Amazing Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to try something new to add to the table of desserts at my Parents house this year so after having the Peanut Butter Cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory recently all I can think about is trying to mimic that amazing cheesecake.  I had to find something online that would at least resemble it’s goodness and I came across this recipe from Food.com.

This is my Peanut Butter Cheesecake Recipe in the making….using my new iphone 4S camera

Placing Cheesecake in a water bath and into the oven.

Adding Reese Peanut Butter Cups to my Cream Cheese Filling

Mixing blended Oreo’s with Blended Peanuts for the crust

We do Christmas Eve at my Parents house every year and  my parents have always made Christmas truly memorable for me and my sisters.   When we were little we often spent Christmas in Mexico with my Dad’s side of the family and it was so much fun seeing my cousins, we would play all day long and the house would smell of tamales, Champurado and Posole.  Christmas Eve we celebrate from my Mexican roots and Christmas day if we don’t’ have anything planned with anyone I usually do the traditional American food of Bourbon Glazed Ham.  My mom is of Irish and German decent and my husband from India, so I get the opportunity to experience different cultural ways not just during the Holidays but always.

So, the only thing that can make this Christmas Day sweet….is the Lakers wining the game today.

Champurado

Vegetarian Posole

Tamale

Ingredients:

 For The Crust

• 4 1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies
• 1 cup chopped roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup butter , melted

For The Filling

• 2 lbs cream cheese , softened
• 5 eggs , at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter (not natural-style)
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 Reese’s Peanut Butter cups , broken into small pieces

For The Topping

• 3 ounces sour cream
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. 1
   Please Note****Plan ahead–cheesecake needs to chill for at least 4 hours.
2. 2
   To Make The Crust:.
3. 3
   Combine crushed Oreo cookies and peanuts that have been ground in a food processor with the melted butter.
4. 4
   Pat the crust mixture onto bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan.
5. 5
   To Make The Filling:.
6. 6
   Beat cream cheese in bowl of electric mixer until smooth.
7. 7
   Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
8. 8
   Add sugar, peanut butter and cream; mix until smooth.
9. 9
   Stir in vanilla, then fold in peanut butter cup pieces with a rubber spatula.
10. 10
    Pour filling into prepared crust.
11. 11
    Place springform pan into a larger baking pan.
12. 12
    Pour hot water into the larger pan so that the water comes 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan.
13. 13
    Bake at 275°F 1-1/2 hours, or until firm and lightly browned.
14. 14
    For The Topping:.
15. 15
    Combine the sour cream and sugar and spread on the cheesecake.
16. 16
    Return the cake to the oven for 5 minutes.
17. 17
    Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for one hour.
18. 18
    You may run a knife along the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan somewhat.
19. 19
    Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

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Gingerbread Roll With Cinnamon Cream Cheese

Christmas is in 2 days….this Gingerbread Roll is a soft, sweet and fragrant  Holiday treat that you must bring to your table for Christmas.  :)

Okay, so this was my first attempt at making a Gingerbread Roll and it was a challenge for me.   The hard part was actually rolling the cake up,  I made several mistakes, one I used a shorter pan than I was suppose to, so the cake was a bit thicker making it harder to roll and I tried cutting the cake and that made it not look so pretty and 2nd I put too much cream cheese mixture on it making it even more difficult to roll it.  I wasn’t about to give up on it as this was a very lengthy process with several bowls and mixers going on to put this thing together in the first place.  I made myself a promise as I was preparing gift boxes of goodies for people that this was going to make it in those boxes especially since my other baking disaster with the cupcakes didn’t go over to well. I must say the flavors of the gingerbread and cream cheese combination was soft, sweet and it smelled so heavenly when I took it out of the oven.  It was in no way overpowering as I get when I eat gingerbread of any kind, this was the perfect combination of flavors and I highly recommend you to give it a go, just don’t make the mistakes I did and you should be fine.  This fabulous recipe came from Food and Wine December 2005 issue.

I have this notebook when I first took on the challenge of wanting to be an awesome baker of everything.   I cut out magazine recipes from different magazines and I pilled them in this notebook,  I’ve yet to conquer this book.   I spend more time skimming through it saying to myself, “Yep…that looks good but it would take me all day to make.”   No more procrastinating, I want to open a bakery some day so my New Year’s Resolution is to conquer this book and I will make several attempts at these recipes especially the ones that become disasters or mere saves. This recipe I pulled from this book, and yes it was difficult and yes I will be attempting it again with different flavors next time.  :)

Folding the Egg Whites into the Cake Batter Mixture

INGREDIENTS

1. 5 large eggs, separated
2. 1/2 cup molasses
3. 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
4. 2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
5. 3/4 cup cake flour
6. 1 teaspoon baking powder
7. 1 teaspoon ground ginger
8. 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
9. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10. 1/4 teaspoon salt
11. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
12. 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
13. 1 tablespoon cold water
14. 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
15. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
16. 12 ounces crème fraîche
17. 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
18. 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
19. Two 4-inch cinnamon sticks
20. 8 whole cloves
21. 2 tablespoons dark rum
22. 2 tablespoons apple cider
23. Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
24. Toasted pecans and dried cranberries, for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Line a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks until pale, about 2 minutes. Add the molasses, 1/4 cup of the brown sugar and the fresh ginger and beat until combined. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, allspice, black pepper and salt. Beat the dry ingredients into the egg yolk mixture until combined.
2. In a clean bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar and beat until firm and glossy. Fold the egg whites into the batter until no streaks remain. Spread the batter onto the prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned and firm to the touch. Transfer to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes.
3. Sprinkle the cake with the remaining 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Run the blade of a sharp knife around the edge of the pan. Cover the cake with a clean kitchen towel and top with a large cutting board. Holding the pan, towel and cutting board, invert the cake onto the cutting board. Remove the pan and carefully peel off the parchment paper. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let the gingerbread cool completely.
4. In a small microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Microwave at high power until the gelatin is melted, about 10 seconds. In a clean bowl, beat the cream cheese with the cinnamon and melted gelatin until smooth. In another bowl, whip the crème fraîche with the confectioners’ sugar until still. Fold the cream cheese into the crème fraîche.
5. Spread the filling evenly over the entire surface of the cake. Starting at a short end, roll up the cake jelly roll–style. Wrap the gingerbread roll tightly in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.
6. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the remaining 1/3 cup of brown sugar and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Add the cinnamon sticks and cloves. Whisk in the rum and cider and remove from the heat. Let the butter-rum sauce steep for 1 hour. Discard the cinnamon sticks and cloves.
7. Unwrap the gingerbread roll and transfer it to a plate; dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar. Cut into slices and bring to room temperature. Garnish the gingerbread roll with the pecans and cranberries and serve with the butter-rum sauce.

MAKE AHEAD The finished roll can be refrigerated overnight. The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; reheat gently before serving.

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Barcelona, Spain- Part 2

This is part 2 of our Barcelona, Spain trip  and I’ve got more to cover on Antoni Gaudi a magnificent architectural modernist with the most unique creations that is astounding as well as a trip to the Marcat which is a version of what we call here in America “Farmer’s Market” just 3 times better than what we got to offer.  Fresh Fish, Meats, Fruits, Chocolates, Nuts, Candies, Fruit Juices….just a great place to stock up on the goods for a great home cooked meal.  :)  I really wish we had this at home and only my pictures can tell you what great stuff they carry.  Beautiful City and so much to photograph that I literally started walking into things with my camera.

This is the name of the Market we took a couple of visits to while in Barcelona.

It’s all about the Jamon in Spain, so many different cuts and brands and I’m pretty sure we’ve tasted them all as this stuff is addicting. It’s sliced so thin and it’s so soft and moist in the olive oil.

Mmm…will have to do some importing of this stuff.

Animals before being cleaned and cut up… for sale.  :/ I had to cover my daughter’s eyes at the sight of this.  Here’s a good way to turn an American girl Vegetarian.  Those poor little bunny rabbits…..I’m always trying to feed the ones in my front yard carrots….

Salted Codd is also their thing and man is that fish so good.

Also known for their cheese, we had some incredible cheeses during our stay.

Chocolate

Candy Variations- all of different fruit flavors….really good.

I’m not use to seeing meat sold like this in America.  

Tapas Bars…Galore…

So….while roaming around Barcelona, I saw these people window shopping,  for a long time they stood there  just gazing into this window. I took a picture and decided  to go check out this window display….

oh yes….this will make any sweet tooth person stop for a moment of drool….

Those are really big cupcakes….right?  With all that whip cream..

Though we did not buy anything here…we did stop for a chocolate tasting at Vicens

…

We bought some Praline Marzipan

Street performers…my daughter loved this…and that’s her there in awe of it.

But…the Barcelona Cops didn’t care for it…so it was over quickly.

