Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Hello Fall!  And hello Friday!

I just have to make it until the end of my shift tonight and I've got one sweet week of vacation.  It's another stay-cation, but there's loads of things planned next week!

First off, it'll be my first week of Culinary School, which I've already told you has me in an emotional rollercoaster - but it's for the best!  And then there's my big meeting with the executive chef at a local restaurant - another thing to make me a nervous nelly!  And then there's a haircut - a much needed haircut. 

Maybe in the midst of all of that I can get myself to do some wedding planning!  We'll see...

I made these last week for a co-worker's birthday.  She loved them and I hope you guys will too!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Zoom Yummy's Recipe

Crust:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, slightly chilled and cubed

Filling:

16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 teaspoons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:

1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, slightly chilled and cubed
1 cup flour
about 10-15 caramels
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350F.

To make the crust, combine flour and brown sugar in a medium bowl.  Cut the butter into the mixture with your fingers or a fork until the mixture is crumbly.

Press the dough into a 9x13 inch pan in an even and flat layer.  Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Set aside.

Make the filling by beating cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sugar in a large bowl.  Add eggs, one at a time, until just incorporated.  Stir in vanilla until just combined.

In a small bowl, combine the apples with the cinnamon and 2 teaspoons of sugar.  Let sit for about 1-2 minutes, then gently fold into cream cheese mixture.

Pour the batter over top of the warm crust.

Make the topping by combining the oats, flour, and brown sugar.  Cut the butter into the mixture until it is chunky and crumbly.

Top the cream cheese mixture with an even layer of the topping.  There's a lot of it (which I love!) so don't be afraid to go crazy.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until cream cheese mixture is set and topping is a nice golden brown.

Make your caramel topping by combing the caramels with heavy cream in a thick microwave-safe bowl.  Heat in 20-30 second increments, stirring really well after each time.  Be careful because it can go from nice and creamy to burnt in a matter of seconds.  I don't think I heated mine up for any more than 45-60 seconds.  Just keep stirring and the residual heat will melt the unmelted caramels!

Drizzle caramel topping over cheesecake.

I found that the bars were easier to cut after being refrigerated for a little bit, about an hour or so.  Cut into desired sized bars and be prepared to watch these disappear quickly!

All the flavor of a caramel apple in a nice convenient fall-inspired bar!

Happy weekend guys!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

I can tell you that this was the closest poll yet.  I think about 25 minutes before it closed on Saturday, I checked, and it was a 4-way tie.  A. FOUR. WAY. TIE!  While, yes, if there was a tie, I would have made all 4, and I'm sure Andy would have been in cheesecake heaven... I don't think my waistline (or Andy's, for that matter) would have enjoyed it.  So I was definitely relieved when there was a definitive winner.

And obviously... that winner was Mint Chocolate Chip.  Now, I've never had a mint chocolate chip cheesecake (and I don't recall Cheesecake Factory having this flavor, so I may be trend-setting here), but there were definitely recipes out there for it.  I used a couple of those recipes as a guideline, but then went with my gut instinct on a couple other things.  The result was this bright "atomic" looking cheesecake.  Trust me, this baby isn't a result of a nuclear spill... but a creative mind explosion (corny, much?)

Ingredients:
Adapted from About-Recipes 

1 & 1/2 cup crushed oreos & Grasshopper cookies (about 10 each)

2 & 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
24 ounces cream cheese, softened
14 ounces sweetened, fat free condensed milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon neon green food coloring
1 & 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, chopped
1 teaspoon flour
 

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Combine crushed oreo and Grasshopper (these are like the Keebler version of Thin Mints) crumbs along with melted butter in a medium bowl.  Press crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. 

 

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.  Gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth.  Add eggs, peppermint extract, and food coloring.  Mix 3/4 cup of the chopped chocolate chips with flour to coat and stir into cream cheese mixture.  Pour the filling on top of the crust.  Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top. 

