holiday food

Fromage Fort (Cheese Spread)

November 23, 2011 by Rebecca 6 Comments

We interrupt these Thanksgiving preparations to bring you a Public Service Announcement. This is only an announcement. This post will take less than five minutes to read and less than five minutes to prepare. You may then return to cooking for your feast:

Did you get invited to a last minute shindig? Do you need just-one-more-thing to round out your holiday feasts? Do you love cheese?

That last question is the most important really, because this is a recipe for cheese lovers. Serious cheese lovers only. Because this is how you use up the odds-and-ends in your cheese collection. You do have a cheese collection, right? A nub of Romano, a hunk of Cheddar, a couple tablespoons of crumbled bleu, some Asiago pieces rattling around in a bag or a drawer or a container in your refrigerator…

Well, the French ride to the rescue here, with the classic Fromage Fort. Fromage fort translates as “strong cheese” and believe you me, there’s nothing wussy about it. It is CHEESE writ large. It is a cheese spread from the country that many people find synonymous with cheese.

So what is Fromage Fort like? (Look away, my French friends. You may be horrified at this description.) It’s kind of like good ole American pimiento cheese, but minus the pimientos and plus wine. How could you possibly go wrong?*

*Let me tell you how you could go wrong. You could use Velveeta or American cheese. If you do that? You’re totally on your own. Blech. Don’t misunderstand. There’s a time and a place for both of those, but neither of those belong here. Emphatically. Amen.

The only specialty item you’ll need is a food processor. That’s kind of non-negotiable here for the best texture. Other than that, the world is your Fromage Fort oyster. You can make this five minutes before running out the door or a week in advance. The longer it sits, the stronger it gets!

Serve with crackers or crusty bread or veggie platters or on baked potatoes or pretzels or… or… or… You get the idea!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Important Cheese Eating advice: When making Fromage Fort, try to steer away from using too much from the bleu cheese or really salty cheese families (Asiago, Romano, Parmesano). Let those be “accent” notes. Use a milder cheese (Cheddar, Jack, etc…) as the melody!

Fromage Fort (Cheese Spread)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Fromage Fort (Cheese Spread)

Fromage Fort -French for strong cheese- is a classic recipe that uses up odds and ends in your cheese collection. This slightly garlicky cheese spread touched with a flavour of white wine makes a wonderful appetizer or addition to any cheese course when served with crackers, crusty bread or crudites.

Ingredients

1/2 pound of assorted cheeses (Cheddar, Asiago, Romano, Parmesan, Monterey Jack, Colby, Swiss, etc...)
1/4 cup of dry white wine (or more, depending on desired texture)
1/2 a large clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
Cracked black pepper to taste
Optional: Chopped herbs for garnish

Instructions

Grate cheeses and add to the bowl of a work processor fitted with a metal blade. Add remaining ingredients and fix lid onto the food processor. Process until you have a spreadable consistency. Check the texture. If you want it runnier, add a splash of white wine and process again. Scrape into a bowl or a ramekin. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to a week.

If desired, garnish with chopped herbs.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/11/23/fromage-fort-cheese-spread/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Appetizers & Snacks, Comfort Food, Comfort Food, Getting Creative With Leftovers, Holiday Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian Tagged With: budget friendly, Christmas, Food gifts, Frugal Food, holiday food, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, Thanksgiving, traditional food, Vegetarian

Best Basic Cheesecake

October 28, 2011 by Rebecca 9 Comments

DON’T CLOSE THIS WINDOW.

I know, fear of cheesecake is strong, but I’m here to tell you it is one of the easiest things you’ll ever make. Easier than a no-bake box number from the store. Easier than a brownie mix. Easier than falling off a cliff. Easier than, well… look. I’ll just show you.

But first…

This is my wild man. (The one behind him is also a wild man, but I am referring, specifically, to the man in motion in front.)

His hair is always a little crazy. No amount of water or mousse or hairspray or prayer or anything short of a head shaving will make it lie down and that’s how we like him.

His grin is always huge and his ability to find or be found by mischief is near legendary. He’s a dog lover, a fruit monkey, a silly little man and wow can he talk. He’s not a man of few words. I have no idea where he got his gift of gab.

He has always been a noise maker. When he was little he beat-boxed and this year he discovered that he’s a real, honest-to-goodness drummer. This kid is a metronome.

Between the hair and the antics and the drumming, he reminds me of a kinder, gentler Animal.

My boy has put a smile on all our faces since the day he was born eight years ago. This year, his birthday fell on the first day of a family road trip and we were unable to do our usual “choose the meal, dessert and movie” that is usually bestowed upon the birthday boy. He did, however, have an ice cream cake courtesy of a sweet auntie, but that didn’t stop him from regaling us with what he was going to have for his birthday feast on the fourteen hour drive back home. It went something like this,

“I’m gonna have tacos and haystacks and home fries and tortilla chips. And I’m going to have celery and carrots and Ranch dressing and venison and pizza and hamburgers and hot dogs. And tortilla chips and pretzels and potato chips and dip and beef jerky. And a salad.”

