Monday, September 23, 2013

Cheesecake recipe and hello Fall!

The house hasn't been above 68 since we returned from Europe, and we've been keeping the windows closed at night. I don't want to add more blankets or turn on the heat, it's still September.
There was snow on the mountains this morning and we got an inch of rain last night, the creek is still a small river but it does sound wonderful.
Fall is my favorite time of year, the cool weather is great for running and getting all kinds of projects done before the snow falls.

Since it was the first day of fall it called for some chili:
It was also time for zucchini bread:
The chili was just right, a little bit of heat spreading around your body as you enjoy it. The last batch we made in the spring was so hot it ended up getting tossed out after 1 bowl each. I'm from NH, I'm not a huge fan of flaming hot food. Serrano peppers with the seeds removed and then diced up... hard to beat.

Someone asked for my Pina Colada cheesecake recipe, so here it is:
Large spring form pan
Crust: 1.5C graham cracker crust, 1/4C sugar, 1/2C butter, 1/2C shredded coconut
Note: I like a thick crust and I like a good side crust, so I double the above amount and mix it together. The coconut amount is a guess, I use a handful.

Filling: 3 pounds cream cheese, 2 1/4C sugar, 6 eggs, 1/2C coconut milk, 1 pound crushed pineapple
Note: If you use canned pineapple, make sure you drain it as much as possible

350 Degrees for 90 minutes until it's browning on the top. This cheesecake is wet, so it will never seem cooked in the middle of you test it any other way than the top starts to brown and/or you jiggle it and it doesn't move around too much in the middle. It's wet and it's a little messy when you try to dish it out but it's awesome to eat.

Caution: Make sure you wrap your spring form bottom and sides (outer) with foil or it makes a mess in the oven. The coconut in the crust releases oil and it will (yes, it will) drip out of the spring pan edges. I once used a baking sheet under the pan but it still smoked a lot when the oil dripped out. Nothing has been better than foil, if you don't have really wide sheets of foil, make a large sheet out of 2 smaller ones but make sure you fold over where the 2 sheets meek so it's continuous.

Coconut cream topping: 2C heavy cream, 2t vanilla, 1/4C cream of coconut (all guesses, your taste will tell you when it's good).
Note: You can just make whipped topping and add the cream of coconut. This cream is usually found by the margarita mix in the grocery store. It's usually in a tubular can, drop the entire can in hot water for a while so it all becomes liquid again before you open it up. If you don't, it's sort of an oil/cream glob and is hard to mix into the whipped cream.


7 comments:

  1. I'm waiting for the first killing frosts. My quality of living will greatly improve at that point, but I am enjoying the cooler weather.

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    1. With the goofy weather we might have an early winter, and possibly a hard one. I wouldn't mind a few more weeks before it hits but I'm keeping an eye on the weather in case I need to cover the tomato and cucumber plants. Everything else is about done producing.

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  2. We sleep with the bedroom window open year 'round (all the windows, in summer), until it drops below -10. Then the window freezes open & it's hard to close it in the morning.

    Now that our first snow of the season is falling outside, chili definitely sounds good.

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    1. If I kept one of the bedroom windows open, there would be about 50 blankets and angry glares on one side of the bed. I would prefer it, but I prefer keeping the peace.

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  3. Nice fall like day here, too. I'm ready for summer to be a memory.

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    1. Fall is cooking time, 6 months of running the stove and getting preps put away in the freezer or in jars. Can't beat it, but can't have a garden without good summer weather, at least in CO.

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  4. OOwwww, looks fabulous Max. Chili sounds wonderful, may have to make that this weekend, since I have not had to do the backstroke.
    I have one more batch of salsa to do and I am done. Glad as I am tired, but I am happy of what I have put away.
    Take care, and thanks for the support from our flooding.

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