish and baked it until it was creamy, melty, and golden at the edges. Easy enough. I made a healthier, from-scratch remix of this the other night using brown rice, sauteed mushrooms, garlic, and onions -all made creamy with a blend of cottage cheese and a bit of sour cream.

You can certainly use whatever cooked grains you like. I suspect this would be delicious with barley, wheat berries, quinoa, whole grain rices - or even a mix of grains. My mom used to hide all sorts of things in this casserole - I don’t go the pork chop or chicken breast route any more (precooked!), but I can imagine pan-seared seitan strips being great. I can also imagine anything from chopped leafy greens, toasted nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, all as great as add-ins.

That being said, I love this simple version. The smell of it baking five minutes after I lifted the foil off the casserole took me right back to those times when I was a kid standing below the oven, high as I could get on my tip-toes, the heat from the oven door making my cheeks rosy, peering through the oven window at my favorite casserole. Mom, maybe it’s my turn to make it for you?

Continue reading Mushroom Casserole…

I had one favorite thing to eat when I was a kid. One dish I was loyal to above all else. I would request it when I was recovering from the flu, pneumonia, or strep throat. I would request it weeknights, weekends, and holidays. It was a simple dish, and one of four (maybe five) recipes my mom had in her entire culinary arsenal - we can get to some of the others in a future post. Above all, I favored her rice and mushroom casserole. As I remember it she combined rice, mushrooms (or creamy mushroom soup) and cheese in a casserole dish and baked it until it was creamy, melty, and golden at the edges. Easy enough. I made a healthier, from-scratch remix of this the other night using brown rice, sauteed mushrooms, garlic, and onions -all made creamy with a blend of cottage cheese and a bit of sour cream.

You can certainly use whatever cooked grains you like. I suspect this would be delicious with barley, wheat berries, quinoa, whole grain rices - or even a mix of grains. My mom used to hide all sorts of things in this casserole - I don’t go the pork chop or chicken breast route any more (precooked!), but I can imagine pan-seared seitan strips being great. I can also imagine anything from chopped leafy greens, toasted nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, all as great as add-ins.

That being said, I love this simple version. The smell of it baking five minutes after I lifted the foil off the casserole took me right back to those times when I was a kid standing below the oven, high as I could get on my tip-toes, the heat from the oven door making my cheeks rosy, peering through the oven window at my favorite casserole. Mom, maybe it’s my turn to make it for you?

Continue reading Mushroom Casserole…