Individual No-Bake Cheesecakes

We love cheesecake around here but I very rarely make it because we just don't need to eat the WHOLE thing! The April/May issue of MaryJanesFarm magazine had some recipes for mini cheesecakes made in 4-ounce canning jars. Well, that was too little so I used 8-ounce wide-mouth canning jars and it was just right! ;)

You could try different crusts and toppings to suit your tastes and what you have on hand. The thing that really impressed me was making a no-bake cheesecake without a tub of non-dairy whipped topping and I gotta tell you, this tastes sooo much better than the ones I remember from my youth that used the non-dairy whipped topping! It comes out light and fluffy and not too sweet.

 Crust                    **Click here to print this recipe**

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon sugar

In a small bowl combine all ingredients. Divide evenly between four 8-ounce wide-mouth canning jars. Press lightly into bottom of jars.

Filling

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla; mix well. In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream until stiff; gently fold into the cream cheese mixture. Divide evenly between the jars.

Topping

2 cups fresh (or frozen and thawed) berries, I used fresh blackberries
1/4 cup sugar, or to taste
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium saucepan, combine berries, sugar, cornstarch and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let cool completely before spooning over cheesecake filling in jars.

Top each jar with a lid and chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.

Joining the Country Homemaker Hop, Rurality Blog Hop, Pie*ography, Farmgirl Friday and What I Am Eating.

Pie*ography Thursday - 04/25/2013

I thought I would share another portable pie for Pie*ography Thursday this week. The inspiration for these actually came from some packaged goodies I saw recently at the grocery store. I liked the way they were braided and figured I could do that! I started with a little different pastry recipe and used some apple pie filling that I had in the freezer from last fall. I found this lovely post for an Apple Lattice Galette utilizing a Danish braiding technique and knew that that was the effect I was looking for.

Filling               **Click here to print this recipe**

3 pounds apples
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Peel, core and dice apples. Combine sugar, flour, spices and apples. Let stand until juices begin to flow, about 30 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken. Cool completely before using. Store any extra filling in the refrigerator and spoon it over waffles or pancakes. Yum!

Pastry

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter cut into chunks
1/4 cup cream cheese
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

Mix the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter and cream cheese into the flour using a pastry cutter. The mixture should look like large crumbs and begin to cling together in clumps. Sprinkle the apple cider vinegar and cold water over the dough and with your hands, mix it in until the dough holds together adding more water if necessary. Roll out the dough to a 12-inch square. Cut into 4 six-inch squares. Follow the excellent directions for making a Danish Braid found here at the bottom of the post. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar and bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

I guess part of my Pie*ography story is that I get bored making the same thing all the time for the Farmer's Market and I'm always looking for new ideas. These turn out really pretty even if they are a bit fussy. ;)

Pie*ography Thursday, Farmgirl Friday, What I Am Eating.

Shepherd's Pie

Like a lot of people in this country, we don't eat much lamb and I have to confess that I had never made Shepherd's Pie until this week. Actually, I don't think I'd ever even eaten it. All I can say is...boy howdy, was THAT a mistake! I'm really, really looking forward to the leftovers for tonight's supper!

Jerry is so funny, when he looked at what I was making and I told him it was Shepherd's Pie, he said "Why can't we just have that with the mashed potatoes?" He was afraid it was going to be like a pot pie with a pie crust and he is NOT a fan of pot pie. Just so you know, he went back for seconds. ;)

One of the vendors at the Farmer's Market sells his homegrown lamb and beef. He has been out of hamburger so I bought some ground lamb from him last week. Since I had lamb, Shepherd's Pie just seemed like the right thing to make. There are hundreds of recipes out there for Shepherd's Pie but it is basically a ground meat and vegetable mixture topped with a "crust" of mashed potatoes which is then browned in the oven. Here is what I did.

Shepherd's Pie               **Click here to print this recipe**

4 large red-skinned potatoes
1-1/2 tablespoons butter
Milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
6 or 7 Baby Bella mushrooms, chopped
1/2 pound ground lamb
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Mediterranean Seasoning (recipe here)
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup beef stock
1/2 cup frozen corn, defrosted
1/2 cup frozen peas, defrosted
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Dice the potatoes and cook in salted, boiling water until tender (I didn't even bother to peel them). Drain well. Add the butter and mash them up a bit. Add enough milk to get a mashed potato consistency. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

While the potatoes are cooking, in a large cast iron skillet, saute the onion, carrot and mushrooms in the olive oil until softened and lightly browned. Add the ground lamb and cook until no longer pink, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Season with salt, pepper and Mediterranean Seasoning. Add the flour and stir to combine, let it cook for a minute or so. Stir in the beef stock to make a gravy. Add more stock if necessary to get the consistency you like. Stir in the corn and peas.

Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the meat mixture, making sure to go all the way to the edges of the pan. Don't make it perfectly smooth on top, you want the potatoes to have some texture so they will brown. Sprinkle the cheese over the potatoes. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or so until the top is nicely browned.

Linking up with Rurality Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, What I Am Eating and Pie*ography Thursday.

 

Pie*ography Thursday III

"Pie, pie, me oh my!" Who remembers the Pie Song sung by Andie MacDowell in the movie Michael? ;)

These portable pies were inspired by the lovely cookbook "The Homemade Pantry - 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making" by Alana Chernila. If you are interested in making more things from scratch, this book has a lot of good recipes.

I sell these yummy little pies at the Farmer's Market where people appreciate goodies that can be eaten without the use of utensils.

Toaster Tarts               **Click here to print this recipe**

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons cold water
Filling(s) of choice (I used homemade apple butter this time)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry cutter. The mixture should look like large crumbs and begin to cling together in clumps. Sprinkle the apple cider vinegar and cold water over the dough and with your hands, mix it in until the dough holds together adding more water if necessary.
Divide dough in half. Roll one half of dough out to a 9 x 12 inch rectangle. Cut into six equal rectangles, 4 1/2 x 4 inches. Transfer to a baking sheet leaving at least two inches in between. Spoon at least a tablespoon of filling down the center of each rectangle. Roll out other half of dough and cut into six rectangles as above. Put the "tops" on and crimp all edges with a fork. Prick holes down the center of each tart. If desired, sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar.
Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.
You could also drizzle with a powdered sugar icing when cool or simply dust with powdered sugar.

I really want to thank everyone for the tip about adding the apple cider vinegar, what a difference! You can see how incredibly flaky it makes the pastry!

Pie*ography isn't just a fun linky party, it is also a beautifully written and photographed book with
"42 Fabulous Recipes Inspired by 39 Extraordinary Women" by Jo Packham. I just had to have it and received my copy last week. What a treat!! Our hostess for Pie*ography Thursday, Anne Marie Klaske, did the food styling for the book and it is awesome, as is the stunning photography by Traci Thorson.

Linking up with Anne Marie for Pie*ography Thursday, as well as The Country Homemaker Hop, Rurality Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, and What I Am Eating.

Pie*ography Thursday II

Anne Marie at Na-Da Farm Life has started Pie*ography Thursday, what a neat idea! :)

If I could be a pie, I would want to be a quiche. Making quiche defines my current philosophy towards cooking and baking...use what you have on hand and use as many homegrown or locally grown ingredients as possible. For this basic quiche, I used our farm fresh eggs, some spicy, pepper-jack style cheese made with our goat milk and some of the milk itself. The bacon is local and came from one of the vendors at the Farmer's Market. During the late fall and early winter, I can even get locally grown onions at the Farmer's Market. The beauty of quiche is that pretty much anything goes for the filling, meat or no meat, any type of cheese or even no cheese, and any vegetables you want to include.

I have always been more of a cookie and cake person and only recently started making pies. It's only been in the last year that I even started making my own pie crust! This pie crust recipe is my absolute favorite and comes from Ree Drummond's "The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Food From My Frontier." For a two-crust pie, double the ingredients.

Crust               **Click here to print this recipe**

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
3 to 4 tablespoons cold water

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry cutter. The mixture should look like large crumbs and begin to cling together in clumps. Sprinkle the cold water over the dough and with your hands, mix it in until the dough holds together. Roll out the dough two inches larger than your pie pan. Place dough in pie pan, crimp the edges and put it in the refrigerator while making the filling.

Quiche

6 to 8 slices bacon, depending on size
1 1/2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups half & half (I use half goat milk and half heavy cream)
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 cups grated cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Chop up the bacon into bite-sized pieces and cook in a heavy skillet until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat from the skillet, add the onions and cook over medium low heat until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
Mix the eggs, half & half and salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the bacon, onions and cheese, stir to combine. Pour the filling into the chilled pie shell, cover lightly with aluminum foil and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until the quiche is set and the crust is golden brown. I put a pie shield on towards the end so the crust doesn't burn.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Serve warm or cold, either way is delicious!

So, what kind of pie are you?

Linking up with The Country Homemaker Hop, Farmgirl Friday, What I Am Eating and P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday.