Epic Portions

Author: admin

  • Long Time, No Bake (Or: I’m surprised John hasn’t taken away my login info.)

    Hello, faithful food lovers – I have an apology, a cheesecake, and some news for you. The apology is thus: Sorry I haven’t been around to talk about sugar highs and fresh baked delights for a really, really long time. My life has been a little topsy-turvy lately, and things kind of got away from me.  Which brings me to the news: I’m actually not gonna be around much, for awhile.  I have officially moved to San Francisco to pursue my masters degree, and between being a full-time grad student, working two part-time jobs (it’s expensive out here, yo) and living in such an incredible and amazing city, I don’t forsee a whole lot of free time for baking in my near future.  I knew this was coming when I signed on here, and I have to say it’s bittersweet. Baking and writing for EP has been a whole lot of fun and I hope to come back to it regularly when things calm down a little here. (So, John: please don’t take away my login! In the words of my esteemed governor, I’ll be back.)

    And now, for what you’re here for: a farewell cheesecake!  For most of August it was really, really hot in Urbana, so I didn’t much feel like baking in the traditional, oven-on sense. I DID feel like having my friends over for one last cake party, though.  So when I found a no-bake cheesecake with a lovely and unusual twist in the August Martha Stewart Living, I went for it.  I give you, with very few modifications (but some, because that’s just how I am):

    No-Bake Goat Cheese and Mascarpone Cheesecake with Balsamic Cherries

    Crust:
    Butter (for your pan)
    1.5 cups graham crackers, beaten or food-processed to a pulp
    3 tblspn melted butter
    2 tblspn sugar
    Cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to taste

    Butter a 9″ springform pan liberally.  Mix together your ingredients and press them into the pan, and refrigerate (or freeze) while you make the cake.

    Cake filling:
    4oz cream cheese at room temperature
    4oz mascarpone cheese at room temperature
    2oz soft goat cheese at room temperature
    1 cup of sour cream
    2/3 cup sugar, divided into 1/3s
    1 tblspn vanilla
    1 tbslpn lemon juice
    1 cup heavy cream

    Beat the three cheeses, the sour cream, 1/3cup of the sugar, the vanilla and the lemon juice in a large bowl until very smooth.   Try it with your finger or a spoon and marvel at how you never really though goat cheese would be good in a cheesecake, but totally is.  Don’t eat it all with the spoon.  In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream and the other 1/3cup sugar on high until medium to stiff peaks form (or until soft peaks form and you’re really tired of standing there, but medium to stiff peaks are preferable.)  Fold the whipped cream into the cheese mixture and spread into your chilled crust.  Freeze for at least 2 hours, or however long you can stand to leave it in there and not eat it.  There’s no way I left it for two hours, probably more like 45 minutes, and it was squishy but delicious.  The longer you freeze it, the less squishy it will be, although I do not think it will in any way affect its deliciousness.

    Topping:
    1/2 lb sweet cherries, pitted and halved (frozen is OK if, like me, you don’t feel like pitting half a pound of cherries, but fresh is probably better.)
    1/4cup sugar
    balsamic vinegar to taste (don’t skimp, the balsamicity is half the fun.)
    1 tblspn cornstarch
    1 tblspn water
    cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and freshly ground pepper

    Bring about half of your cherries, the sugar, the vinegar, and your spices to a simmer in a saucepan.  Cook, stirring, until squishy.  (This is a very squishy recipe.)  I mean really squishy, kind of jam-like.  Whisk together your cornstarch and your water, and add the mixture to the saucepan.  Simmer for another minute or so, then remove from heat and stir in the remaining cherries.  Squish it a bit if you like, but part of the appeal is having some of the cherries still have their shape while the others are all syrupy.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

    Once you are ready to serve it, just plate the cheesecake, drizzle a bit more balsamic vinegar on top in a pretty pattern, and top with some freshly ground pepper.  You can add your cherries to the top to serve, or let people add them as they like to their individual slices – up to you.  And please note that most of the ingredients you are using (goat cheese, mascarpone, etc.) traditionally come in containers twice as big as you are using.  This is good.  Once you make one of these things, you will totally want to make another one right away to have all to yourself.  In fact, perhaps you should anticipate this and make twice the cherry mixture to start with.  Mmmmm, it was really good.

