The Cookbook Junkies

 

Back in New York, I made cheesecakes frequently.  I’m trying to find a modest way to convey that I’m damn good at cheesecake (and brownies and macaroni and cheese and …..) but there isn’t such a way.  You have to just own it.   I’m great at making cheesecakes and experimenting with different flavors and crust.  Cheesecakes were always a hit with Jim’s family and my friends.

Andrew and I love peanut butter and banana – it’s a favorite snack of ours and, of course to complete the Elvis flavor profile, we had to add bacon.

This cheesecake is really delicious — a nice blend of all the flavors – nothing is overwhelming.  If you don’t care for a certain component leave it out.

While you are here – please check out all the cookbook giveaways I have going on!  Thank you.

Elvis Cheesecake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Crust

1/2 to 2/3 cup of melted butter

Roughly 9 ounces of Nutter Butter cookies (I used 3 mini snack containers)

Pulse both ingredients in the food processor until it combines into coarse crumbs – start with a 1/2 cup of melted butter and add more if needed.
Pat the crust ingredients into the bottom of a spring form pan bringing the crust up the sides (my family likes crust).  Bake for ten minutes to set the crust.   These amounts should make enough crust for a 9 inch springform pan with leftover crumbs (which you can freeze or use to make a mini cheesecake or cheesecake muffins).  Today I made two smaller cheesecakes and had enough crust to make a 7 inch tart as well.

Filling

3 eight ounce packages of cream cheese, softened

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup of smooth peanut butter

1 1/4 cups of sugar

2 eggs

a pinch of sea salt

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Add eggs one at a time, beat for a few minutes until creamy and combined.  Add mashed bananas, peanut butter and salt beat well.  Spread filling over crust.  Bake  in 350 degree oven for 1 hour on center rack.  On bottom rack place a pan of water (This is the method I use every time and it works for me – if a crack happens – because  cracks happen – cover it up with chocolate ganache or leave it — I have never seen a person refuse a piece of cheesecake because of a crack).   Adjust baking times if you are making smaller cakes or larger cakes.  With this cheesecake, I didn’t even use the water method because I had the bacon in the oven on the lower rack and the cheesecakes came out fine.

Transfer cake to rack, cool one hour, chill overnight.  Decorate with chopped candied bacon.  Serves 10 to 12 people.

Peanut Butter Candied Bacon

Preheat oven to 350.

Place four slices of thick bacon on a rack that has been placed inside a sheet pan, sprinkle a little brown sugar on the bacon and bake for 10 minutes.   While bacon is in the oven – mix one tablespoon of smooth peanut butter, a teaspoon of maple syrup and a tablespoon of brown sugar — place this mixture in the microwave for ten seconds to loosen for spreading on the bacon.

After the bacon has baked for 10 minutes, remove from oven and spread the peanut butter mixture on bacon – place back into oven – bake for ten minutes.  Remove again  from oven (it will be ugly) – spread the melted peanut butter out – and then flip the bacon – and apply reserved  additional peanut butter mixture on opposite side.   Return to oven for ten minutes.  After ten minutes, check again – smooth out the peanut butter and finish up in oven until bacon is nice and candied.  The peanut butter mixture gives it a great flavor — let it cool and then dice up and sprinkle on top of cheesecake before serving.

 

 

 

 

 

If you read my Under Pressure post, you already knew I had a phobia of pressure cookers until The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book got me excited about pressure cooking.

A few friends have been raving about Instant Pot and I was curious to see what all the excitement was about.

Instant Pot is a 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Cooker–Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Saute/Browning, Yogurt Maker, Steamer & Warmer and includes a 6Qt 3-ply bottom stainless steel cooking pot, stainless steel steam rack with handle, rice paddle, soup spoon, and measuring cup.   Instructions, recipes, and cooking time tables in multiple languages are included.

