Cheesecake Brownies

This week our office held a bake sale for a very good cause. Though I am not taking part in the athletic events and training given to the big life change Mihai and I are about to experience, I was happy to at least help out by making something for the bake sale. From everything I've seen of bake sales, they are not the place to whip out anything too exotic, so I decided to go with a classic American staple: the brownie. But, in order to satisfy my need to try out new things, I finally attempted this cheesecake brownie recipe I've had starred in Reader since 2007.

The results of this experiment were mixed, I would say. On the one hand, these brownies sold out, so they must have looked appealing. On the other hand, I would make one or both of the following changes next time around: 1) mix the cheesecake batter with the brownie batter more thoroughly, and 2) try out a different brownie batter. Mihai and I both agreed (we had a small piece each before giving the rest of the pan to the sale) that the brownie batter was a bit dry. However, the cheesecake portion of the brownie was deliciously moist - so perhaps mixing the two together more would be sufficient. But it's also possible that the brownie batter really needs some chocolate chips/chunks in it (not just cocoa) to make it be as rich as I personally like my brownies to be.

All this said, this recipe is still good enough to be posted here - it just might need some tweaking to be a truly successful one.

Cheesecake Brownies
Adapted from La Tartine Gourmande

For the brownie batter:
⅔ cups cocoa
1 stick unsalted butter, diced
¾ cups sugar
2 large eggs
Pinch of salt
⅔ cups all-purpose flour

For the cheesecake batter:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 large egg yolk
⅓ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Mix all the cheesecake batter ingredients together to obtain a smooth creamy texture. Set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8 x 8 inch pan with parchment paper.

3. To prepare the chocolate batter, start by melting the cocoa and butter in the microwave. Let cool slightly.

4. Beat together the eggs and sugar with a pinch of salt until light and pale in color.

5. Fold in the chocolate mixture into the egg and sugar mixture first, then the flour. Do not overmix.

6. Pour the chocolate batter into the pan. Add the cheesecake batter on top and make a swirly design in it using a fork or knife. (See notes above - don't be afraid to intermix the batters more than in my pictures.)

7. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan completely before cutting into squares.

Beef Skewers

I've been trying to eat more protein lately, so on a recent weeknight, we made a beef variation of these lamb skewers that we've made lots of times before.

This is so easy, you hardly need a recipe - just some meat and veggies, as well as a hot oven - but I outlined what we did below just in case.

Beef Skewers
Adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini

1 lb beef
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
½ red onion
2-3 large tomatoes or ~8 campari-sized ones
salt

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F degrees.

2. Prep your vegetables: core the bell peppers, slice the onion, remove the innards of the tomatoes. Your end goal are vegetable pieces that have about 1 square inch of surface area so you can easily thread them on the skewers - though the shape definitely doesn't need to be exactly square (that's easier with the peppers than with the tomatoes or onion).

3. Prep your meat: cut away any extraneous fat, and cut into ~1-inch cubes.

4. Assemble your skewers: thread a slice of each vegetable, followed by a meat cube. Repeat.

5. Place your skewers across a oven-proof dish and salt them.

6. Cook the skewers in the hot oven for 20-30 minutes, depending on the desired doneness, rotating the skewers half way through the cooking process.

Chocolate Biscotti

On the weekends, Mihai makes himself a latte using his (fancy, and getting even fancier soon) espresso machine and has some biscotti with it while reading. I am ashamed to say that the biscotti are usually store bought, though he doesn't seem to mind that too much. But, a couple of weeks ago, I finally managed to do something I'd been meaning to do for a while - actually make some biscotti at home.

I have made biscotti before (even if I haven't blogged about it) - both of these were quite good. But the previous versions were sorely lacking in chocolate, and I really wanted to make chocolate biscotti this time. Fortunately, there's been a chocolate biscotti recipe stowed away for ages in my very long list of starred items in Reader, so finding a recipe was easy. My favorite part of biscotti is the "soft stage" of the cookie, after you slice them but before you bake them again. However, these are good even once you've made them into "proper" biscotti - Mihai says he likes them.

Chocolate Biscotti
Adapted from David Lebovitz

2 cups flour
¾ cups top-quality cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup almonds, toasted and very coarsely-chopped
¾ cups chocolate chips
¼ cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F degrees.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a large bowl, beat together the 3 eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, then mix in the nuts and the chocolate chips until the dough holds together. Note: my dough was much too dry at this point, which is why I added a bit of milk to the original recipe, since there was no way my dough was going to come together otherwise. (If ¼ cup does not seem like enough, feel free to use up to ⅓ cup. You want a dough that holds together but is not too wet, or it will be hard to work with in the next step.)

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into two logs the length of the baking sheet. Transfer the logs onto the baking sheet, evenly spaced apart.