    And that’s all for now.  It’s been really fun, guys, and I hope to be back again soon.  If you are in San Francisco, look me up and we’ll go eat some cupcakes.

    – Megan

  • Epic Product Reviews: Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale

    I know I promised a series of Oktoberfest beer reviews, and many of those are still coming.  For now I will expand the series to include any other seasonal fall release that I see fit.  Why?  Because I can, and because Sierra Nevada has entered the fray with their fall beer, and how can any true beer lover pass up a new entry from Sierra Nevada? 

    Sierra Nevada Tumbler, as awesome as you would expect.

    On that note, yesterday I opened up a bottle of Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale.  It was an appropriate day for this brew; the air was laden with the feel of fall.  Temps were in the mid 60s with a wind that made it feel cooler.  The Fightin’ Wolverines were playing, and it was nice to watch Shoelace save Rich Rodriguez’ job for one more week.  And best of all, the beer was delicious.

    Did I expect anything less from Sierra Nevada?  No, but it is nice to have high expectations realized.  The roasted malt flavor was robust enough to qualify as a legitimate fall beer, but never overpowered the hops which were present for the finish.  The beer poured a very appealing orangey, ambery color.  As this is a seasonal, I have to say I will be picking up another six pack soon; it was too good not to have at least one more time.  I found this to be a very drinkable beer; a top notch brown ale.  Better than Bell’s Best Brown, maybe even better than Newcastle.  More research may be needed to confirm this.

    I’m glad that Sierra Nevada has added Tumbler and Summerfest to their already impressive repertoire.  The macro-craft brew capital of the United States has been Boston for as long as Sam Adams has been around.  But if Sierra Nevada keeps this up they will surpass Sam and the distinction of best macro-craft will be Chico, CA.  Sam gets his shot next time, when I review Samuel Adams Oktoberfest.  I will also be at Corner Brewery’s Oktoberfest celebration later this month, and hope to have a couple new local brews to write about as well.  Auf wiedershen!

  • Mustard Fish

    My parents visited this weekend and aside from loads of gifts for their grandkids they also brought one for me: A Le Creuset oval stoneware cooking dish that is a monster.  A sign of getting older (and more hip) is that I get truly exited about a new piece of cookware.

    My first meal in the new dish was my patented (not really) Mustard Fish.  There were a few inquiries about this when I previously mentioned it, so here goes: 

    For the marinade, you are making something similar to a balsamic vinaigrette.  First, chop one shallot and place in a bowl.  Then add balsamic vinegar, depending on the amount of fish you will need anything from 1-4 tablespoons.  I hate measuring, so experiment.  Then add Dijon mustard and your favorite stone ground mustard, something seedy.  Add parsley, salt, and pepper.  Finally, add olive oil (stir while adding) to taste.  When the mixture suits your palate, pour over fish (tilapia is my recommendation) and let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours.  Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes at 375 degrees. 

    Sorry about the lack of precise measurements.  If I wanted to measure things I would bake, which if you are a consistent reader of this blog you would know that I do not like to do.  Experiment.

    You can also get creative.  Use Chipotle Mustard instead of Dijon and the stone ground, and add Frank’s RedHot for a spicier dish.  This one is my personal preference. 

    This marinade also works great on chicken.  Nice way to liven up a boring boneless chicken breast. 

    In other news there is a good chance I will be in Philly in a couple weeks, in which case my lifelong dream of consuming authentic Philly Cheesesteaks will be realized.  As we have a very solid stop for great Philly-style hoagies here in Ypsilanti, I will have a nice basis for comparison.  A post about them will no doubt follow, along with a general post about Philly’s finest cuisine.