Dark and White Chocolate Cheesecake

This is now a family favorite! Making this cheesecake is a multi-step process so give yourself at least a day to make the Devil's Food Cake and then enough time to chill the cheesecake overnight. It really is worth it!

Devil's Food Cake Layers

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 1/3 Cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into six pieces
3/4 Cup boiling water
1 1/2 Cups sugar
6 Tablespoons sour cream or buttermilk
2 large eggs

1. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment or wax paper.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Stir together the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

4. Add butter to the melted chocolate. Make sure you use a large bowl. Pour in boiling water and mix well. Use a hand whisk because if you use an electric mixer, the liquid will fly all over the place!

5. Whisk in the sugar and sour cream. Stir in the flour mixture. Whisk in the eggs.

6. Pour batter into the prepare pans.

7. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes or until the layers are well risen and firm to the touch; and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

8. Cool the layers in the pans on racks for five minutes, then unmold onto racks to finish cooling.

9. You will only need one layer for this recipe. Wrap the other layer in heavy foil and freeze until needed.

Cheesecake Batter

2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
5 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 large eggs, room temperature
5 oz. white chocolate, melted

1. One 3-in-deep 9-inch springform pan, buttered and bottom lined with parchment or wax paper.

2. Preheat oven to 35 degrees.

3. In a large bowl, beat 1 lb of the cream cheese on the lowest speed for not more than 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down sides, then add 1/2 cup of the sugar in a stream, beating for not more than 30 seconds.

4. Stop mixer and scrape down sides again. Add the melted dark chocolate and beat until it is absorbed, not more than 30 seconds. Beat in 1 teaspoon of the vanilla. Add 3 of the eggs, one at a time, mixing only until each is combined. Set bowl aside.

5. Make the white chocolate batter following the same steps as for the dark chocolate batter, using up all the ingredients.

6. Wrap heavy duty foil around the bottom of the springform pan to come up at least 1 inch up the sides.

7. Slice the Devil's Food Cake layer in two layers. Place one layer in the bottom of the springform pan. Pour the dark chocolate batter into the pan. Place the other cake layer on the batter and pour in the white chocolate layer.

8. Place the springform pan in a larger pan with deep sides. Pour warm water into the pan to a depth of 1/2 inch. Bake the cheesecake for 75 minutes or until lightly colored and firm except for the center.



9. Remove from oven and take the cheesecake pan out of the hot water. Remove foil and let cool completely on a rack.



10. Wrap the cheesecake and chill overnight. Unmold the cheesecake carefully (run a knife of thin scraper down the sides before removing sides); slice and serve with whipped cream if desired.



Note: Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.

Lemon Caper Chicken

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon lemon-pepper seasoning
4 thinly sliced boneless chicken breasts
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon capers
8 thin lemon slices

1. Combine flour and lemon-pepper seasoning in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken breasts and shake off access.

2. In a large frying pan, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until lightly brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Remove and keep warm.

3. Add garlic to pan and cook for about a minute. Add broth and wine. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Return chicken to pan; add capers and four chicken slices. Cover and simmer for 6 - 8 minutes, until liquid begins to thicken and flavors are blended.

4. Arrange chicken on platter. Pour sauce over chicken. Garnish with remaining lemon slices and chopped parsley.

Easy Crusted Cod

This easy recipe is great for a busy weeknight. I like serving this over sauteed spinach cooked with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and a dash of chicken stock.

2 pieces of Cod (5 - 6 oz. each)
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons flat-leaf parsley
zest of half a lemon
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon chicken stock
2 Tablespoons white wine
salt
pepper
olive oil

1. Chop parsley, garlic, lemon zest and salt together until almost a paste. In a small bowl, mix breadcrumbs and parsley mixture until well mixed.

2. Brush tops of cod with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Dip oiled cod into breadcrumb mixture, patting crumbs down. Heat about two tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil in saucepan. Place cod crumb face down and cook for about three minutes.

3. Place in lightly oiled pan, crumb side up, and bake in 400 degree preheated oven for 8 - 10 minutes.

4. When fish is cooked, remove pan from oven, add 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of chicken stock and 2 tablespoons of white white. Return pan to oven for 2 minutes.

5. Plate fish over cooked spinach or vegetables of choice and spoon white wine sauce over fish.

Bread From the Fridge

That's right ... bread dough that stays in the fridge until you are ready to bake it. How cool is that? This is not my creation but something that came out of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. When I first read this, I thought it could not possibly work but it does and I have baked bread like this many times.

Here is the basic recipe that I've used:

The Master Recipe: Boule

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tablespoons granulate yeast (2 packets)
1 1/2 Tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt
6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached all-purpose white flour
Cornmeal for pizza peel

1. Warm the water slightly: it should feel just a little warmer than body temperature, about 100 degrees F.

2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl, or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded (not airtight) plastic food container. Don't worry about getting it all to dissolve.

3. Mix in the flour with a wooden spoon. You don't have to knead. Add all of the flour at once and mix until there are no dry patches. Dough should be wet and loose (see picture above).

4. Allow to rise: Cover with a lid which is not airtight and which fits well to the container you're using. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours. You can use the dough at this stage but it is easier to handle if it is refrigerated overnight.

On Baking day:

5. First, prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal (or whatever your recipe calls for) to prevent your loaf from sticking when you slide it into the oven.

6. Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with flour. Pull up and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit size) piece of dough. Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little bit more flour as needed so it won't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the dough as you go. The entire process should take no more than 30 to 60 seconds.

7. Rest the loaf and let it rise on a pizza peel. Allow the loaf to rest on the peel for about

40 minutes. Depending on the age of the dough, you may not see much rise during this period more rising will occur during baking.

8. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on any other shelf that won't be interfere with the rising bread. I placed my pan on the bottom rack.

9. Dust and slash: Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing knife to pass without sticking. Slash a 1/4-inch-deep cross, scallop or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top, using a serrated knife (see photo below).


10. Baking with steam: After a 20-minute preheat, you are ready to bake. With a quick forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the preheated baking stone. Quickly pour about 1 cup hot water from the tap into the broiler pan and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch.



11. Remove the loaf from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack, for best flavor, texture and slicing.

12. Store the remaining dough in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next 14 days.

Olive Oil Dough

2 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1. Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

2. Mix in the flour without kneading, using a wooden spoon to make sure that all the flour is incorporated and there are no dry patches.

3. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

4. The dough can be used immediately or refrigerated in a lidded (not airtight) container and used over the next 12 days.

Vegetarian Pizza

1. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven with a baking stone at 450 degrees. There is no need for the broiler pan because steam is not needed for this dough.

2. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut of a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece or as much as is needed. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides.

3. Flatten the dough with your hands and a rolling pin on a wooden board to produce a 1/8-inch-thick round. You can use a combination of stretching with your hand and rolling with a rolling pin.

4. Place the rolled out dough onto a pizza peel that has been dusted with cornmeal.

5. Place toppings of your choice. I used fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, thinly sliced red onion on my dough. I drizzled olive oil over the topping and slid the pizza onto the hot stone quickly ... be careful not to let cornmeal from the peel spill into the oven. I used a wooden spoon to help the pizza slide.

6. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the dough is the brown you like. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly to allow the cheese to set.

Note: The recipes for both doughs can be halved or doubled. For the pizza I only made half of the dough and then used only half of it for a personal pizza (so actually only a 1/4 of the above recipe).

Butter Cookies

These crisp tender cookies are great for decorating. Usually I would use a sugar cookie dough for this but decided to try something different for these Halloween cookies.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoon orange juice
1 Tablespoon vanilla

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add egg and orange juice and mix well. Add vanilla to the mixture and beat well.

2. Fold in flour and baking powder until well incorporated.

3. Flatten dough and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

4. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

5. Roll out dough on a well-floured surface to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into shapes. Place an inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. I use a baking stone so I never have to worry about greasing.

6. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Remove immediately and let cool on wire rack.

7. Decorate cookies when they are completely cool.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

I was going to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for the Halloween party at work but Sarah found this recipe and wanted to try it, so that is how we ended up making this. I am not a big fan of snickerdoodles because I do not like a lot of cinnamon in things. I blame this aversion to cinnamon on my mother! She did not like cinnamon and didn't bake or cook with it, and hence it was not a spice we were exposed to, and had not formed a liking for it. Anyway, to make a long story short ... I like these cookies because they do not taste overwhelmingly of cinnamon. They are at their very best warm.

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the coating:
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Dash of allspice

1. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, whisk together to blend. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugars with an electric mixer at medium speed, until well mixed. Add in the pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract and mix well. Fold in with a wooden spoon, the flour until just combined. Do not overmix.

3. Cover dough and refrigerate for one hour until firm.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

5. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use a baking stone.

6. In a small bowl mix together the ingredients for the coating. Use a tablespoon to scoop out dough, form into a ball, and roll in the coating mixture. Place on baking tray, leaving 2 inches in between each cookie.

7. Take a drinking glass with a flat bottom and moisten with water, then dip in the coating mixture, and flatten the cookie balls. Resugar the glass as needed.

8. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes until the centers are set. Let cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes. It is important to do this to allow the cookies to "set" because they are very soft. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes 44 cookies.

Brown Sugar Ginger Chicken

The original recipe called for rock sugar but because I didn't know what the heck that was or where to get it, I substituted dark brown sugar. I thought the molasses in the dark brown sugar would give the soy sauce a nice depth. Sarah was not too keen on this recipe but I loved it! It reminded me of the simplicity of my mother's cooking ... so I am keeping this recipe.

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 Tablespoons black or dark soy sauce

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced, peeled, fresh ginger

2 lb bone-in chicken thighs, cut into three pieces

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. In a small saucepan, heat chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar and 1/2 cup water just to boiling. reduce heat to medium low and simmer uncovered until sugar dissolves, about five minutes, stirring constantly. Set aside.

2. In a 12-inch skillet, heat oil over high heat until hot but not smoking. Add ginger and cook until lightly browned, about 1 minute, stirring often.

3. Reduce heat to medium. With wooden spoon push ginger to side of skillet. Add chicken thighs, skin side down, and cook 5 minutes until chicken is browned. With tongs, turn chicken thighs over and cook about 5 minutes longer or until browned but not cooked through. Drain excess fat from the skillet and stir ginger around chicken thighs; sprinkle with salt.

4. Quickly pour chicken broth mixture town side of skillet and immediately cover skillet. Cook, covered, 5 minutes. Turn chicken thighs over and cook, covered for another 5 minutes longer or until juices run clear when the thickest part of chicken is pierced with tip of knife. Remove cover and boil 1 minute to thicken sauce slightly.