This Classical Life

I’ve made this in both 8 and 10 inch versions and it’s been very well received by cheesecake lovers as well as those who don’t typically delight in cheesecake. This is a great first cheesecake recipe, it’s fairly simple, does not require much hands on work and the very thick layer of ganache on the top covers a multitude of cracks. You need to make the crust and bake the cheesecake one day and do the ganache layer 4 hours or more before you serve it (more is even better.) But, it will be waiting, ready to delight, as you assemble the rest of dinner!
This will serve 12-16. The 10 inch version will serve 20, adjust by multiplying all ingredients by 1.5. When in doubt, go big, remembering that cheesecake freezes well, just stick it in the fridge a day before to defrost.

CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

THE CRUST
14-15oz of chocolate cookies (wafer, teddy grahams, etc.)
1 stick + 1 Tb of butter, melted

Grind cookies in food processor until crumbs, add melted butter and combine in food processor until it’s a consistent mixture. If you have trouble finding chocolate wafers, you can also use dietary biscuits + cocoa. I tend to use a mix of all of the above! Spray the bottom of an 8″ spring-form pan with cooking spray and make a ring extension adding another 2″ of height via double walled aluminum foil to the outside of the pan. Press the crust mixture firmly in the bottom of the pan (not the sides.) Stick the pan in the fridge while you make the cheesecake. Continue reading Very Chocolate Cheesecake

I know this is a little late for Shrove Tuesday celebrating, but I’ll remind you next year!

GINGERBREAD PANCAKES
(inspired by Kerbey Lane in Austin, but it’s been so long since I’ve eaten there, I can’t verify the authenticity)

Cream together:
6 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar

Add, then mix well:
1 cup buttermilk*
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup coffee (brewed)
2 tsp vanilla

In a seperate bowl, combine dry ingredients:
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 Tbs. cloves
2 Tbs. cinnamom
2 Tbs. ginger
1.5 Tbs. nutmeg

Add dry ingredients to wet, mixing gently. When combined, mix in:
1 stick of butter, melted

This makes about 7-8 thick, plate sized pancakes. SUPER thick. Cut back a tsp of baking soda or so if you prefer less cake-y pancakes.

* buttermilk is easy to make: 1 c. milk + 1 Tbs. lemon juice or vinegar, I let it stand for a half hour or so, but you could probably push it to even 5 or 10 minutes in a pinch.

I am planning to post more recipes on the blog again, it’s the easiest way for me to keep track of and find recipes I like with my personal tweaks. One of my goals this year is to introduce the girls to more Asian food. We usually eat it and serve them something else. This was a successful first step, Kate ate all of hers, and Lexi ate a good bit as well. This is enough for 5-6 adults as a complete meal, more if you did a side salad, etc. But I wanted to make extra because I figured the leftovers would be awesome and they were.

CHICKEN LO MEIN
12 oz lo mein noodles (in the asian section of the grocery store, can also use linguine)
2 Tbs. canola oil
2 b/s chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
at least 1/2 large sweet onion
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
3-4 carrots
1 cup snow peas
6-8 ounces mushrooms (of your choice)
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup chicken broth
3 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. oyster sauce (also found in the asian section)
2 Tbs. sesame oil Continue reading Chicken Lo Mein

‘Tis the season for baked treats. Here are two of my holiday staples.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CRACK (aka Matzoh Crack)
I make these just like this recipe. I use 5 sheets of matzoh (never saltines, not sure why) which is more than my biggest cookie sheet fits (it’s not that large) – A cookie sheet and an 8×8 baking dish. I originally put good slivered almonds on some but most people prefer it with sea salt.

SOFT MOLASSES COOKIES
This dough is refrigerated and will keep well for several days or a week, which means I can keep baking them fresh. They are really tasty and different enough to seem distinct for the holidays, even though they are good enough to serve year round.

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
white sugar for rolling

Cream together butter, brown sugar and egg until well combined. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda and spices in a separate bowl. Stir them into the molasses mixture 3/4 cup or so at a time. Cover the dough and chill for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. These cookies are on the line whether to grease or not, so grease your cookie sheets if they tend to make things stick. Roll the dough into balls (these work well small or medium) and then roll the balls in sugar to coat.

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes. These are supposed to be chewy! I typically take mine off the cookie sheets faster than most other cookies (2 minutes) to cool on wire racks.

These have been a big hit this autumn!