 

Wrap the bottom of the springform pan in aluminum foil to catch any leaks.  Bake in oven for about 1 hour, or until filling is set.  

 

Cool cheesecake to room temperature, then place in refrigerator and chill thoroughly, about 3-4 hours. 

 

After dinner last night, I sliced this up (didn't quite let it chill for as long as I recommended, but we REALLY wanted a piece) and after Andy took his first bite, I asked him what he thought.  He said it was "interesting."  I didn't quite take it as good or bad, so I asked him to elaborate on what he thought was "interesting" about it.  He went on to explain that it was really good, that it's definitely full of mint flavor and it was unlike any cheesecake he's ever had.  So, score???  I'll take it as a win!

 

And it was definitely better this morning (I snuck a small piece for breakfast), maybe because it was allowed to set longer.  I'd definitely recommend this for anyone who loves cheesecake, mint, or chocolate... Me?  I love all three, so it was perfect!  Enjoy guys and have a great rest of your Monday!

Shrimp Tempura Tacos

TGIF!  That's what I screamed when I woke up this morning.  Well, not literally, but just inside of my head.  But seriously.  Thank. Goodness. It's. Friday.

Definitely have a good weekend lined up.  It's the birthday weekend of a couple pharmacists I know, so we're going out for sushi tomorrow night.  Pretty amped about that because I could use a good meal of sushi right about now!

And I've decided to do something pretty cool here soon.  I've decided to kind of expand my "culinary abilities" and recreate dishes that I've had at restaurants.  I know... nothing new.  People do that all the time.  But I'm going to combine restaurant reviews and meals I've eaten and compare them to what I actually make at home.  Kind of like a side-by-side comparison of sorts.  Don't get it?  Well... the first post will be sometime in the next couple of weeks, and maybe it will be clearer then.

Anyway, this recipe was kind of an evolution of an idea really.  I had set out to make some shrimp ceviche, but then wanted tacos.  So shrimp ceviche tacos sounded pretty good.  Then I opened up the pantry and saw some tempura mix, and it was on.  Shrimp.  Tempura.  Tacos.  Oh yeah.

Oh, and don't forget this week's dessert poll at the end of the post!!


Ingredients:   

1 lb. frozen shrimp, defrosted
2 cups tempura batter
vegetable oil for frying
1 english cucumber, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 tomato, seeded and diced
small handful cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
corn tortillas, warmed
shredded cheddar cheese, optional
rice and salsa, for serving

In a large bowl, combine shrimp and tempura batter.  (A lot of Asian markets cell tempura batter mix and it's pretty easy... mine was a "just add water" kind of thing and tastes pretty great)  And of course, you could always make up your own tempura mix, but I had the pre-made stuff handy, so that's what I used.  Let sit for about 3-5 minutes.

In a heavy, deep pan or pot, heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil.  You know it's hot enough when you add a little bit of the tempura batter and it sizzles.

Add shrimp and cook for about 1-2 minutes per side, or until the tempura is crispy and golden brown.

Transfer to a paper towel-lined bowl and sprinkle with a little bit of salt and pepper.


In a small bowl, combine the cucumber, tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, salt, and pepper.  Mix well.

To assemble tacos, place a thin layer of shredded cheese on each tortilla, then add a few shrimp (about 3-4 per taco), and top with cucumber/tomato salsa.

We served the tacos with some rice (which I basically just cooked in the rice cooker and added about a 1/2-3/4 cup of salsa to and mixed).

This made for a great impromptu taco.  The flavors were fresh and I loved the contrast of the fried tempura shrimp and the delicate salsa.  Definitely a winner in my book!

Have a great weekend guys!


And for the poll this week, I'm feeling like I want to make some cheesecake... so here's some flavors (don't know if some of them actually exist... but hey... I will make it happen if it wins!)