Another interesting name for a store….my friend posing in a happy pose for this shot…

So…on with more beautiful work of art from Gaudi…

This is located in Park Guell

This is all done from Rock, it’s gorgeous.

Isn’t it just beautiful?  I love Antoni Gaudi’s perception.

This the view of that church he started working on that I covered in my previous Barcelona post, was able to see it from the top of this park off in the distance.

Goodnight Barcelona……

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Beef Daube Provencal with Roasted Red Potatoes

This dish slowed cooked for  5 hours and the  Cabernet Sauvignon , meat, onions, thyme, rosemary and garlic just brought a beautiful smell to my house. I got this really incredibly flavorful and tender meat recipe from Cooking Light.   I obtained the Roasted Red Potato Recipe from the Food Network and the rosemary is a really nice touch to these potatoes- I say go with fresh Rosemary if you have it on hand.  This is definitely a repeat recipe- I’m adding it in the rotation!   For the bread, I bought sliced sour dough from Albertsons because I love their fresh baked breads, definitely the best grocery store in my area.  What I did was added Extra Virgin Olive Oil- drizzled it on the bread slices- dash of salt and pepper and toasted it under the Broiler for 2 mins.  I scooped up the onions and tomatoes in this dish onto the bread slices and it made for a fantastic finish to my meal!  How I love to eat…. hehe  Also, I used  Catena Cab 2008 from Argentina for the wine in this dish and with this dish.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 12 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups chopped carrot
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• Dash of ground cloves
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 cups uncooked noodles)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 300°.
2. Heat oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic; cook 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef to pan; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, carrot, and next 8 ingredients (through bay leaf), and bring to a boil.
3. Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles.
4. Note: To make in a slow cooker, prepare through Step 2. Place beef mixture in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours.

Lia Mack Huber, Cooking Light
NOVEMBER 2004

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 367
• Calories from fat: 31%
• Fat: 12.8g
• Saturated fat: 4.3g
• Monounsaturated fat: 5.8g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.9g
• Protein: 29.1g
• Carbohydrate: 33.4g
• Fiber: 3.9g
• Cholesterol: 105mg
• Iron: 4.3mg
• Sodium: 776mg
• Calcium: 76mg

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Barcelona, Spain- Part 1- Architectural work by Gaudi And Tapas 24 Restaurant

Our final destination stop in Spain was Barcelona and though it was not my favorite city due to the amount of tourists it attracted, we still had a pleasant stay in the city.   It was definitely very crowded and reminded me of New York with how the crowds all flocked to the same places.   The food as usual was incredible and I enjoyed the farmer’s market and loved seeing the works of art from Antoni Gaudi.

I know this is a bad shot, but I wanted to give you an idea how crowded this city is with tourists and locals.  The one thing I really enjoyed while roaming the city streets was all the musicians playing their instruments at every corner.

This is really impressive, the work started on this Cathedral by Paula Del Villar in 1882.   One year later, the modernist architect Antoni Gaudí took over as lead architect at the age of 31. From that moment on, Gaudí devoted most of his life to the construction of the church.  He passed away and this Cathedral is still till this day being completed and is said that it will be completed in the next 20 years.

In this picture you can see where they have added on to Gaudi’s work

Click on these pictures so you can see all the detail put into his work

Everything depicted here is from Gaudi’s sketches.

Inside this magnificent Church

The ceiling-

Zoom in on Ceiling on next picture

Spiral Staircase, stain glass window

Gaudi is known for his work of art being very deep and somewhat disturbing as in this sculptured piece that is on the outside face of this Cathedral. A Man slaying children.

One of Gaudi Sketches and the front entrance to the Church as the following sculpture to his sketch

We also visited the house Gaudi designed for himself that is just really nice- this is a picture of the outside of it

I wish my pictures came out better as there are some more amazing rooms to this place that my camera did horribly because of the lack of light

Outside way top of his house

So…..onto the food part of this trip

We stopped for a bite to eat at Tapas 24 and it was simply delicious, every bite of everything was just not enough to go around that table of ours.

Eggplant cooked to perfection!

