Grasshopper Cheesecake

This was a first for me; I had never made cheesecake before, so I decided it was about time to try something different.  Now, this recipe gave me a little hiccup, but if you like my fix for it, you can use it too!  It tasted really good, and expect more cheesecake in the future!!!!

Crust

30 fudge mint cookies, crushed (about 1 3/4 cups or 1 package)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Filling

4 oz semisweet baking chocolate
3 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs

1/3 cup green crème de menthe liqueur* (if you don't have creme de menthe or cant find it, use Bailey's Irish Cream coffee creamer and peppermint extract with green food coloring!)

Topping and Garnish, if desired

    Sweetened whipped cream
    Crème de menthe thin rectangular candies for garnish, unwrapped, cut in half diagonally (Andes mints)

    1 Heat oven to 300°F. Wrap foil around bottom and side of ungreased 9-inch springform pan. In large bowl, mix crust ingredients with fork until crumbly. Press in bottom and 1 inch up side of pan. Bake 12 minutes. Cool 30 minutes. You can also use a pie plate; it works nearly as well.  Directions stay the same, you just don't have to remove it from the pan.

    2 In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate on High 45 to 60 seconds, stirring once halfway through microwaving, until melted. If necessary, continue to microwave on High in 15-second increments, stirring until smooth. Set aside.

    3 In large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed, scraping bowl frequently, until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Stir in liqueur. Pour filling evenly over crust.

    4 Drop 8 to 10 tablespoonfuls melted chocolate randomly onto filling, allowing chocolate to sink into filling. With table knife or small spatula, cut through chocolate and filling to swirl for marbled design.

    5 Bake 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until set 2 inches from edge of pan. Remove from oven; run knife around side of cheesecake to loosen. Return to oven; turn oven off and open door slightly. Cool cheesecake in oven 1 hour. Remove from oven to cooling rack; cool at room temperature 1 hour. Refrigerate 3 hours.

    6 To serve, remove side of pan. Spread the cream over the top of the cheesecake and then add with a star tipped piping bag for additional decoration. Garnish with candies.

Garlic Cheese Biscuits

First of all, I 'd like to apologize for not posting for a few days.  My internet connection has been shoddy at best, and I have not been able to post as religiously as I would have liked.  These biscuits, though, are ones that I grew up eating, and most people who eat them say they are better than the cheddar bay biscuits advertised by Red Lobster.  I'll let you be the decision maker on that, but they are my number one favorite.

Ashley's Garlic Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients:  2 C Bisquik

                      1/2 c milk

                      1/2 c cheddar cheese (sharper the better)

                      4 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted.

          Topping:  1 tsp garlic powder

                         4 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

1.  Preheat oven to 450.  

2.  Mix together Bisquik, milk, cheddar cheese, and 4 tbsp butter with a wooden spoon.  Add more bisquik or milk as needed to get a biscuit consistency.

3.  On a nonstick cookie sheet, place biscuits in rounded spoonfuls.

4.  Cook at 450 for 14-17 minutes, or until tops golden brown and fluffy.

5.  While the biscuits are cooking, melt butter and garlic powder in the microwave.

6. Butter the tops of the biscuits while still hot on the baking sheet.

Makes about 8-12 biscuits, depending on the size of your spoonfuls!

Pineapple Upside Down Cobbler

On our next stop in this culinary journey of home fuzziness, this recipe was first given to me by my friend Selina.  This cobbler is unique for a number of different things; it takes cherries and pineapple and fuses them together within the cobbler, and it doesn't use a biscuit type topping for the cobbler.  It was so good, I had to put my own twist on it and make it my own.  This is an adult recipe; as called for, it uses vodka.  I will also give the non-alcoholic alternative :)

Pineapple Upside Down Cobbler

Ingredients:  3 c pineapple, chopped

                       3 c cherries, pitted

                       1 box Nilla wafers

                       1 c whipped cream vodka**

                       1 1/2 c sugar

                       2 sticks butter

1.  In a medium bowl, combine pineapple and vodka; let sit and soak for one hour.  Set aside.

2.  In a medium saucepan, combine cherries and sugar, cooking on medium heat until cooked down to a compote consistency

3.  Crush the nilla wafers in a food processor until they are small, graham-cracker crumb sized pieces.  

4.  Preheat the oven to 325.  

5.  Prepare either a 13 x 9 pan, or a 9x9 casserole pan.  Glass pans for this recipe work the best.  Grease the bottoms with cooking spray.

6.  Add in the cherries and the pineapple, liquid and all; mix together so they are evenly distributed.  

7.  Sprinkle the nilla wafer mixture on top so it creates an even covering over the fruit.

8.  Slice the butter into thin slivers; distribute evenly over the top of the cobbler.  Use both sticks.

9.  Cook at 325 for 1 hour, or until the top of the cobbler is golden brown and the fruit is slightly bubbly.

10.  Serve with vanilla ice cream!

** For the non-alcoholic version, you can use a can of pineapple; use the can complete with the juice, it will turn out just as tasty 

Poutine

Hi guys!!! So, to start off this culinary adventure I thought I would start with something close to home....I love this dish, very popular in Canada and upstate New York.  Poutine is french fries with beef gravy and mozzarella cheese; super messy and super delicious!  This one never ceases to give me warm fuzzies thinking about home, and although it's not the best for a diet plan, it fills you up really well, and leaves you wanting more at the same time!!!!

Poutine:  Ashley's Way

Ingredients:  8 russet potatoes, sliced into thin, french-fry sized strips

                                 3-4 tbsp of oil (depending on how many potatoes you sliced)

                                 3 tsp seasoned salt

                                 2 tsp black pepper
                                 1/2 packet ranch dip mix (the powdered stuff)
                                 Beef gravy (for this recipe storebought is just as good as homemade, and faster!)
                                 Grated mozzarella cheese (about 1 c)

1.  Preheat oven to 450.
2.  Take russet potatoes, oil, seasoned salt, pepper, and ranch dip.  Mix all together in a bowl until potatoes are thoroughly coated.
3.  Spray baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray
4.  Place french fries on cookie sheet in an even layer; Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes, depending on how thick you slice the potatoes and how many you have.
5.  While the french fries are cooking, prepare your homemade beef gravy or warm up your storebought in a small saucepan; salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Remove fries from pan; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, then gravy on top, to serve.  Dig in!


I hope you guys have enjoyed this recipe....if you have any suggestions as always let me know!

Venturing Into the Brave New World of Blogging

Good morning everyone!  Today I took the giant leap....into the world of blogging.  I love cooking, and I love food, and what better way to share it than with all of you who may take it into your hearts to read this menial piece of literature.  Primarily, I want to share with you recipes I have found, or ones that have been passed down to me through my family, that makes cooking to me worthwhile, and gives it that special taste of home.  If you care to continue reading, keep track every day for my new post - whether it be a recipe, a useful tip or two, or a story of my home cooking experience...it should be a complete taste of home experience for you, and I hope it will give you as many warm fuzzies as it does to me :) I would love opinions too, on what I post...email me, or post to the blog!