After we managed to negotiate down to tacos and a salad, I asked, “What would you like for dessert?”

And my talker, Young Master Verbose as we sometimes call him, said one word in a reverential whisper,

“Cheesecake.”

Five minutes -and some meaningful looks- later he was back off and running,

“Can I have it be a plain one with lots and lots and lots and lots of berries? How about a big strawberry right in the middle? I think we should put some raspberries and strawberries and blueberries and cherries and apples and pears and blackberries and plums and grapes and…”

You get the idea.

Then my oven broke. (Yep. That again. I’m sorry. I write real-time. Most of the food on here makes it online within a week of being served to the family, so you get life as I get it, for better or worse.) And Leif had to wait again.

He was pretty patient, all in all.

And then today. I finally sliced into his cheesecake in all its plain cheesecake with berries and berries and berries. My slightly bigger every day eight year old sat down and dug into his cake and I sat down and dug into admiring him.

I’m pretty keen on this little guy.

And obviously, I’m not the only one…

Now, let’s talk cheesecake, shall we?

Can we agree on what a great cheesecake is? It’s creamy, smooth, rich, and sweet-but-not-too-sweet. I like a little bit of a crushed cookie crust, but that’s optional* and can be included or omitted. To top or not to top? I like it plenty naked. The cake being naked, not me. I don’t eat cake naked. I mean honestly. If you’re eating a wedge of plain cheesecake you’re going to be happy enough. In my book, though, the perfect foil for this ultra rich and creamy cake is, as Leif wanted, a nice tart berry topping. Anything else must be approached with extreme caution at the risk of overdoing the sweet factor.

*Duck! The cheesecake mafia is going to smack me down on this one. I know, a “pure and proper” cheesecake has no crust, but shoot me. I like the homestyle crust. My recipe is flexible enough to omit the crust if you’re a crust hater, though. Stick with me people.

Please. I beg you. If you love cheesecake and you’ve been afraid of making one or failed at it before or even if you’re a cheesecake veteran, make my cheesecake. It is, in a word, sublime. It is everything a cheesecake is supposed to be -crust or not- and you will not be disappointed.

Best Basic Cheesecake with Berry Topping

The gentle orange flavour of this silky, rich cheesecake makes it perfect for eating pure and pristine or topping with berries or ganache or whatever your imagination desires.

Ingredients

For a Cheesecake with a Crust:

1 sleeve graham crackers crushed (about 10 crackers, or 1 cup crumbs)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons raw sugar

For the Cheesecake Itself:

4 (8 ounce) bricks cream cheese, softened to room temperature
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons Grand Marnier (or another orange liqueur ~or~ 1/2 teaspoon orange extract mixed with 4 tablespoons of orange juice)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

For the Berry Topping:

2 cups fresh raspberries (or the same amount of frozen raspberries, thawed)
1 cup strawberry jam (preferably freezer jam)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions

Put a kettle of water on to boil. Arrange the oven racks so you have one in the center and one 6-inches below it and preheat oven to 300°F.

Line a springform pan with parchment paper then butter both the paper and the pan generously. Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.

To Prepare with a Crust:

Toss all the crust ingredients together with a fork, then press firmly and evenly into the prepared pan.

To Make the Cheesecake Batter:

Put the cream cheese into a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Add the eggs and sugar and process again until smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape the sides down.

Again, scrape the sides down, then add the Grand Marnier (or extract and juice) and vanilla and process until smooth.

Carefully pour the batter into the prepared pan and put the baking sheet with the pan on it on the center rack. Put an empty bread pan on the rack beneath it and fill with boiling water from the kettle. Bake for 55 minutes, or until the outer 2/3 of the cake is set and the inner 1/3 is still jiggly. Turn the oven off, prop the door open a couple inches and let it cool to room temperature. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cheesecake and refrigerate for several hours or overnight before attempting to umold.

To Unmold the Cheesecake:

With plastic wrap still in place, undo the clasp of the springform pan and push the base up through the outer ring to free the cheesecake. Place a platter on top of the cheesecake and invert it. Remove the base and parchment, then place a cake plate face down on the bottom of the cheesecake, invert again, remove the plastic wrap and Ta-Da! One cheesecake, ready to slice!

To Prepare Berry Topping:

Use a fork or whisk to beat the jam a little to break it up. Stir in the berries and lemon juice and top your cheesecake slices as you serve them.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/10/28/best-basic-cheesecake/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: holiday food, kid friendly, party food, Vegetarian

Spanakopita Dip

November 8, 2009 by Rebecca 14 Comments

When is a dip not just a dip? When it’s something transcendental. When it’s born to be a superstar. When it’s… Spanakopita Dip. (And that is NOT anticlimactic. It isn’t. Let me expound.)