Damn this was good, I can almost taste it again…

Okay so we ordered two plates of this stuff…..there was just not enough to enjoy between the 4 of us.  Salted Chocolate sitting in EVO!  I’m so making this…  This restaurant was located in what our area would be “Rodeo Drive”- as they had the fancy Cartier and Ferrari stores just down the street from here. I got in trouble for taking a picture of this in store Ferrari model….. ;/

I’m going to finish this Barcelona trip on a 2nd post as there is so much more to cover…

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Granada, Spain- The Alhambra, Tea House and Paella Cooking Lesson

We started our vacation in Madrid than to Toledo off to Seville and my favorite stop of all would be in Granada.   There is so much to love about this city and to explain it best when we arrived from our Taxi cab the guy just dropped us off at the street corner and left us there with all of our bags along the side walk.  We stood there in the dark as our friends arrived shortly after along with the apartment owner and we all walked down this cobble stone narrow alley way that twisted and turned in different directions to get to our apartment.  We sounded like a horse and carriage as we trotted along these rocky streets with our rolling wheel luggage.  The City is just amazing, the beauty of being literally away from cars, scooters or any other motorized vehicle and just people walking up and down these up hill and down hill cobble stone alley ways, it was just a place I’ve never experienced to be in before.   It was this little hidden gem of a city tucked away from the vehicle traffic we are all so use to in our every day lives.

The owner of our Apartment had asked if we would be interested in learning how to cook Paella.   I was so excited for the opportunity to learn how to cook Paella from someone that grew up on the dish and learned from many generations passed and I took many pictures to show you all my cooking lesson.

This little town is all up hill and down hill and twisty that it was like going through a maze.

This was the path to our apartment and if the owner didn’t show us the way, I’m pretty sure we never would’ve found the place.

Vendors along one of the alley streets

This was our view from our Balcony Apartment of the Alhambra sitting on top of the hill……beautiful!

This was our visit to the Alhambra.

So much engraving detail ….just flawless piece of work.

During our stay in Granada we stopped at a Tea House fully equipped with Hookah,  yummy Crêpe’s and a huge selection of Tea’s and Coffee’s

Teteria La Oriental

Crêpe with Banana’s, Chocolate and Creme  ;)   Oh so good…

My Mexican Chocolate…oooooh so good.

There is so much to cover on our stay in Granada that I thought of breaking this post up in two posts but decided to make this a really long post.  I love to cook and learn new recipes so I was so excited at the opportunity to learn to make Paella but all I can offer are my pictures on the making of Paella, I can’t post any recipe out of respect to the young lady that showed us how to make it, I’m sure she would like to keep teaching how to make it without the recipe being easily obtainable online.  ;)

We had this delicious meal on our apartment balcony…..beautiful day!

Topped the meal off with some Pots de Creme dessert…..

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Seville, Spain

We took a train ride and spent one night in a really nice hotel in the city of Seville, which I thought was just beautiful.  The Hotel we stayed at had the décor of musical instruments, really nice.  The City of Seville has the nice charm of a small street, small town life away from the big cities.  The architectural beauty that surrounds each street, building and historical monument in this city along with the fact I surrounded myself by the locals is what made my stay here pleasant.

Alcazar

More ceiling detail

Just Stunning is this Cathedral in Seville, Spain.

Inside the Cathedral

This is said to be Christopher Columbus’s grave site inside this Cathedral

Gargoyles and Cathedrals is like something from a scary movie…. :/

Pretty sure they mean to say compliment.

Dessert…..oh what kind of joyous sweet tooth place awaits around the corner of one of these narrow small streets….

Robles Laredo had some really tasty desserts but they’re also known for their Tapas here, we weren’t hungry for food just a sweet tooth craving we full filled delightfully here.

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Toledo, Spain- Medieval Architecture and Meson Palacios Restaurant

We took a train out to visit the city of Toledo. This was one of my favorite Cities that we visited along with Seville and Granada which I have more to share with you in my upcoming posts.

Interesting facts about the City of Toledo-

It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive cultural and monumental heritage as one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire and place of coexistence of Christian, Jewish andMuslim cultures, as well as the place where harsh religious persecutions were held against the Jews.

Many famous people and artists were born or lived in Toledo, including Al-Zarqali, Garcilaso de la Vega, Eleanor of Toledo, Alfonso X and El Greco. It was also the place of important historic events such as the Visigothic Councils of Toledo

DON’T FORGET TO CLICK ON THE PICTURES FOR A BIGGER CLEARER VIEW.

This is the Gate entrance to the city which is really cool, like something from the movies with the knights men and their horses would go charging in at.  I couldn’t get a good shot because we took a bus up the steep hill, which couldn’t be done with kids because of the climb.  This is a very off center shot…  You can look it up on google, it’s pretty cool.