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice or combo of cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, melted
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
6-8 oz. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 13×9 with parchment paper. Whisk together flour and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla just until combined. Add pumpkin puree (at this stage it looks kind of curdled.) Gently mix in dry ingredients just until combined and fold in chocolate chips. Bake for 30-40 minutes – mine lightly brown but a toothpick test yields moist crumbs (think brownies.) Partially cool before you lift out using the parchment paper and cut into squares. This recipe is for a FUDGY consistency, if you want something more cake-like, cream the butter at room temperature and add 1 tsp baking soda to the dry ingredients.

This recipe makes a ton, great for keeping some for your family while assembling a pan for a family who needs a meal. Just make sure you’ve got several pans out (13×9 and 8×8).

ziti or penne (1.25-1.5 lbs dry)
1 lb mild italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
6 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 jars of spaghetti sauce
1 pound of italian cheese (a combo of sliced provolone and grated mozz. or “italian blend” grated)
3/4 c. sour cream
3/4 c. ricotta
parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 and start making the pasta.

Saute onions until translucent, add sausage and mushrooms and cook until everything is done. Drain sausage grease off. Throw in the garlic and cook another minute. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer 15 minutes or so. Mix sour cream and ricotta. Mix the cooked pasta and the sausage-sauce mixture.

Assemble as follows: layer of pasta/sauce, 1/2 cheese (either a layer of sliced provolone or just 1/2 the grated), 1/2 sour cream-ricotta, repeat, then end with a last layer pasta and parm on top. If you have extra pasta, freeze it as “penne with meat sauce” as a quick lunch or dinner sometime when you need it.

The baked ziti needs to bake until everything is melted and warmed through (~30 minutes, more if its straight from the freezer). I bake it mostly covered and then uncovered at the end.

In case you need a last side salad as the summer grill season starts to end…

Mom’s Broccoli Salad
COMBINE:
1 large bundle of broccoli, broken into florets
1/3 c. craisins or raisins
1/3 c. finely minced sweet onion
4 slices of crisp bacon

MIX TOGETHER:
1 1/2 c. mayonaise
1/2 c. sugar
2T. vinegar

Pour the sauce over the other ingredients. Mix well. Enjoy!

This is a “summer dinner” perfect for gardeners with lots of tomatoes and basil and everyone who needs to make a quick meal without turning on the oven!

1 pound of pasta: penne, bowties…
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
4 oz. feta, crumbled (or goat cheese)
1 pound or so of fresh tomatoes, diced
3 cups or so of chopped rotisserie chicken (skin removed)
1 cup torn fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta. While you are cooking it, prepare the chicken and tomatoes. If you are grilling in the few days beforehand, you could also toss on a few extra chicken breasts and reserve them for this recipe. Toss all the ingredients together. Enjoy! Serves 4+

Last weekend I made the cider-brined pork tenderloin and served Ann Barlow’s apple coffeecake with caramel frosting for dessert.  Tonight we are having risotto with squash and pancetta.  Just a few recipe ideas for those who might need one!

I used to add Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the dressing, but it’s just not necessary. This has gone over well both times I’ve made it and it’s super simple.

Combine
1 pound bowtie pasta – cooked, rinsed and drained
3+ roma tomatos, diced
3-4 oz. feta cheese
a little bit of finely chopped vidalia onion
cooked chicken, cubed (optional – fine without if it’s a side, with makes a great meal)

Make dressing
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1+ Tbs. dijon mustard (to taste)
dash sugar
salt and pepper
2 Tbs. mayonaise (I used helman’s light — the light blue one.)

Toss dressing over other stuff. Refresh with a little more balsamic if it gets dry.

My maternal grandmother is 100% Italian and a cook by trade, so you can imagine she makes the most delicious food. One thing that is frustrating about it is that she cooks entirely by instinct for all of her signature dishes, and even if she tries to write it down just the way she does it, it never comes out the same for anyone else. She makes the world’s most delicious homemade ravioli and also pierogies (she married a Polish man, so she learned to cook Polish food as well.) Anyhow, when she relates how to make something, it does not come out in standard recipe form. In her honor (and because, I really do make it with taste and texture as my guides: Continue reading Pesto (a recipe Italian-style)

I got this from the Sweetpea Cooks! blog and we’ve really enjoyed it with lots of veggies on the side (such as green beans sauteed in garlic and steamed carrots.) It calls for fresh parsley, but I’ve made it with dried parsley and basil and also with fresh basil and dried parsley and it was good both times. We’re big fans of basil, though… it’s in my family taste palate. My grandma puts basil in everything. You should hear her talk smack about oregano.

Chicken with parmesan, garlic, and herb crust
Continue reading Chicken with parmesan, garlic and herb crust