5. Gently flatten the tops of the logs. Bake for 25 minutes, until the dough feels firm to the touch.

6. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and cool 15 minutes. On a cutting board, use a serrated bread knife to diagonally cut the cookies into ½ inch slices. (I struggled with the "diagonally" instruction, but they biscotti turned out OK anyway.) Lay the cookies cut side down on baking sheets and return to the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies feel mostly firm.

Hungarian Danishes

First off, I want to say that I am completely aware of how silly the name of this treat sounds. I realize that if it's a Danish, it should be from Denmark, not Hungary. By way of explanation, this is a baked good that I've only had in Russia and at home here. More specifically, I've only seen it made by my mom, though the Russian Internet proves that the treat and its name, 'венгерские ватрушки', are not isolated to her. And in Russian, the word for 'Danish' has no associations with Denmark, so if we are translating literally, we arrive at the slightly nonsensical 'Hungarian Danishes'. I've even run this dilemma by my stepfather, who is much better at translating between the two languages than I am, and he confirmed that this is, indeed, the correct translation - especially since cheese is part of the recipe.

Translation semantics aside, I am glad that I am finally posting this here - both because it means we got to enjoy this treat for Christmas (and for a few days afterwards), and because now the recipe will be "in the cloud", and not just handwritten on a piece of paper I am bound to lose at some point. I took advantage of my mom's visit here to have her help me make two of my childhood favorite baked goods: these 'Danishes' and my favorite lemon pie. Not that either is particularly difficult, but both require the rolling out of dough, which I am not nearly as good at as my mom (especially with our tiled counters). However, this rolling-out effort is definitely worth it, as these are an extremely tasty accompaniment to tea, milk, or pretty much any beverage (they are quite sweet). I am pretty sure this was Mihai's first time having these (as I write this, I am feeling very guilty for my baking negligence all these years), and he thoroughly approved.

Hungarian Danishes

For the dough:
2 cups flour (300g)
1¾ sticks cold unsalted butter (200g)
200g farmer's cheese (or very fine, drained cottage cheese)
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt

For the filling:
2 egg whites
¾ cups sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1. Grate the cold butter into the flour, mixing the grated bits of butter with the flour along the way.

2. Combine the farmer's cheese with the egg yolks, 3 tablespoons sugar, and salt. Mix well.

3. Mix the flour and cheese mixture together quickly, separate in two equal portions, and form 2 cylinders of dough. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

4. When the dough is thoroughly chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites with a mixer. Gradually add the sugar and cinnamon. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.

5. Roll out one of the dough cylinders into a rectangle (~12 x 5 inches). Spread half of the egg white mixture on the rectangle (leave a 1-inch border around one of the long edges), and roll the dough into a log length-wise (you'll want the 1-inch border on the "outside" edge, so as to not push out the egg white mixture outside the roll). Cut the rolled log into ~2 inch slices, stand them up vertically on a (buttered or lined with parchment paper) cookie sheet, and bake for ~30 minutes.

6. If you have a convection oven, you can repeat step #5 with the other dough cylinder and remaining half of the egg whites immediately and place the two cookie sheets in the oven together (one above the other). However, with a regular oven, it's probably best to place the remaining dough and egg white mixture into the fridge while the first batch is baking, and repeat step #5 only when you've taken out the first batch and can place the second batch into the oven. (In that case, I suggest re-beating the egg whites a bit before you spread them out on the second dough half.)

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette

Another seasonal recipe - this would have been good for Thanksgiving, but will be equally good for any upcoming holiday parties or open houses. Given that the key ingredients are butternut squash and onions, with a healthy amount of cheese thrown in for good measure, this galette can be a reliable stand-by for the rest of the winter.

Believe it or not, this recipe is NOT from Food52 (gasp!) but from another favorite of mine. Deb has a number of good galette/tart recipes on her site, so it's definitely worth checking out if you are looking to make something that's hearty enough to hold its own for a weeknight dinner for two and also appropriate as a starter when you are expecting company.

Two main notes about this recipe. One - it does require some prep (peel, chop up, and roast the squash, slice and caramelize the onions) - but as Deb points out, you can do that ahead of time and then the assembly time for the galette itself close to the guests' arrival is minimal. (Though it does help when you have a very nice helper for doing some of this peeling/chopping.) Two - if you are like me and the idea of making the galette dough, with all of its advance planning (one hour in the freezer, another hour in the fridge), stresses you out (you also have to do the squash and onions!), just don't do it. I used Pepperidge Farm's puff pastry, and didn't think the final result at all suffered from this stress-relieving shortcut.