The detail put into the sculptures on these Cathedrals is just mind blowing.

The inside Ceiling Dome shape with this painting in it and sculptures all around it.   Beautiful!

The night time photography on my camera sucks, but I tried to capture the whole piece leading up to the ceiling dome.

At the end of this hallway lead to another room showing a really beautiful dome ceiling artwork as well..

I’m moved by the the detail emphasis on the ceiling art piece.

All of the streets in the city of Toledo were this small…only scooters and tiny cars roamed through here.  My kind of place

Yeah….that’s me and my little girl

Stopped for a bite to eat and I had some fantastic Paella and a Spanish Omelet At Meson Palacios.  I highly recommend this place if your in the City and judging by the reviews I’m not the only one that agrees.

Couldn’t leave without ordering a cup of Cafe Con Leche….you know how we are about our Starbucks here, well their little cups of coffee you can get almost anywhere was my addiction.

After roaming around the city we found this mouth watering bakery and discovered the sweet tooth addiction here to try in Toledo, Spain is called Marzipan- the freshly made stuff melts in your mouth it is delicious and you can get it with fruit fillings, egg filling or just plain the way I liked it best.  We purchased this from San Tome Marzipans store.

I really wanted to buy a sword after seeing them in almost every store window.   I think I would’ve caused some mayhem at the airport though if I even attempted to bring it back….  I was being a little kid the whole time whining to my man how much I wanted one. hehehe….I didn’t win in the end….I didn’t get one…

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Madrid, Spain- Favorite Tapas Bar and Architectural Beauty

I just spent the last week in a half in Spain, and it is the most beautiful architecturally astounding place I’ve ever seen.  There is so much art to this Country in all 5 cities we visited and I’m thinking Spain to be the place architects would flock to for inspiration.  After a long 9 hour straight flight, we landed our feet onto the soil of the beautiful city of Madrid.  The narrow streets weave you in and out connecting you from one alley way type of street  to the next as little establishments such as coffee bars and tapas bars surround you at every hidden corner.  I really loved it that the tourists where extinct here this made me love the place immensely, I wanted to surround myself around the locals and indulge in their food.  I avoided Starbucks the entire time on my vacation trip and took interest in their little coffee bars.   The first thing I noticed while riding in the Shuttle bus on our way to our Apartment was the engravings on the buildings and Cathedrals or the statues engraved into a sort of monument and even the streets are paved into a picturesque beauty that you find in paintings that you never knew such a place could exist.  The people are so kind, they smile and help you without you even asking, they take interest in you.

Click on the pictures for a bigger view.

The Royal Castle

The Royal Castle

Top of The Royal Castle

Some rain the 2nd day we were there.

I love narrow street shots, my favorite kind of photography.  Loving the street brick type layout.

Saw these masks being sold at a Farmer’s Market in Madrid and thought it was interesting…..hmmmm

The thing to eat in Spain is Jamon Iberico, thinly slices of Ham…..this stuff was so tasty, I think we had it at every Tapas Bar we hit the duration of our stay in Spain.

The food here has taken my palate to a place it has never been and all I can say is the Spainards know how to cook and make food look pretty too.   One of my favorite places we stopped to eat at was Juanalaloca, clearly a locals favorites as the place was just crowded from wall to wall with  them.  The food was incredible, the Tapas and for those of you that don’t know it just means small portions of food meant to be shared at your table with your guests.  Everything I tried left me hungry for more as just trying a bite or two was like teasing me with wanting more but that’s the point of eating Tapas, you try everything and get a great variety in the process.   Everything I tried was exceptional, melting in my mouth at every bite.  There is one thing I learned about the eating process in Spain,  there is a siesta time which means a short nap is taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal so every food establishment closes their doors and it’s hard to get a bite to eat during this time frame which usually runs from early afternoon into nearly 7pm for dinner time.  Breakfast is also not a meal time favorite in Spain as you can’t find a place that offers very much, your average croissant and coffee is what you will find, though I did spot many people having beer at noon in small glasses as like a lunch time stop at an outdoor bar type of setting.   There is no such thing as a TO GO cup, you drink your coffee there or your not having any.  :)  I think we found a place in Granada that had to go cups tiny little kids size starbucks cups and they use the phrase “Take Away.”  Which I thought was cute.

My favorite sweet spot was Valor….chocolate with fresh from the oven Churros……Amazing…

Different Varieties of Chocolate for dipping the Churros in……sweet heavenly….

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