national cheesecake day

Though there really should be more than one annual National Cheesecake Day, here's a wonderful recipe in honor of this creamy occasion from Good Housekeeping's Comfort Food! Scrumptious Classics Made Easy recipe collection (2011 edition).

Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake 

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 tbsps butter or margarine, softened
3 to 4 lemons
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 packages reduced fat cream cheese (neufchatel), softened
1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
4 large eggs
2 cups half and half or light cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 deg.  Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with heavy-duty foil to prevent batter leaking.

In pan, mix graham cracker crumbs and butter with fork until crumbs are moistened.  With hand, press mixture firmly onto bottom of pan.  Bake crust 10 minutes.  Cool on wire rack for about 15 minutes.

Reset oven to 325 deg.  From 2 lemons, grate 2 teaspoons peel and squeeze 1/3 cup juice.  In small bowl, stir together sugar and cornstarch until blended. In a large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and ricotta until smooth, about 4 minutes.  Slowly beat in sugar mixture.  Reduce mixer speed to low; beat in eggs, half and half, vanilla, and lemon peel and juice until just blended, scraping bowl often with rubber spatula.

Pour batter onto crust.  Bake 1 hour.  Turn off oven; let cheesecake remain in oven for 1 hour.

Remove cake from oven.  To help prevent cracking as the cake cools, run a knife between edge of cake and pan.  Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 2 hours.  Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 6 hours.

To serve, remove foil and side of pan and place cheesecake on plate.  Cut 8 very thin lemon slices for garnish.  Makes 16 servings, about 300 calories each.  (Good Housekeeping tip for perfect servings of cheesecake--that don't stick to your knife--dip knife into warm water and wipe dry before cutting each slice.)

[Image from Wikimedia Commons]

sunset cook taste savor

Sunset Magazine spotlights living in the American West, and this collection of recipes is a vivid celebration of the many wonderful, natural ingredients that region has to offer.  Boosted by the plentiful bounty of California and the Pacific Northwest, among the sixteen featured base ingredients are artichokes, berries, avocados, citrus, tomatoes, apples, cheeses, New Mexico chiles, mushrooms, coffee, dried fruit and nuts. Sample recipes include Mango Chicken Boats with Macadamia Nuts (endive leaves form the tiny boats), White Wine Coq au Vin, Zinfandel Risotto with Roasted Beets and Walnuts, Warm Dates with Soft Blue Cheese and Prosciutto, Mushroom Pate, Orange and Basil Mussels, Heirloom Tomato Soup, Spicy Watermelon Salad, Fig Gingerbread, Tangerine Olive Oil Cake and Blackberry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream.  And many more, grouped by the featured ingredient and accompanied by some enticing photos.

This quick and fairly simple recipe is Sunset's Raw-Spiced Applesauce, which as the book recommends can be made for breakfast, as a snack, or even a light dessert -- or served alongside Cook Taste Savor's White Cheddar Sage Popovers:

4 unpeeled Red Delicious apples (about 1 and 1/4 lbs.), cored and cut into small chunks
1/2 tsp orange zest
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Pinch kosher salt
1/4 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans

Combine all ingredients except yogurt and pecans in a food processor and whirl until smooth (bits of peel will be visible), 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl if necessary.  Divide among 4 bowls and top each with a dollop of yogurt and pecans.

easy americana

For July 4th and from All-American Meals (Haystack Media Pub.), here's a recipe that's about as easy and cheesy as American cooking gets:

Smoked Turkey Crescents

8 oz pkg. refrigerated crescent rolls
3 tablespoons prepared ranch salad dressing
1/2 lb. deli-style smoked turkey, sliced thinly
8 thin slices Gruyere cheese (about 2 x 4")

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place the pastry/crescent roll pieces on a large baking sheet. Spread the ranch dressing on the pastry and top each with smoked turkey slices.  Layer the cheese on top of the turkey and roll each pastry, beginning at the widest end.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until browned and heated through.

(For a veggie version, substitute fresh heirloom tomato slices for turkey in each roll.)