October's Cooking Class

Hey Everyone,

Wednesday and Thursday seemed to go well. Looking back, I hope that you didn't leave feeling overwhelmed or discouraged. Some simple things to remember are:

1. Cooking and baking are NOT brain surgery! This should be fun. Relax. Don't get too hung up in the measurements, remember that many things in cooking and baking are to taste. That means your
taste, not mine.

2. Don't get discouraged. Trying is the most important thing you can do. If you don't try, you'll never succeed.

3. You can ALWAYS call me if you have a question or if something

isn't turning out just right.

Thursday night we talked about some common problems with pie crust. If your crust is turning out too dry after you've added your

liquid, you've probably added too much flour. Remember that

flour compacts as it sits in the bag or container. You need to airiate your flour, then gently spoon it into your measure cup and level off. NEVER shake your flour in the cup, tamp it down or pack it in. The difference between weighing your flour and measuring (even after ariating) can be as much as 1/4-1/2 cup. You can see that this will surely effect your end product, so go easy on the flour.

I served a recipe on Thursday that wasn't available on Wednesday and I didn't give Wednesday's class the recipe. Here it is - It's definitely a KEEPER!

S'mores Cheesecake Bars - yields 9x13 pan

Crust:
2 C. crushed graham cracker crumbs - save about 1/4 C. for the top
6-8 Tbl. melted butter
3 Tbl. brown sugar

Melt the butter and add to the crumbs and brown sugar. Start with 6 Tbl of butter and add more if necessary. Your crumbs should hold together when pinched between your fingers but you don't want them to be mushy.

Spray a 9x13 cake pan with cooking spray and line with a double layer of heavy duty foil. Lay it across (crosswise) the pan, shape it to the sides and fold over the edge of the pan. Spray with cooking spray and press the crumbs firmly into the bottom of the pan. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or till golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Filling:
3-8oz. pkgs. of softened cream cheese (that means room temperature)
8 oz. marshmallow cream
1 C. sugar
1 Tbl. of vanilla
3 Tbl. all purpose flour

Mix the above ingredients in a mixer and "beat the heck" out of the cream cheese. Whip it for 5 minutes, at medium speed, till everything is very light and fluffy.

Add:
4 eggs, one at a time and mix, DO NOT BEAT,till just incorporated. Stop mixer and stir by hand to fully incorporate the eggs.

Pour the filling over the cooled crust and return to the 300 degree oven for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature,sprinkle the reserved graham crackers over the top of the cheesecake and place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cheesecake; refrigerate till well chilled, 6 hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, run a knive along the ends of the pan to loosen the cheese cake and along the sides, behind the foil. When everything is loose, lift the two sides of foil to remove the cheesecake from the pan. You may need someone to hold the pan for you. Fold the foil down and cut the cheesecake into squares. The size depends on how many you're planning on serving. This is VERY rich, so a little goes a long way.

When your cheesecake is cut into squares, add the following to finish:

Melt-
1 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave till smooth, you may add 1 Tbl. butter or oil, if necessary; this will also keep the chocolate relatively soft.

You can spread some on each square, or drizzle over the top of each square, it's up to you.

Top - each square with mini marshmallows (1 C. total for the entire cheesecake). When each square has marshmallows, use a kitchen torch and scorch the marshmallows till they're golden brown and soft. Serve your cheesecake immediately.

This is so "crazy good". You'll think that you've gone to cheesecake and s'mores heaven.

A Note about cheesecake:
Cheesecake is essentially a custard. Make sure that you really beat the cream cheese and all other ingredients, except the eggs, really well before adding the eggs. This will keep your cheesecake from cracking in the center. Be sure NOT to beat your eggs or whipping cream, irregardless of what your recipe might say.

Baking your cheesecake at a lower temperature - no more than 325 degrees, will also help with the cracking. Baking a cheesecake slowly, is the best way to go, so even if your recipes calls for a higher temperature, not above 325. Your cheesecake should always be slightly jiggly in the center (about the size of a silver dollar), it will set up more as it cools. If you're not sure, turn your oven off, open the door and leave the cheesecake in the oven for 30 min. to an hour to finish, check it periodically to see how it's doing.

There are so many great cheesecakes out there and if you've been afraid to try one, now's the time to start. I've given you a recipe for one of my favorites "Fudge Truffle Cheesecake" on your cd, and this one is great. They're both pretty easy and straightforward, so MAKE CHEESECAKE!

Let me know how your efforts turned out. I'd love for you to share your experiences from the cooking classes in this blog so everyone can learn and improve together. Let us know what you've tried, about your successes and challenges, it will be a learning experience for all of us.

November's class is on Wednesday the 10th and Thursday the 11th. We're doing Sides and Salads - just in time for Thanksgiving. Look at the November, 2008 file on your cd. This was a class I did specifically for Thanksgiving. I'd like all of you to think about brining your turkey this year. There are recipes in that file for brine. A brined turkey is AMAZING! There are also some recipes for sides, salads and what to do with your leftovers.

Don't forget to let me know what you think of the class, if there's anything you'd specifically like to cover or any questions you might have.

Thanks for coming and sharing.

Christie

ps - pictures of our Gingerbread, Caramel and Chocolate Chip Biscotti (great for keeping), Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bars and the Pumpkin Truffle Pound Cake with Brown Butter Frosting.

We also had: the most AMAZING, Lemon Curd (in our tart shells), Coach House Rice Pudding with Strawberry Sauce, Pumpkin Cider Pudding Cake, Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte, S'mores Cheesecake Squares, Country Pear Tart (with the Lion's House Pie Crust), Tart Shells (with the Water Whip Pie Crust) and Puff Pastry Squares with French Cream and Strawberry Sauce.

Talk about "sugar overload".