Truth be told, I was a bit skeptical about the browning or sautéing function, but Instant Pot proved me wrong.  I made the Sweet-Spicy-Salty Drumsticks from Mark and Bruce’s book and they browned up nicely in the pot – and I was able to make these less than photogenic but tender and delicious drumsticks for lunch today.  While the pot was cooking the drumsticks, I was in somewhat of a panic – no noises, rattling or explosions were coming from the other side of the kitchen.  Yes, I was quivering on the other side of the room with fears of being run through by a errant drumstick missile.

The pressure cooker is nearly completely silent and an occasional click you will hear, but nothing else.  As I type this post, I have rice cooking in the Instant Pot and I keep turning around checking out the device.  It has yet to move, explode or broadcast a demonic voice instructing me to “GET OUT!” The instructions and the pressure cooker itself are fool proof.  And again – wonderful results – the rice is fluffy and perfectly done.  Is there anything less photographic than white rice?

Many of my friends are using the Instant Pot on a daily basis and I believe I will be using it several times a week myself and more.   I love the fact that I can donate or pass on my other devices and use this one pot for so many purposes.  Space saver, time saver, energy saver and wonderful investment…it is truly a great machine.   Yogurt making is in my near future as well as making stock in the pressure cooker.   I particularly love the warming function that will help when we are entertaining or my husband is running late from work.

My friend, Vivian Savares states “The Instant Pot is perfect for a working mom or dad, who wants to cook a good family meal even on a weekday. The preset features definitely help, but I love the timer feature, which I can set to start up to 24 hours in advance.”

Another friend, with two young children, Lindsay O’Connor shared, “I love how quickly I can get a healthy delicious meal made for our busy family. From making steel-cut oats for breakfast, dried chickpeas cooked for hummus or crispy chickpeas for a snack, and duck ragu & risotto for dinner. The Instant Pot can take you from breakfast to dinner with everything in between.”

Now for the good news, the wonderful people at Instant Pot are offering my readers a special discount if you purchase directly from their site.   If you use this link to order your Instant Pot, I will receive a small affiliate fee and if you include the promotional code “cbjunkie” you will receive $50 off any model that you choose.  I have the IP-DUO60 — the model that includes the programmable yogurt function.   Shipping is free and with the $50 off any model – the price is less than most of the other big sites.

Instant Pot provided me with the IP-DU060 to review.  All opinions are my own.   I stand behind any item or product I recommend.

 

I have some special books to tell you about today — The Dirty Apron Cookbook (recipes from Vancouver’s Dirty Apron Cooking School) and Toronto Cooks: 100 Signature Recipes from the City’s Best Restaurants are both beautiful books with fantastic recipes.

 

First up we have The Dirty Apron Cookbook recipes from Vancouver’s acclaimed Dirty Apron Cooking School.  There are many things I love about this book — from it’s appeal to both the beginner to more experienced cook.  The book contains over eighty of the cooking school’s recipes which have stood the test of time.

One of the first recipes that stood out to me was a basic scone recipe – with then adaptions for a fruit scone and a spicy cheese scone.  I’ve always been a scone fan and love to bring unique flavors to the family and friends. The method for poached eggs is the same method I use so I know it is successful.  My friend, Blaise, used the method and was finally able to poach an egg.   The lemon basil crepes and prosciutto and taleggio brioche both sounds wonderful for a brunch celebration.  (I have the brioche on my Easter menu this year and will update the post with my photos at that time.)

Other recipes that were intriguing were poached eggs on herb potato rosti, kale Caesar salad, caramelized fennel and goat cheese salad with pancetta crisps and confit cherry tomatoes, arugula and goat cheese ravioli with walnut and sage butter sauce, perogies with dill sour cream, herb ricotta gnocchi with Chanterelle cream sauce, flatbreads with tomato-walnut salsa, maple seared scallops with warm chorizo and kalamata olive ragout and pea coulis, crab cannelloni with vine tomato butter sauce  and so many more.

This book is perfect for the beginner or advanced cook – a perfect gift for a new wife, college student or any cooking enthusiast.