tag:www.defiantlydomestic.com,2008://1 2007-12-04T05:11:46Z Movable Type 3.34 tag:www.defiantlydomestic.com,2007://1.4 2007-12-04T04:39:13Z 2007-12-04T05:11:46Z

When I opened my first "we must make this" email from Yahaira & Rangsiwan my eyes were immediately caught by the words "Goat Cheese". Those who know me well know that I am a huge fan of cheese in general...

leah http://www.betweenstupidandclever.com Goat Cheese and Lemon Cheese Cake, I hadn't considered it's use in dessert. The recipe is both daunting and simple. The daunting part requires a lot of "mise en place" or prep of ingredients. The crust and the filling were your typical, "run of the mill" cheese cake directions (animal crackers and hazelnuts with butter in the food processor for the crust and cheese, cheese, more cheese, eggs, etc. for the filling). The addition of a lemon curd for the topping was a new one for me. The directions given by CI made the process for making a lemon curd sound kind of frightening. I just kept stiring and stiring and hoping I wouldn't end up with a rock hard substance stuck to my pan. Lucky for me it turned out perfectly. I didn't use a thermometer, I just eye balled it, and it was fine. Apparently the direction that alluded us all was the wrapping of the tin foil for the bain marie. I'm not sure how I screwed up wrapping the pan in tin foil, but I did. Yes, my cheesecake had a mushy crust too. Of course, mushy crust aside, it was a tasty treat. The goat cheese added a sharp flavor that paired with the sour/sweet bite of the lemon curd topping was fantastic. Rich but not over powering and just the rich amount of bite. I'm sure the hazelnut crust would have added something to the flavors if it hadn't been such a mess. My final verdict is that the recipe, with some tweaking (ie: indusrial strength foil) is a winner. The lemon curd was my favorite part & I see whipping some of that up in the future for use on lots of things (maybe just to be eaten with a spoon by itself even). Since it makes so much (enough for 12-15 people) by neighbors are all enjoying the cake tonight for dessert. If it's as much of a hit with them as it was in our house I'll make it again in a heart beat.]]> tag:www.defiantlydomestic.com,2007://1.2 2007-12-03T22:15:24Z 2007-12-04T00:36:45Z

When I told B I was making a lemon cheesecake with goat cheese, he said you had me at lemon cheesecake and then you turned my stomach when you said goat cheese. That was definitely not the reaction I was...

