Creamy Baked Cheesecake

Do you keep Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk in your cabinet at all times? You should. There’s some absolutely wonderful desserts you can make that require it. Here’s one of them -- especially for all you who love cheesecake as much as I do.

Creamy Baked Cheesecake

½ cup margarine or butter, melted
1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup sugar
2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (14-oz.) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
3 eggs
¼ cup ReaLemon Lemon Juice from Concentrate
1 (8-oz.) container sour cream

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine margarine, crumbs and sugar; press firmly on bottom of 9-inch spring form pan. In large mixer bowl, beat cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add eggs and lemon juice; mix well.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until set. Chill thoroughly. Spread sour cream on top. Garnish as desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Maple-Nut-Pumpkin Candies

This recipe is in the October 2012 issue of Family Circle magazine. It looks wonderful. The pumpkin makes me think of fall, which is something I’m longing for right now. We’ve still got some pretty hot temperatures here in the Deep South.

That said, I do plan to use pecans rather than walnuts. I like the taste of pecans better than walnuts and pecans are sure plentiful around here. Of course, I’ll have to get a few out of the freezer right now but later in the fall I’ll be able to get them out of the small orchard on my parents’ property.

I also don’t bother with parchment paper. I was taught early to use wax paper for such times as this. It works great and I’ve always got it handy.

I hope you enjoy the recipe. And don’t forget to pick up this issue of Family Circle. It’s got a wonderful section on breast cancer and some other wonderful looking recipes as well.

Maple-Nut-Pumpkin Candies

1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup unsalted butter
½ cup solid-pack pumpkin
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Line an 8x8-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper. Spray paper with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium pot, combine sugars, maple syrup, butter, pumpkin, cream, pumpkin pie spice and salt over medium heat. Stir until butter is melted and all ingredients are combined. Bring to a simmer and cook 10 to 12 minutes or until temperature reaches 238 degrees on a candy thermometer. Stir in walnuts.

Pour mixture into lined baking pan. Cool 1 hour on the counter, then refrigerate an additional 1 hour.

Slice into 36 squares.

92 calories per piece

Crispy Zucchini Fries

Last night I went to a wonderfully, fun Pampered Chef party at a friend’s house. We ate good food, learned a few tips for food preparation and just enjoyed each other’s company.

My name came out of the bowl for one of the drawings and I chose -- surprise! -- a small cookbook. This is one of the recipes. I love Zucchini Fries so I can’t wait to try it.

Now remember that the point of these wonderful recipes is to sell Pampered Chef products. I included all that stuff in the recipe because, well, it is their recipe and because they do have wonderful products.

The cook’s tip for this recipe suggests using croutons that are ¾ x ¾ inch in size. Everything else seems fairly simple. And don’t worry. You shouldn’t have any problems substituting items if you don’t own all of their products. Or you could always host a gathering. They would love that!

Crispy Zucchini Fries

1 medium zucchini
1 ½ cups large fat-free seasoned restaurant-style croutons
1 oz. Parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg white
½ cup nonfat plain yogurt
½ cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons light mayonnaise
2 garlic cloves, peeled
½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Line Cookie Sheet with Parchment Paper. Trim and discard ends of zucchini; cut in half crosswise using Chef’s Knife. Cut each zucchini half using French Fry Cutter (discard any thinner pieces). Place croutons in Manuel Food Processor; cover and pump handle until finely chopped. Grate Parmesan cheese with Microplane Adjustable Fine Grater. Place chopped croutons and half of the Parmesan cheese in Coating Tray; mix well.

Whisk egg white in Classic Batter Bowl until frothy. Add zucchini; mix gently until well coated. Dredge zucchini in crouton mixture, pressing firmly to coat. Arrange zucchini in a single layer on Cookie Sheet. Bake 14-16 minutes or until crisp.

Meanwhile, for dip, combine remaining Parmesan cheese, yogurt, basil, mayonnaise, garlic and black pepper in clean processor bowl; cover and pump handle until well blended, scraping down sides as necessary. Remove Cookie Sheet from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack. Serve zucchini fries with dip.

Yield 10 servings.