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

For the pastry:
1 sheet Pepperidge Farm puff pastry

For the filling:
1 small butternut squash (about one pound)*
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced in half-moons
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of sugar
¾ cup fontina cheese (about 2½ ounces), grated or cut into small bits**
1½ teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves

*Don't worry if yours is bigger - any leftover squash/onion/cheese mixture that doesn't fit into the galette is delicious on its own later.
**We happened to use smoked fontina (regular was nowhere to be found), which gave the galette a suspiciously delicious bacon-y taste.

1. Thaw one sheet of puff pastry according to the directions on the package.

2. Prepare squash: Preheat oven to 375°F. Peel squash, then halve and scoop out seeds. Cut into a ½-inch dice. Toss pieces with olive oil and a half-teaspoon of the salt and roast on foil-lined sheet for 30 minutes or until pieces are tender, turning it midway if your oven bakes unevenly. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. Caramelize onions: While squash is roasting, melt butter in a heavy skillet and cook onion over low heat with the remaining half-teaspoon of salt and pinch of sugar, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes.

4. Raise the oven temperature to 400°F. Mix squash, caramelized onions, cheese and herbs together in a bowl.

5. Assemble galette: On a floured surface, roll out the thawed sheet of puff pastry (don't make it unreasonably thin). Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Spread squash, onions, cheese and herb mixture over the dough, leaving a 1½-inch border. Fold the border over the squash, onion and cheese mixture, folding the corner edges over each other. The center will be open.

6. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Yogurt Cake with Apples and Chocolate

I made this cake just yesterday, so it's very seasonal - and will remain so for the next 4 months at least. It was inspired by yet another Food52 recipe, except I swapped out the original pears for apples, since my mom and I share the belief that apples are superior to pears on almost all occasions. (Also, because per my request, my mom sent me some Connecticut grown Macoun apples - a special treat for NorCal - and there's now quite a number of them at home here!)

Other than that, this pretty much follows the standard French yogurt cake guidelines: nothing to beat, plain whole-milk yogurt (only difficulty is finding it in the supermarket in small containers), so easy that it's the first cake French kids learn how to make. There's one substitution that I would advise against making, and it is to substitute olive oil (especially extra virgin) for the canola oil. It's taken me a few previous yogurt cakes to learn to stick to the recipe on this point.

Yogurt Cake with Apples and Chocolate
Adapted from Food52

1½ cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup plain, whole milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup canola oil
1 large apple, cored and cut into small pieces (leave the skin on)
½ cup bittersweet dark chocolate chunks

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease an 8-inch loaf pan with butter. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Whisk in the yogurt. Then, stir in the dry ingredients, a bit at a time, until well blended. Finally, use a rubber spatula to fold the oil into the batter until it is fully incorporated.

2. Pour about one-third of the batter into the greased loaf pan. Sprinkle two thirds of the apple pieces and the chocolate chunks all over the batter. Then, scrape the rest of the batter on top of this and gently spread it smooth. Sprinkle the rest of the apple and chocolate over the top of the loaf and gently press all the pieces down into the batter to partially submerge them.

3. Bake in the middle of the oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean - 55-60 minutes. Then, take the cake out of the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Carefully turn the cake out of the pan, and then put it upright on a cooling rack (or regular plate) to cool the rest of the way.

Cheese Thins

For certain (bigger) occasions, I feel like it's more appropriate to bring something homemade, rather than a bottle of wine (our more standard offering). In this case, we were asked to bring at most an appetizer, so I went with these cheese thins - they show up in both Chocolate and Zucchini and Amanda Hesser's Essential New York Times Cookbook (if you haven't noticed, I am a big fan of Amanda Hesser's endeavors).

Amanda Hesser's recipe suggests rolling out the dough and cutting it into strips, however I like Clotilde's method of rolling the dough into logs and slicing them into half-moon crackers (especially since rolling out dough is extra inconvenient with our kitchen's tiled counters). These were cheesy and tasty, a nice way to tide yourself over before the real meal begins.

Cheese Thins
Adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini

6 oz good quality hard cheese, finely grated (e.g. comté)
4 tablespoons butter, also grated
¾ cup flour
¼ teaspoon sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
a dash milk or cream, as needed (see below)

1. Combine the cheese, butter, flour, and salt in a food processor and pulse until the ingredients come together to form a dough. If the mixture seems too dry and crumbly to come together into a ball, add a dash of milk or cream until it does.

2. Shape the dough into a log or another sliceable shape, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm enough to be easily sliced, about an hour, and up to a day. (Or you can place the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes.)

3. Preheat the oven to 360°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

4. Remove the dough from the fridge, slice it thinly, and arrange the slices on the prepared sheet (they will expand a little, so give them just a bit of elbow room). You will need to work in batches; return the dough to the fridge between batches.

5. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, depending on your oven and the thickness of your slices, until golden. Let the cheese thins rest on the baking sheet for a minute before transferring them to a cooling rack. Taste when cool, and adjust the baking time accordingly for subsequent batches.