Project Food Blog: Challenge #3

Hot diggity!  I never thought I would even make it past Challenge #1, and here I am, at Challenge #3!  All thanks go out to you guys!  Without your votes, I wouldn't be here, and I GREATLY GREATLY appreciate the love!

Challenge #3 is as follows:

"You'll be asked to channel new and exotic flavors for a luxurious dinner party menu. Voters will pick which feast they'd like to RSVP to." 

One thing I love about cooking, is the end result of feeding people.  So naturally, I love to have people come over and eat!  And of course, my co-workers, jumped right on the bandwagon to come on over!

I blogged earlier this week that my favorite season was now upon us - the fall!  And so it's truly the fall season that inspired this menu.  I wanted to bring out something that my guests would enjoy, and would be new to them.  Turns out, 3 of my guests had NEVER had duck before, so that just made this main course all the more perfect!

 

The first course was just a group appetizer:  Carmelized Onion Dip w/ House Made Pita Chips.  I love the simplicity of this and it allowed for the guests to "share" and converse with eachother before the other courses rolled out.

Second course was a simple salad of Arugula, Baby Greens, and Watercress.  Topped with freshly sliced strawberries, goat cheese, and a raspberry vinaigrette.  It was a nice refreshing salad that brightened up the palette and had a great depth of flavor. 

Main course was the entree of Roasted Duck Breasts with a Pomegranate-Chile sauce.  Served with a brown rice pilaf that included golden raisins, dried apricots, and walnuts.  There was also a side of sauteed swiss chard.  The "Duck Virgins" said that they really enjoyed their first experience with duck and one of them even said that duck may be their new favorite!  Score!

 

The fourth and final course was the dessert:  Pumpkin Cheesecake w/ Caramel Bourbon Sauce & freshly made Whipped Cream.  This was a perfect night cap to end the dinner.  The cheesecake was thin and light, with an Oreo crust that matched perfectly with the pumpkin cheesecake layer.

At the end of the dinner, I asked everyone what their favorite course of the meal was, and it was a unanimous vote that the Duck definitely reigned supreme.  I'm glad, because personally, it was my favorite as well!

I want to thank my awesome sister, Frances, for decorating our back deck, also!  She did such a great job and really made it look elegant and classy!  My guests were awesome and at the end of the day, all you need are great friends and great food to have an amazing time!

 If you guys dug the menu and found yourself drooling the whole time, please please please, don't hesitate to vote for my entry in Challenge #3 of Project Food Blog (you can either click the link or check out the right sidebar to vote!)!  And thank you thank you SOOOO much for getting me this far!  You guys are awesome!

Links!

This has been a pretty crazy week. Pharmacy school application is in the mail, now it's just a waiting game. I'll pretty much be stressed out to the core until I hear something. Cooking is the only thing to keep me sane right now, I suppose. Here's the links for this week....

Conversion Tables - I printed this out this week because I think it's a handy reference tool. There's a lot of recipes online that use the metric system as opposed to our customary U.S. system and I always end up having to Google the conversions because for some reason they don't stick in my head. So this table comes in pretty handy!

Stir Fry Sauces - The title says it all. This shows 6 different stir fry sauce styles, that are pretty versatile for any bunch of ingredients. Especially since stir fry is one of those quick and easy meals, it's good to spice it up a bit... I definitely recommend the Lobster sauce!!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Maple Cream Cheese Frosting - It's October and pumpkin is pretty much a main stay! So why not make these delicious looking cupcakes! I'm sure the frosting is something you'd want to eat all by itself but remember to but it on the cupcakes!!

Cook's Illustrated - Definitely a great resource for anything in the kitchen. Keep the food publications alive! Subscribe to your favorite magazine today, regardless of what it may be!

Cheesecake With Whiskey Butter Sauce - cheesecake? whiskey? Who ever thought of putting the two together? Two great indulgences wrapped into one package!

Alright well that wraps it up... enjoy the weekend and hopefully you're somewhere sunny because here in the midwest it's pretty crappy and rainy!