rangsiwan http://www.yaiann.com
Meyer lemons, animal crackers and more = yummy creamy goodness]]> My cheesecake baked for almost 15 minutes more than the time on the recipe. At 55 minutes, the top of the cheesecake was still shiny and jiggly and only registered to 120 degrees. After another 15 minutes, the cheesecake was finally ready. Technique Notes: Because the recipe calls for the cheesecake to be baked in a water bath, the pan must be wrapped in foil to prevent water from seeping into the pan. Yahaira used two sheets of foil as instructed in the recipe and she had suspicions that her crust was water logged. She recommended that I use at least three sheets of foil which I did, but also ended up with a water logged crust. As I unwrapped the foil, there was water sitting in each layer which was also happened to Yahaira. To prevent this from happening, you would need a piece of foil large enough to cover the sides of the pan or else join two pieces together. What resulted from the water logged crust is smushy, mushy crust. As I removed the cake from the bottom of the pan, you can see that the edges were severly soggy and stayed behind on the pan. The more central parts of the crust did maintain its solid crispness. Taste Test: Aside from myself and B, I had two friends and three coworkers taste test. The resounding verdict was absolutely delicious! The proportions of goat cheese, cream cheese and lemon were perfectly balanced. The goat cheese was so subtle that some could not even detect it. B noted that there were hints of the goat cheese on the after taste, but that you could really taste the goat cheese if you breathed out through your nose after swallowing. It was an odd way to get the hint of the flavor, but it really did work! The texture of the cake was perfect. It was soft, yet rich and not heavy and dense like a lot of cheesecakes are. Usually I imagine cheesecakes as being this hard, dense block of cake that just weighs down your stomach like a rock. This cheesecake is definitely rich, but I didn't get that rock feeling at all. It was a perfectly rich and creamy cheesecake and a little piece definitely does go a long way. The recipe is meant to serve 12-16 people so definitely don't get greedy! Your belly will thank you for it in the future. As far as the crust went, I expressed my concerns to B and my friends but they noted that they thought the consistency was fine. I think because the center remained intact, they didn't really notice the smushy mess at the end of the piece. I didn't let my coworkers in on my crust woes and they didn't catch on at all and actually even raved about it. But in both cases, there were no mentions of a distinct hazelnut flavor. I tasted some of it here and there, but that could be do to the quality of my mini-processosr. But it also leads me to question whether it's necessary to have the hazelnuts in the crust if it does not add anything flavor wise. But then again, since the goat cheese flavor was so subtle, you might even wonder if that was worth it as well. However, since the crust was slightly compromised, I'm will be testing this recipe out again to see how a perfect crust would compare. Other random notes: One thing I appreciate about recipes are the estimated times. That's my one gripe about Cooks Illustrated. They do not include an estimated cooking time. I decided to prepare this to bring to a dinner. However, I didn't properly take into account the actual time it would take before the cake would be ready. This mean, no cake in time for dinner. From start to finish including all chilling time, you need to allow at least 8-9 hours to go from kitchen to table, aproximately 1 hour to prepare the crust, filling and lemon curd, 1 hour to bake, 1 hour to cool in the water bath, 2 hours to cool outside of the bath, and at least 4 hours to chill in the refrigerator. I started at noon and the dinner was at 6pm. It's a good thing I was planning on surprising my friends with dessert. They didn't expect a thing. One thing I would appreciate from recipes is to include an equipment list. For example, this recipe requires that you have a food processsor, a 9" round springform pan, a roasting pan, an instant read thermometer, fine mesh strainer and mixer. Fortunately for me, I had all of these tools. However, I would like to know these in advance before starting so I can make sure I have all the necessary equipment before starting. It's kind of a pain to have to skim through the recipe to see what you need. And more than once have I skimmed over a required item. I have never seen this feature on any recipe before, but think it would be a great addition and would make many cooks happy. Verdict: Aside from the crust issue, I'd definitely make this again. This is not an everyday dessert, so I'd reserve it for special occasions. And once the forks start moving towards those mouths, expect a lot of ooohs, aaahs and happy tummies!]]> tag:www.defiantlydomestic.com,2007://1.3 2007-12-03T22:13:50Z 2007-12-03T23:06:12Z

goat cheese and lemon cheesecake with hazelnut crust for our first "official" bake-together, rangsiwan chose this cheesecake from cook's illustrated. not exactly what I would have picked, I probably would have gone with some sort of entree, but as...

