Cheesecake

from Kraft Foods

prep time: 15 min
total time: 5 hr 25 min (This does not include complete cooling before the 4 hours of refrigeration. Add several more hours for complete cooling.)
makes: 16 servings, one slice each


What You Need:
1-3/4 cups HONEY MAID Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/3 cup Margarine or butter, melted
1-1/4 cups Sugar, divided
3 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened (ONLY Philly Cream Cheese--if you're going to make a cheesecake, use the good stuff.)
1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream (I don't know about those sour creams, they aren't available at my store. They would be fine if there is only one ingredient: Grade A Cultured Cream. No other additives. I use Daisy Sour Cream. It's heaven.)
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 Eggs
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

Make It:
PREHEAT oven to 350°F if using a silver 8- or 9-inch springform pan (I used a 9-inch) (or to 325°F if using a dark nonstick 8- or 9-inch springform pan). Mix graham cracker crumbs, margarine and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Press firmly onto bottom and 2-1/2 inches up side of pan; set aside.

BEAT cream cheese and the remaining 1 cup sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour into crust.

BAKE 1 hour to 1 hour 10 min. or until center is almost set. Turn oven off. Open oven door slightly. Let cheesecake set in oven 1 hour. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Loosen cheesecake from rim of pan; remove rim. Top cheesecake with pie filling just before serving. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.


Kraft Kitchens Tips

Substitute
Prepare as directed, using PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese. (I don't think so.)

How to Easily Cut Creamy Desserts
When cutting creamy-textured desserts, such as cheesecake, carefully wipe off the knife blade between cuts with a clean damp towel. This prevents the creamy filling from building up on the blade, ensuring nice clean cuts that leave the filling intact. (This is a good idea.)

MM Specs

Dilly Panned Summer Squash

from the 1981 Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

1 pound zucchini or yellow crookneck squash
2 tablespoons butter or margarine (or what? no, no, no--or olive oil, or coconut oil, but NOT or margarine)
1 tablespoon snipped parsley (I usually just use dried or leave it out)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried dillweed
Dash of pepper

Slice unpeeled squash (if you have the typical giant home grown zucchini, cut it in half length-wise and scoop out the seeds--and the skin is probably not very tender, so you'll want to peel it too--so learn to pick your squash while it is young and tender!) to make 3 cups (not too thin or they will be overdone and mushy). In a medium skillet melt butter or margarine (see above). Add squash; sprinkle squash with parsley, salt, dillweed, and pepper (be brave, don't measure). Cover and cook over medium-ow heat 8-10 minutes or till tender, stirring frequently. Makes 3 or 4 servings.

MM Specs

Mormon Peach Cobbler

Grandpa Jerry likes peach cobbler for his birthday. There are plenty of fresh peach recipes out there, but if I was going to have time to get it all done, I needed to use canned peaches. I found this recipe on the Prepared Pantry website here. They found it in a book called Mormon Cooking: Authentic Recipes. So, if you want a quick and easy cobbler that uses canned peaches, this one's great! Here's the recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Fruit Mixture
1 29 ounce size can of sliced peaches in syrup
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Drain the juice into a saucepan. Mix a little of the juice with cornstarch to make a soft paste and add the paste to the rest of the juice. Add the spices.

Heat until bubbly, stirring as needed. The syrup should thicken to a slurry.

Pour the slurry and peaches into a small casserole dish.

Topping
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a medium bowl, whisk the butter, milk, and egg together. Add the sugar and stir.

Combine the dry ingredients and add them to the liquid mixture. Stir until well combined.

Spoon over the peach mixture so that the fruit is covered.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is a golden brown.

Serving Suggestions
Serve hot or cold. We prefer it hot with vanilla ice cream or even cold milk.

Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks

from The Pioneer Woman Website

Ingredients

* 12 ounces, weight Pasta, Cooked Al Dente (my box of Farfalle was 16 ounces, so I upped all the amounts)
* Reserved Pasta Water, If Needed (a mug-full)
* 3 ounces, weight Chopped Pancetta (6 slices thick cut bacon)
* 3 whole Leeks, Sliced Thin (1 very large Vidalia onion, small chop)
* 1 Tablespoon Butter
* ½ cups Dry White Wine (3/4 cups chicken stock)
* ½ cups Heavy Cream (3/4 cup)
* Salt And Freshly Ground Pepper, To Taste
* Parmesan Cheese, Shaved (instead I finely grated at least 1/2 cup, maybe 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus some large grated for anyone to sprinkle on top)

Preparation Instructions

Cook pasta and set aside. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water.

