Pumpkin Cheesecake with Triple Ginger Crust and Cookbook Review

I received an email a few weeks ago asking if I would be interested in reviewing a new cookbook. Pffft, any time I can get a free cookbook I am all over it. It was a pleasant surprise to see that it actually was a new book that I had been reading about. I saw it in Safeway yesterday. And it is Canadian to boot. These gals have a popular blog called the Sweet Potato Chronicles. They are/were young working mom's on a mission to feed their family right.

Anytime a delivery truck comes to my house it is an occasion. It is always food related. I buy a lot of my market ingredients online and also sometimes purchase kitchen gadgets over the internet. Well, okay, not just sometimes! I am on a constant search for cooking and baking things.











My most recent acquisitions are a linen couche used in rising baguette, a lame or in English it is a

blade for scoring bread and the most adorable beehive cookie cutter. The cookie cutter is a gift for my market friend, Brenda from Prairie Fields Honey. My winter project is to perfect a cookie recipe for her so she can sell honey cookies in the shape of a beehive. Cool, eh? Check out Provisions by Duchess Bakery in Edmonton. They have an online store and ship quickly.

Anyhoo, back to the cookbook. It's a lovely book. Tons of really good pictures of food. A lot of the recipes are a little juvenile for me, but that is what it is all about. The recipes need to be kid friendly. I love the pictures, I really do but when it gets to be a family photo album and all those barefeet in the kitchen it distracts me from the purpose of the book. There are a few interesting recipes for the older children, the teens, but no mention of how to involve them in healthy meals. Why are they always left out? So this brings to mind the purpose of a cookbook, any cookbook.

This book offers no training on cooking skills, only recipes. What I have learned from one young woman with children is that none of her friends know how to cook. They want to learn some skills.

Then I think to myself. Self, who would I go to for good solid nutrition information? A nutritionist, a dietitian, a naturopathic doctor, a fashion magazine director? Hmmm.

The first recipe I tried was the pumpkin cheesecake. I was writing a newspaper article for Thanksgiving and thought this would be appropriate. But actually, by the time I finished, the cheesecake bore no resemblance to the recipe I started with. Their recipe was great inspiration and my mind just took off in another direction. I promise that I will try again! 


This is my version of their pumpkin cheesecake.
 

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Triple Ginger Crust

Crust

6 tbsp. melted butter 60 mL

1 1/2 c. graham crumbs 375 mL

2 tbsp. finely chopped crystallized ginger 30 mL

1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh ginger 15 mL

1/2 tsp. ground ginger 3 mL

Filling

8 oz. cream cheese 225 gm

2/3 c. mascarpone cheese 80 mL

1/4 c. brown sugar 60 mL

1/2 c. pumpkin puree 125 mL

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract 5 mL

1.4 tsp. ground ginger 1 mL

Pinch ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).

For the crust, place all ingredients into a food processor and process until finely ground. Press 3 tablespoons (45 mL) into each jar.

For the filling, beat all the ingredients in a food processor or with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Pour a generous 1/4 c. (60 mL) filling over crusts. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cheesecakes are firm. Cool and serve. Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and a piece of crystallized ginger or pumpkin seed brittle. Makes 8 – 250 mL jars or one 9-inch (24 cm) cake. Bake a 9-inch cheesecake for about 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in filling comes out clean.

Casual Friday - The Chinese Takeout Cookbook

 Okay, so I have two Casual Friday posts this week! I had to get this recipe posted by February 24 to qualify for prizes. I forgot until this morning. Call it a bonus!

Oops! I just reread the rules and they won't ship any prizes outside the U.S. I guess I'll have to buy the book!

This cookbook is hitting all the papers right now and looks downright interesting. I have been following her blog, Appetite for China for quite some time now. Until this little push, I have to say that I have been intimidated to make any of her recipes. Now I might win some nice prizes if I participate in their virtual Chinese New Year dinner. This is the recipe I have chosen.

This is such a simple and tasty salad to make. I liked all the options if we were not able to find the ingredients locally. And I did have to use spaghetti. It was great. I had to use tahini with sesame oil rather than Chinese sesame paste and sriachi rather than chili paste. I had Szechuan peppers and used just a touch. This had just the right amount of heat. I can see making this salad with peas or snap peas and even kernel corn. Next time I would cut my carrots and cucumbers smaller.

Cold Sesame Noodles   adapted from The Chinese Takeout Cookbook

Serves 4 as a main or 6 as an appetizer

• 12 ounces dried spaghetti or Chinese egg noodles
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 1 cucumber, peeled and julienned
• 2 carrot, peeled and julienned
• 2 teaspoons white sesame seeds
• 2 scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced

Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons Chinese sesame paste (or 3 tablespoons tahini with an extra teaspoon of sesame oil)
• 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons Chinese rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons chili paste
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground Sichuan pepper (optional)

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook egg noodles or spaghetti until al dente, or the minimum amount of time according to package instructions. Drain immediately, rinse with cold water, and drain again. Toss with 1 tablespoon of the peanut oil and set aside.
2. Heat the other tablespoon of peanut oil in a small pan over medium heat. Gently cook the minced garlic and grated ginger until just fragrant, about 30 to 40 seconds. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Prepare the sauce: In a medium bowl, combine the sesame paste, peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, chili paste, sugar, and optional Sichuan pepper. Add 3 tablespoons of water and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the cooked garlic and ginger.
4. Pour the sauce over the noodles, add the cucumbers and carrots, and toss. Transfer to large bowl or deep serving dish and sprinkle the sesame seeds and scallions on top. You can serve the sesame noodles at room temperature or chill in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Notes: Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days.