yahaira http://www.bitterpurl.com goat cheese and lemon cheesecake with hazelnut crust for our first "official" bake-together, rangsiwan chose this cheesecake from cook's illustrated. not exactly what I would have picked, I probably would have gone with some sort of entree, but as I read the recipe I got pretty excited nonetheless! part of my hesitation probably came from just trying goat milk yogurt for the first time right before she sent me this link. I love goat cheese, but not in almost-liquid form I found. cake made out of it though? now that's something I could get behind! I actually don't know if I was more excited about the goat cheese, the lemon curd, or the hazelnut crust. it all sounded good to me! I tried to start early on saturday so it would be ready for dinner. somehow 10 or 11 wasn't early enough. there are a lot of lulls in this recipe that make it a "bake-a-day-ahead" one or just get started earlier. each step in the recipe is pretty easy in and of itself. you first throw some hazelnuts, cookies, and melted butter in the food processor for the crust. this smelled and looked so good, with its nice golden color. while that's baking you start mixing all of the cheese....1.5 pounds of it! this was definitely going to be rich. the lemon juice and zest made it fragrant and, this is just my theory, cut through the heaviness of your usual cheesecake. the hardest part of the recipe was the lemon curd. this was the first time I made lemon curd and I was scared of ending up with scrambled eggs. mine was set pretty quickly, probably helped my the little cast iron pot I used and what most likely added to my anxiety. I didn't use a thermometer for this, instead just eyeing up the back of the spoon until I reached the right consistency. I could just make the lemon curd and be happy. this was so delicious, could I just eat it with some whip cream? I would say that this recipe was flawless, but do you see the crust? the yummy hazelnut, animal cookie goodness....gone. water leaked into the springform pan in the water bath and washed away any flavor and texture, leaving behind a bland mushy mess. I covered the pan with tin foil like the recipe suggested, but as soon as I took it out of the waterbath I could see there was some water in the foil. the rest of the cake is fine, so we've just been eating it without the crust. I'm almost tempted to bake an empty crust and just move over the cheesecake to it. or maybe i'll make cookies and drop them in a bowl along with the cheesecake. will I make it again? only for special occasions, since this was way too big for just two people. and I won't make it again until I figure out how not to end up with a waterlogged crust. ]]> tag:www.defiantlydomestic.com,2007://1.1 2007-11-19T16:14:49Z 2007-12-03T21:25:11Z

The truth is women can’t really cook. All they can do is to cater, and there’s a big difference. The only people who can actually cook on this planet are men, even the ones who only cook once a year...

yahaira http://www.bitterpurl.com The truth is women can’t really cook. All they can do is to cater, and there’s a big difference. The only people who can actually cook on this planet are men, even the ones who only cook once a year when their wife or girlfriend is ill. Women's cooking is often so poor because it is largely performed as a matter of necessity. As well as being incapable of experimenting, women are useless at following written instructions, which in this instance are called recipes. Blinded by a series of numbers and symbols, they get confused, and usually add the wrong amount of sugar or salt, or, more likely, substitute one for the other. sam holden, daily mail my mother was always the cook in the house, spoiling us with home-cooked meals every night from either some revered passed down recipe or something new she saw in one of her magazines or newspapers. anyone else living in this house would have learned to cook simply through osmosis, I somehow managed to let any knowledge to go through me. my mother made sure I didn’t miss this fact, always telling me how she learned to cook by watching her own mother everyday and eventually helping her out. I would bake once in a while at home, but I didn’t catch the cooking bug until I was away at grad school with my own, albeit tiny, kitchen. I found something comforting in whiling away the precious free time I had in the kitchen (when I wasn’t knitting that is). as romantic as I make it sound, it was also about saving the little money I had in my pockets. any spare money I didn’t spend at the supermarket went towards cooking books. every week I would ride my big bike to the store, looking forward to one of my new recipes, and filled my basket with some basics trying to recapture something I was missing from home. cooking and eating was a solitary act then, since most of my grad school cronies would go out to eat for almost every meal or would heat up some pizza they picked up at the market. after moving in with my now-husband, I had someone to share my expanding repertoire and tools with but no one to talk about cooking or cook with. not that he doesn’t listen to me, but sometimes you need that friend to gleam some tricks from or to fawn over that new kitchen toy with. that’s where this blog comes in. living in different states, but talking and emailing every day about our favorite foods, leah and I decided to have one night a week where we both cook the same recipe – a virtual get together if you will. the next day we would tell each other how we liked it, what we would change, and maybe share a photo of our dish. After a while, we wanted something a little more coherent, a permanent record that would allow us to learn from each other and maybe open up our eyes, and stomachs, to new recipes. we then asked baking obsessed rangsiwan to join in this, hopefully fun, journey. as she says “One recipe + three cooks = yummy, fantastic food” we want to show that cooking is an art and a skill and more than just the nourishment of your body, but the nourishment of you soul. ]]>