Saute chopped pancetta (bacon) until fat is rendered and it starts to brown. Add sliced leeks (onions) and cook for 8 minutes. When you add the leeks, you can also throw in a pat or two of butter if you want to. This’ll give the dish some scrumptious flavor. I add it after the bacon is browned because I don’t want the butter to brown. After 8 to 10 minutes, pour in wine (chicken stock), then cook an additional 1-2 minutes, until reduced. Reduce heat to low (remove from the heat), then pour in cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in Parmesan shavings (grated Parmesan). Toss in pasta, adding a little pasta water to thin as needed. Serve with Parmesan shavings over the top—delicious (really!)!

Random note: Often I hear cooks say that certain pastas are better for certain sauces--that the way they are shaped helps carry the sauce better. I've never noticed any difference--until this dish. I found that the little pinch in the middle of the farfalle (bowtie) carried a little extra sauce that made this dish a little more enjoyable than if there was an even coating of sauce on the pasta. Three "a little"s in that there sentence. Is that some literary device I should remember? Anyway, I warned you this was a random note.

Update: Okay, I tried this recipe again using reasonably priced, non-organic leeks, costing $2.50 for four from Harmon's. While I liked the flavor, I have to say I did not like the squeeky-cheese experience that happened every time I bit into the leeks! Really. You know the sound cheese curd makes (if it's the good stuff). Well that was the sound we made eating the leeks! Now I love the flavor of leeks. I know this because of the out-of-this-world-fabulous Potato Leek Soup that we make (hope to put that recipe up this fall). But in that recipe, the last thing you do is blend everything so it's a smooth, velvety bit of loveliness. No chance of a squeak there. So my recommendation is, ditch the leeks and use a large Vidalia onion in this recipe.

Spinach Tomato Bacon Swiss Ricotta Frittata

The leftovers: 

bacon, chopped, about 3 slices

1/4 cup onion, chopped 

spinach

Swiss cheese, finely grated, 

about 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or whole--depending on the size 

Custard Base: 

6 large eggs 

1/2 cup ricotta cheese 

pinch of nutmeg (freshly grated if you've got it) 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

Freshly ground black pepper to taste 

In a large skillet, cook the bacon on low heat for a couple of minutes until some of the fat has rendered. Add the onions, and a little salt and pepper. Cook about 10 minutes. Add the spinach, tomatoes, and a little more salt and pepper. Cover and cook about 5 minutes. Let cool. 

Beat the eggs in a medium bowl. Add the ricotta, Swiss, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, and beat to combine. Fold in the leftovers. Pour mixture into the pie plate (greased with butter or bacon grease) and cook in a 350 degree preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until it's golden on top. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. MM Specs

Sloppy Joes

from The Essential Mormon Cookbook by Julie Badger Bensen

3 pounds ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup ketchup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can tomato soup
2 tablespoons vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
12 hamburger buns

In a large skillet brown ground beef. Drain fat. Sprinkle with salt. Add chopped onion and cook until tender. Stir in ketchup, tomato soup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Spoon into hamburger buns and serve. Makes 12 servings.

This is delicious and every single member of the family liked it. The only thing I did differently was cook the ground beef in smaller batches, pouring off the fat each time, so it would really brown instead of just boil in the fat. I like the flavor of browned beef better. I cooked the onion low and slow in a stock pot using the fat from the first batch of browned beef. By the time all the batches of beef were done the onions were done, so I added everything to the stock pot and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Frankly, the sauce is so flavorful I'm not sure the browning was necessary.

9/6/10 Update: This is how Grandma Carlene served Sloppy Joes while I was growing up! Take a hard roll, slice the top off, pull out the bread inside (Grandpa says use the bread the next day in meatloaf!), and fill with Sloppy Joe mixture! Kind of takes the sloppiness out of the Sloppy Joe! :)