Author: cia

Jiggly Cheesecake

Baking instructions are weird. This recipe came from Bon Appetit and I had to enlist two of my friends’ help to decipher what the original recipe meant by “Butter pan, then line with 2 overlapping 16×12 sheets of parchment, making sure parchment comes at least 2 inches above top of pan on all sides.”

Why am I buttering the pan and then lining it with parchment paper? Seems like a waste of butter. Oh, I see; the butter will seep through the paper and keep the cheesecake from sticking to the pan–you just don’t want the butter directly in the cheesecake.

What’s up with all the wording to line the pan with paper? I’ve re-worded that bit here to make it more simple, and I think mine is easier to understand especially by beginners like me.

Don’t be tempted to open the oven while you’re baking this cheesecake. You want it to collapse after you’ve baked it, not during. The middle part will give a little while it’s cooling, but that will tell you that it’s indeed jiggly inside.

Ingredients:
a small knob of soft unsalted butter
2 lbs cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup flour

1. Move oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400°. Butter the springform pan, then line and pleat with 2 sheets of parchment paper that’s oversized enough to make sure that at least 2 inches come up on the sides of the pan. Then place pan on a rimmed baking sheet.
2. In your stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and sugar in the bowl on medium-low speed, scraping down sides of bowl, until very smooth and sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes.
3. Increase the speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, beating each egg 15 seconds before adding the next. Scrape down sides of bowl, then reduce mixer speed to medium-low. Add heavy cream, salt, and vanilla and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Remove bowl from the mixer and sift flour evenly over cream cheese mixture. Mix with a spatula while scraping down the sides of bowl until the batter is smooth and silky.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cheesecake for an hour until golden brown on top but still very jiggly in the center.
6. Remove from oven to let cool slightly then unmold. It will collapse as it cools–that’s okay! Let cool completely. Carefully peel away parchment from sides of cheesecake. Slice into wedges and serve at room temperature.

Related post/s:
You will need a 10-inch diameter non-stick springform pan for this
Some parchment paper is also necessary

Spanish Chorizo and Potato Stew

New York City temperature dropped to “feels like -15F” during the long weekend that I was forced to make this Spanish chorizo and potato stew before hibernating. Actually, “forced” is such a strong word; it was too easy to be forced to make it. It was a hearty meal that did not require much effort.

Ingredients:
6 bacon slices, chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced, sliced
3 tbsps tomato paste
2 lbs smoked Spanish chorizo, cut into rounds
2 large russet potatoes, peeled, chopped into large chunks
1 lb button mushrooms
32 oz chicken broth
3/4 cup hot smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
sour cream
a handful of dill
salt

1. Render bacon fat by heating a large pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown but crisp, about 7 minutes. Remove to a plate.
2. Add onions to the same pot with the bacon fat. Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook until slightly darkened in color.
3. Return bacon to pot, then add the chorizo until slightly browned. Add the potatoes, mushrooms, broth, paprika, and cayenne and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so liquid is at a bare simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Season with salt.
4. Remove from heat. Ladle into small bowls and top with a dollop or two of sour cream and torn dill.

Related post/s:
Where were these tubed tomato paste all my life?

Seared Salmon with Endive and Broccolini

The original recipe came from Bon Appétit and the dressing required a couple of jalapeños. I bought some, but the clerk didn’t ring them up so they weren’t in my grocery bag when I got home. I had to improvise and I used chili oil instead.

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, chopped
chili oil
zest from 1/4 grapefruit
1 tsp honey
1/2 bunch broccolini, tough stems removed
2 skin-on, boneless salmon fillets, patted dry with paper towel, salted
2 Belgian endives, outer leaves separated and hearts chopped
juice from the same 1/4 grapefruit
4 tsps unseasoned rice vinegar
toasted sesame seeds
olive oil, salt

1. Make the dressing. Using a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic into the chili oil and salt, and then mix in the grapefruit zest and honey. Stir grapefruit juice and vinegar into dressing. Set aside.
2. In a heated skillet, heat some olive oil over medium-high heat. Add broccolini and cook, tossing occasionally, until charred in spots and tender, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Scatter endive with it.
3. Lower the heat to medium and add some more oil in the skillet until hot. Add the salmon skin side down, and cook until skin is browned and crisp, 7 minutes. Gently turn and cook the flesh side just until cooked through, about 1 minute. Place on top of the broccolini and endive. Drizzle grapefruit dressing over salmon, then top with sesame seeds.

Crispy Roast Chicken

I was intrigued with this roast chicken recipe from Tasty because the 450°F oven temperature was pretty high. Their goal was to make the skin crispy. I’ve always preferred a slow-cook and would always baste the chicken and flavor the inside with aromatics; I suppose those steps never really gave me crispy skin, but I’ve always thought it was just the way it was.

How can you have crispy skin and still a juicy meat? I can now tell you that this is how.

To catch all the chicken juice, I opted for sweet potatoes. I peeled them and sliced them in large rounds. I threw in half a red onion and leftover chopped celery just because they’re all I had left in the fridge. I was skeptical about how the potatoes would get cooked without extra seasoning, but I held off on adding any extras–the chicken juice was actually enough to cook and season the potatoes!

If you’re using other heartier root vegetables, feel free to return them to the oven if they still need a few minutes of roasting; a little olive oil and more seasoning probably won’t hurt either.

Ingredients:
1 whole air-chilled chicken
salt, pepper
some vegetables for roasting

1. A day ahead of roasting your chicken, dry it thoroughly with paper towels, including inside the cavity. Season well and rub all over with salt and pepper, including inside the cavity. Using a toothpick, pierce the chicken all over. Place on a baking dish and put in the fridge, uncovered, for at least 8 hours.
2. The day of roasting your chicken, take the chicken out of the fridge and let it sit in room temperature for at least an hour. Truss your chicken with butcher’s twine. Place the chicken on a rack–breast side down–where the baking pan is lined with chopped vegetables so that they can catch the chicken juice while roasting.
3. Preheat the oven at 450°F. Roast chicken for an hour. Your chicken is done when the thickest part of the leg registers at 165°F with a food thermometer. Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for another 20 minutes.

Instant Pot: Thai Chicken Red Curry

Feel free to add cooked noodles to this dish before serving; no earlier though because the noodles will absorb all the broth.

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth
1 14-ounce coconut milk
1/4 cup soy sauce
a jigger of fish sauce
2 tbsps honey
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup Thai red curry paste
2 pieces of boneless and skinless chicken breasts
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced or grated
juice of 1 lime
a handful fresh baby spinach
a handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
chopped peanuts
toasted sesame oil

1. Combine the chicken broth, coconut milk, soy sauce, fish sauce, honey, peanut butter, and curry paste in the Instant Pot. Add the chicken, cremini mushrooms, red peppers, ginger, and garlic.
2. Cover and lock the lid properly. Select the Pressure Cook function for 15 minutes. When it’s done, do a quick release after venting and letting the steam out.
3. Remove the chicken and shred meat with a fork. Add shredded chicken back in and set the Instant Pot to sauté. Stir in the lime juice, spinach, and cilantro until warm.
4. Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle with peanuts and toasted sesame oil.