Chicken Florentine Casserole

This is another wonderful dinner meal from Kraft. It doesn't take long and it sure beats fast food (which sometimes seems much easier!) Give it a try. You might find that dinner time isn't such a hassle after all.

 

Chicken Florentine Casserole

 

1 tsp. oil

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tub (10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme

3/4 cup milk

2 cups cooked farfalle (bow-tie pasta)

1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained

1 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

4 slices Oscar Mayer Bacon, cooked, crumbles

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 

Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook and stir 6 to 7 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in all remaining ingredients except bacon.

 

Spoon mixture into a 1 1/2 quart casserole sprayed with cooking spray; cover.

Bake 25 minutes or until heated through, uncovering and sprinkling with bacon after 15 minutes.

Kraft suggests serving the casserole with a mixed green salad.

Bacon-Cheese Pull-Aparts

This recipe comes from the folks over at Pillsbury. Check out their website for lots of recipes. Reviewers said this casserole is good but a little dry. They suggested adding syrup, and maybe butter, to make it better. Wow! That sounds like a wonderful breakfast (or supper) to me.

 

Bacon-Cheese Pull-Aparts

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 (16.3) can Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers Refrigerated Original Biscuits

1 (2.1 oz.) package precooked bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

3 oz. (3/4 cup) shredded Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped green onions (4 medium)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 11 x 7 or 12 x 8-inch (2 quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.

In large bowl, beat egg and milk with wire wisk until smooth.

Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Cut each into quarters. Gently stir biscuit pieces into egg mixtureto coat evenly. Fold in bacon, cheese and onions. Spoon mixture into sprayed dish. Arrange biscuit pieces in single layer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 23 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into squares.

Makes 8 servings.
      

Cheese Biscuits

This recipe looks like it might have come from a newspaper insert but really I have no idea. But these sure do look good!

Cheese Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus flour for dusting the board
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
2 cups finely grated Cheddar cheese (about 6 oz.)
2/3 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons milk, approximately
6 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 oz.)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Put the ingredients in a food processor and add the butter, shortening and grated Cheddar. Blend briefly until well mixed. Do not overblend this dough at any point. (If a food processor is not used, put the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the butter, shortening and cheese and blend, using a pastry blender or two knives.

Add the buttermilk while blending briefly a second time. Gather the dough into a ball. The dough may be wrapped tightly in freezer or plastic wrap and either frozen, if made a week ahead, or chilled overnight, or it may be rolled out immediately.

On a lightly floured board, roll out the dough one-quarter inch thick or slightly thicker. Using a biscuit cutter with a two-inch diameter, cut the dough into circles. Arrange the circles neatly on baking sheets. Gather together into a ball any remaining scraps of dough, roll out and cut out more circles. Arrange them on a baking sheet. There should be about three dozen biscuits. Brush the top of each biscuit lightly with a little milk.

Place the baking sheets on the center rack of the oven and bake about eight to 10 minutes, or until the tops of the biscuits are lightly browned. Sprinkle the top of each biscuit with a little Parmesan cheese. Continue baking for three minutes or longer, until the tops are golden brown and the biscuits are cooked through.

Yield: Eight to 10 servings

Mary Jane Gingerbread

My Gran used to make the most wonderful Gingerbread cookies. Of course, they were probably wonderful because we made them together and she always took time to make a Mr. and Mrs. just for me.

This recipe -- another old newspaper clipping -- is for something similar to a small cake with whipped cream. The recipe says to use scant amounts for the cloves and nutmeg. That means to use just under the amount given. It doesn’t matter that this recipe's not for cookies. The smell of gingerbread baking just makes us all feel like smiling.

Mary Jane Gingerbread

¼ cup butter
½ cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup molasses
1 cup sifted (or whisked) flour
Dash salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves (scant)
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (scant)
½ cup boiling water
Whipped cream

Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and molasses, mixing well. Mix flour with salt, soda, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in boiling water, mixing well but lightly.

Pour into a greased 8-inch round or square pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot with whipped cream.

Makes 1 (8-inch) cake.

Variation:
Batter will be thin. Batter may be cooked in a waffle iron. Serve 2 waffles with whipped cream between for an unusual shortcake.