Stuffed Shells

Heidi at 101 Cookbooks made these Stuffed Shells on the first night she moved into her new apartment.  I made it for Ken - he loves meals like this.  I used Roasted Tomato Marinara from the freezer and added some chopped spinach to the filling for a few extra nutrients.  We made about half the shells for dinner and froze the rest.  This was a great meal - comfort food at its best.  And best of all, I've got a whole dinner in the freezer for a night when I don't feel like cooking.  One quick note - Heidi puts lemon zest in her ricotta mixture.  I personally loved it and barely noticed it at all, but Ken thought it was too lemony.  Next time I might cut back just a bit.

Rose Bakery's Brownie Cheesecake

Through March and April the featured cookbook for the 101 Cookbooks Library was Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery.  I had my eye on the Brownie Cheesecake from the beginning, but with all that chocolate, butter and sugar, it was definitely a special-occasion thing.  I decided to make it for my family's Easter celebration.

Things were going well at first.  Then as it was baking, I started to get concerned.  I added extra time and it still didn't seem done.  I looked at the recipe again and it said "don't worry if it seems undercooked."  So I took it out, let it cool, and brought it to the party.

When we cut into it, it was like pudding.  Totally raw brownie/cheesecake batter.  A bunch of people ate it anyway, since it tasted delicious.  I took the rest home (about half) and tried to bake it again the next morning.  I think I overcooked it a little, but it definitely baked, and it was pretty tasty.

So what I learned here is that it was delicious, but the baking time given in the recipe is utterly ridiculous.  I would start with at least 40 minutes on the clock, and add extra time until it looks set.  Had I trusted my instincts, it probably would have worked out better.

One last note: another member of the 101 Cookbooks Library (and a former employee of the actual Rose Bakery) recommended doubling the cheesecake part - I definitely want to try this next time.  Since the batter is so thick, I want to try plopping spoonfuls of the brownie batter around the pan, spaced out, so that I can let the cheesecake batter run in between.  Now that I've made the mistakes, it will be so much better next time.

Ricotta Pancakes

I've been neglecting the current featured cookbook on the 101 Cookbooks Library -  Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery.  In addition to my regular everyday busy schedule, I've been making things from the NY Times Recipes for Health and from Super Natural Cooking, and now Super Natural Every Day.  But I bought some fresh ricotta last weekend specifically for this recipe, and I fully intended to try it!

I made two adaptations to the recipe.  First, I added one tablespoon of sugar because I wanted just a bit of sweetness to it.  Also, I ran out of all-purpose flour, which I didn't mind because I didn't want to use all AP flour anyway, but I substituted 25 grams (out of 150) with whole wheat pastry flour.  I think it would work fine to increase the amount, but I ran out of AP at 125 grams, so that's why I chose that amount.  I love that the measurements are in grams - it was way faster and less messy to measure with my scale.

I'd love to try sprinkling in some blueberries - they go well with ricotta and I think they would be great to sweeten up this pancake.  I'd also like to try a savory application, with some chopped fresh herbs and sauteed mushrooms/vegetables.  That could make a nice brunch or dinner, or maybe even a savory breakfast (though that's usually not my thing).

No-Bake Cheesecake

When I came across this cheesecake recipe, I immediately thought of the peach rum sauce I canned several weeks ago.  Although the recipe says to top the cake with blueberries, I covered it with my peach rum sauce instead, and it was delicious!  I made it for a picnic, and although it doesn't look quite that good, it does taste delicious.

I adjusted the original recipe slightly by adding 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar to the cheesecake mixture.  Although this didn't make it really sweet, I found that it took away the savory/cheesy flavor and made it feel more like a dessert.  The peach rum sauce contributed the extra sweetness it needed (although berries would be fine too) - if you're thinking of using something similar, I used about 8 ounces of the sauce.  The crust is the one thing I might adjust next time - I thought it needed just a bit more butter to help hold it together better and not fall apart.

Ricotta Cookies

One of my favorite cookie recipes to make are the ricotta cheese cookies that we made in middle school home ec. Looking at the recipe this time, I decided to change things around a little. This didn't exactly work as I planned. The first batch pretty much melted in the oven. Ken had the idea to refrigerate the dough before baking the next batch, so we put it in the fridge and forgot about it until the next day. Conveniently, this batch came out pretty good. The cookies were a little more spread out at the edges than usual.
Original Recipe (with my variations in italics)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine [1/2 cup butter]
8 oz (1 cup) ricotta cheese
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour [2 cups whole wheat pastry flour]
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Instructions:
1. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, beat margarine, ricotta, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
3. Add sifted dry ingredients to ricotta mixture.
4. Beat by hand with a wooden spoon.
5. Drop by teaspoonful onto a greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake at 325* for 15 minutes.

Next time I want to try a mix of whole wheat flours and all-purpose flours. Not sure exactly what yet though. I would also like to try to sub out the sugar once I get the flour done. I also use part skim ricotta.