Casual Friday - Tacos, Tortas and Tamales

I won this cookbook a couple of months ago from Justin at JustCookNYC. Check out his blog. He reviews a lot of cookbooks.

These fish tacos were fantastic! I love the homemade tartar sauce that accompanied them. It was so good that I could eat it with a spoon but that would not be good, would it! I used wild Saskatchewan pickerel. This is a nice sweet mild white-fleshed fish that comes from the cold northern waters. Corn tortillas are now readily available in my small city. Yeah!

Tacos de Pescado   (Fish Tacos)    adapted from Tacos, Tortas and Tamales by Roberto Santibanez

1 large egg
1 c. panko bread crumbs
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
1 lb. pickerel
canola oil for deep frying

Mix egg, salt, pepper and oregano in small bowl. Place panko in another small bowl. Cut the fish into smallish pieces and add to the egg mixture.

Using a heavy pot, add 3 inches of oil. Heat to 375F and use a thermometer to help maintain the correct temperature.

With tongs, remove fish one piece at a time and let excess egg mixture drain off and roll firmly in panko. Add 2 at a time to the hot oil and deep fry until golden brown on the outside. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Serve with 12 warm corn tortillas and top with shredded cabbage or romaine lettuce and Mexican tartar sauce and pico de gallo.

Mexican Tartar Sauce

1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. finely chopped dill pickles
2 T. finely chopped pickled jalapenos
2 T. finely chopped red onions
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix all and chill. Will keep up to a week in the refrigerator.

Great Visit to Calgary

I am returned now from my 4 days in Calgary.  My good friend, Val and her buddy Fonsey, were gracious hosts and we had a lot of fun...and a lot of wine.  We even cooked together!  Yeah!  That is my kind of evening.  We made a Dorie Greenspan recipe from the newspaper.  It was a Normandy Chicken recipe with mushrooms, onions, apples, cream with a splash of calvados.  It was "interesting"!  I think it would also be great using pork.

Then Val jumped up and said, "Hey, I have a cookbook for you!"  She had the Julia Child cookbook, then also received another identical book as a gift.  So she gave me one!  What a wonderful gift!

Right here and now I am committing to making one recipe from this book within the next week.  I have chosen a cassoulet and will incorporate some of the duck I have ready in the freezer.

I had a great little trip.  I ate out way more than I expected.  In a previous post, I was assuming that my only gourmet dinner would be at NOtaBLE.  Well, I also ate at Mercato, Catch, Bonterra and Olives.  It was fantastic!  It was all so impromptu that I forgot to take pictures.  I have captured some pictures from the restaurant websites.

Community cookbooks make for interesting reading

 

I spent all day yesterday reading old cookbooks in my friend’s house.  They are all published by community or special groups as fundraisers.  I think the oldest was published around 1952 and the newest about 1976.

They are very amusing.  The older books leave a lot to your own discretion.  I guess they thought everyone knows how to cook and that specific directions were not necessaray.  Also, they never called baking soda by its full name.  It was always called soda.  I had never noticed that before.

One interesting book was published by the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  This is a quote:

How to grow thin –

From an 1860 recipe book:  “Drink as little as you can get along with comfortably, no hot drinks, no soup, no beer and only milk enough to colour the lukewarm tea or coffee you drink.  Eat chiefly stale bread, lean meat with such vegetables as peas, beans, lettuce in moderation.  Avoid watery vegetables such as cabbage, potatoes, turnips, etc.  no pastry whatsovever.  Limit yourself to seven hours sleep out of the 24 and take plenty of exercise in the open air.”

This is hilarious!  Who wouldn’t lose weight on this regime!

It was also interesting to see recipes like ‘Southern Cornbread’ submitted by someone in Montana!  There were lots of chop suey recipes from obviously English people on the prairies! 

I copied several recipes to my laptop and will try them sometime.  There were a few ethnic recipes passed down through generations.  So those will be fun.

The recipe I made today was matrimonial cake.  I think this must be a truly Canadian sweet  and a truly Canadian name (rather than calling them date squares) because my new friends in the South had never heard of it.  And I couldn’t find the proper dates until I returned home to Canada.  I am not sharing the recipe because I didn’t think it was that great, boo hoo!  I could have done better without a recipe.  But I guess that is the fun of using these books.

And my day isn't complete without a Miss Sugar picture.  We just had a bath and next is the blow dry!

If you could take only one cookbook...

If you could choose only one of your cookbooks to take with you, which one would it be?  I would love to hear which one you would choose.  I had that dilemma when I sold my house and packed everything into storage.  My car already looked like the Clampett’s so one cookbook was all I had room for.

I chose The Joy of Cooking.  It isn’t necessarily my favourite, but it might satisfy my need for any recipe I might need for the next six months.  In all honesty, www.epicurious.com is my favourite source of recipes.  But I find myself now without internet unless I am having orange herbal tea at Starbucks.

Did anyone choose Julia Child?  She is such a hot topic these days.  The Silver Palate cookbooks are actually my favourite and I regret now that I didn’t bring The New Basics cookbook by the Silver Palate gals.  I think it would have been a better choice than Joy.

What would you choose?