Easy Cheesecake

Easy Cheesecake

I'm a fan of easy and I'm a fan of cheesecake, and when you combine the two, you've easily have a winner in my book of life.

There are certain recipe sources that I return to again and again for no-fail recipes that rarely fail to inspire or please, and the good people at King Arthur Flour is one of those.  When I lived in New England and within easy driving distance of their store, I was an occasional shopper of their Norwich, Vermont store and just loved oogling at all their fabulous merchandise and baking supplies.  This isn't an advertisement for them, just rattling on about shopping, I guess.  There were a couple of other really super cookware shops that I frequented in Vermont; it's just this recipe happens to come from KAF, hence why I mention it.

Moving on, this is a very nice cheesecake.  Full disclosure, it's not as good as my all time favorite New York cheesecake, but if you want a simple cheesecake that is simple, simple, simple, creamy smooth, and delicious flavor, I think you won't find many better than this one.  I think it took me longer to haul out the few ingredients and my cooking tools than it did to put this together.

My boyfriend took a tentative taste test and then couldn't stay away from it.  He liked it far more than I did, and I liked it, but as I said, this is very good.

EASY CHEESECAKE
Original recipe found at King Arthur Flour here for additional details and hints.

For the Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about one and a half packages, more or less)
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup melted butter (equivalent of 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon)
1/8 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)

Filling
2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese (at room temperature)
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping of Choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix the crust ingredients together and pour into a 9-inch pie plate.  Press the crust the ingredients up the sides and on the bottom of the pan, making the thicker bottom than the sides.

Cream together the room-temperature cream cheese and the sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and the vanilla and again mix until smooth.  Pour the filling into the waiting crust.

Place the cheesecake in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes.  Add a crust shield or cover with a "hedge row" of tin foil so the crust won't overbrown.  Bake for an additional ten minutes.  The center will look slightly wobbly but it will be done.

Remove from the oven and let cool and set it on a rack to cool.  Make topping.  Cover pie and refrigerate.  Best after several hours to allow the flavors to meld.

RASPBERRY SAUCE

12 ounce bag frozen, unsweetened raspberries (about 12 ounces) divided
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon butter

Stir together 1 1/2 cups of raspberries, sugar and water in a saucepan.  Stirring frequently heat over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is boiling.

Reduce the heat and stir in the vanilla.

In a small cup combine the cornstarch and water, mixing well.

While stirring the raspberry mixture, slowly add the cornstarch slurry so it doesn't clump.  Continue stirring and cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens and looses its cloudy appearance and looks clear, about 4 minutes.

Remove from heat.  Add the butter and mix until the butter has been incompletely incorporated.

Allow the mixture to cool for 15 minutes, then add the remaining berries and stir to mix.

COOK'S NOTES:  This cheesecake was definitely better the second day, so I would suggest several hours of cooling at least, or maybe overnight.  But if you're in a hurry and need dessert right away, no judgment from me if you cut into it after only a couple of hours, grins.

When I made the raspberry sauce, I totally did not see that the raspberries were divided and just dumped the whole bag into the saucepan at the beginning and cooked them.  Worked fine for me, though whole raspberries might have made a prettier presentation.  I found that the sauce was not thick enough for me, so I made another little batch of the slurry (the 2 teaspoons of water and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch) and added that.  Much more to my liking.

Sweet Chili Dog Sauce

Sweet Chili Dog Sauce

Sometimes there's nothing like a good hot dog and potato salad to hit the spot.  They remind me of the best days of summer outings and family get-togethers and of course country fairs.

It wasn't until much later in life that I discovered chili dogs, never knew such a thing existed. I was in my late teens when my to-be husband introduced me to chili, and that was in a can.  Up until then hot dogs were served up dripping with mustard or ketchup and relish only and for the brave the occasional pile of diced onion.

Here's a interesting tidbit.  In New England hot dog rolls are primarily split on the top; just about everywhere else they are split along the side.  Ever notice that?  It's quite disconcerting to me to see them split on the side.  I think making my own top-side split hot dog rolls may be on the agenda.

Anyway, enough of all that.

This hot dog chili has a unique flavor.  Aromatic from all the gorgeous spices, sweet, not savory like Tex-Mex chili, so if you're looking for a savory chili this won't be it.  My boyfriend liked the chili so much he ate it without the hot dog, grins.

The list of ingredients looks long, but it's mostly all spices.  This goes together easily.  There is a long slow cooking time but it's worth it.

SWEET CHILI DOG SAUCE
(Adapted from this site)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1.5 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt (if necessary)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon ground chili powder
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 cup tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth

2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
half a cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf

In a large pot, like a Dutch oven or small stew pot, heat the oil over medium heat.  A the the hamburg, onion, garlic, salt and pepper and cook until the hamburger is no longer pink, giving it a couple of good stirs to break it up into a mince.  Drain the fat from the meat, reserving everything else.

Add the chili powder, cocoa powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, allspice and cayenne.  Give it a good stir and allow to cook for 3 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce and beef broth and bring to a simmer.  Add remaining ingredients.

Slowly simmer uncovered for about an hour, stirring quite frequently to ensure it's not burning at the bottom of the pan.  If this is thickening too fast, you can add a bit of water and cover the pot.

Discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaf before using.

Spoon the chili sauce over grilled hot dogs and celebrate summer!

COOK'S NOTE:  This keeps very well for several days if put in a covered container and seems to get better with being allowed to mellow out.  A perfect make ahead.