Spanakopita Dip is the dip that can do it all. A meal-of-a-dip full of spinach, studded with feta cheese, garlic, onions and various herbs and spices it is wonderful at topping chips, crackers and veggie sticks. But it doesn’t stop there. With very little effort, a bit of phyllo dough, and some olive oil, it can be transformed into a beautiful and flavor-packed amuse bouche or finger food. (With just a little more tinkering, it can be made into actual, honest-to-goodness spanakopita. But more on this in a future post.) No magic required!

This falls into that coveted family of recipes that take little to no know-how or work yet still impress the most finicky, jaded food snobs. Spanakopita Dip starts with the same simple, five minute batch of the Dill-icious Greek Yogurt Dip that I featured on Friday. Here’s the skinny* on three of Spanakopita Dip’s many talents.

*And yes, it is indeed skinny. For details, see Friday’s post.

Dip it. Dunk it. Eat it on a spoon. But for the love of Pete, wherever he may be, don’t use some weak little chip. Use a ridged or kettle-cooked chip or a sturdy carrot stick or a broccoli florette. This is a serious dip. It will crush the milquetoast chip dust in the yellow bags.
Scoop it into crisp, brown phyllo cups. Sure, you can buy these in the store, but for the same price you can make twice as many and they’ll be four times as good!
It improves your health, so eat as much as you want. That creamy, decadent mouth feel from the dip is pure Greek yogurt, baby! And eating yogurt improves your ability to digest all the food you eat. Not only that, it’s crammed full of spinach. That equals iron, calcium, anti-oxidants, folate, niacin, and Vitamins A, C and B6, among other goodies, so dig in!

I’m giving you a two-fer here today. First is the Spanakopita Dip recipe. Left by itself it can make you very, very happy. My dear friend Melissa would be a happy girl left alone with a bowl of this and a spoon. But below the recipe for the dip is what you can do to dress it up into a stunning and savoury amuse bouche or finger food for Thanksgiving and Christmas buffets and parties. ‘Tis the season, after all. (Nobody needs to know just how very good this is for you unless you want to tell them. Your secret is safe with me!)

For photo-free, printer-friendly versions of these recipes, click here!

Spanakopita Dip

Ingredients:

1 (17.6 ounce) container Greek yogurt
1 pound frozen chopped spinach (thawed and lightly squeezed to remove excess moisture.)
1/3 cup feta cheese crumbles (You can increase or decrease this according to taste.)
2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes)
2 Tablespoons dry minced onion flakes
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

As in the Dill-icious Greek Yogurt Dip, begin by combining yogurt with spinach and all other ingredients in a large bowl.

Now see this? This is fresh nutmeg. It’s my friend. My close, close friend. If you do not have fresh nutmeg don’t substitute the ground stuff in jars here. It just wouldn’t be right. If you don’t have the fresh nutmeg, just skip the nutmeg all together in this case. Trust me.

Stir well until evenly combined.

Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour prior to serving. Serve with sturdy chips, crackers, vegetable sticks or spread on bread.

This, alone, is a wonderful reason to look forward to your weekday lunches or football viewing snacks. But we’re coming upon the most wonderful time of the year, folks. In just a couple weeks you’re going to need more bang. You’re going to need more bling. You’re going to need to make Mini Spanakopita Phyllo Cups.

Mini Spanakopita Phyllo Cups

Don’t fear the phyllo. It’s not as scary as you might think. Just proceed carefully, don’t freak out if it tears a bit (you’re laying it after all) and have a little patience. Your rewards will be great!
Ingredients:

One batch Spanakopita Dip
5 sheets thawed phyllo dough
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375F. Unwrap phyllo dough, taking care not to tear the dough.

Lay one sheet of phyllo dough out on a cutting board. Brush lightly with olive oil.

Carefully lay another sheet of phyllo dough over the first and repeat with olive oil and remaining phyllo dough.

Using a 2 ¾” round biscuit or cookie cutter, cut through the layered phyllo dough.

Gently press the layered phyllo dough rounds, olive oil side down, in mini-muffin tin cups.

Place on the center rack in the oven. Remove the pan after it has baked for five minutes. Press the center down, carefully, if it is beginning to puff up.

Place pan back in the oven and bake for five more minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven. Remember that the cups will continue to brown a bit as they cool. Transfer cups to a rack and cool completely.

Spoon about two teaspoons of the Spanakopita Dip into each cup and serve. The phyllo cups will remain crisp at room temperature for about three hours at room temperature. Now sit back and watch them disappear. You can do this because you ate fifteen in the kitchen before you took them out to the table.