Place all the remaining ingredients except the capers in a food processor and puree.
Pour this sauce on the cheese and sprinkle with the capers. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour or overnight. Serve at room temperature.
Gila Bend Cheesecake
This was the first savory cheesecake I had ever tasted. My buddy Ken Jackman was the originator of this recipe. He was probably one of the most talented chefs that I ever worked with. Since we were in Arizona, he wanted to give the cheesecake a southwestern name so it was named after the small city of Gila Bend. We served this cheesecake when we had buffets at Gainey Ranch Golf Club and it would be cut into small wedges. As a lunch entrée, cut the cake into large wedges and heat it just until warm about 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven. I have also made this into mini cheesecakes for quite a few appetizer classes. Just use cupcake liners and bake them in muffin tins as in the Jarlsberg Cheesecake recipe. The baking time is shortened to 25-30 minutes and the mini- cheesecakes can be served after refrigerating them for 2 hours.
This recipe makes a cake for 24 buffet portions, 10 lunch-sized portions or about 24 mini cheesecakes
Ingredients:
3/4 cups plain breadcrumbs
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 pounds 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
5 large eggs
2 cups Cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup ham, diced
1/2 cup mild green chilies, diced
1 jalapeño pepper, minced
1 teaspoon each ground cumin, chili powder and salt
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the breadcrumbs with the melted butter. Press this mixture onto the bottom of a greased 10-inch spring form pan. Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes.
Mix the cream cheese using the paddle attachment of a mixer until it is very soft. Add in the grated Cheddar cheese and mix just to blend. Add the eggs in one at a time. Scrape the bowl down so that you won’t have lumps of unincorporated cheese. Fold in all the remaining ingredients.
Pour the batter into the spring form pan. Wrap foil around the outside of the pan. Place the cheesecake inside a roasting pan that you fill halfway with hot water. Bake the cheesecake at 350 for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. A thin knife inserted into the center of the cake should have small curdled looking particles on it when removed. The knife should not come out clean; this means that the cheesecake has been cooked for too long. Cool the cheesecake for at least 30 minutes at room temperature before removing the foil from around the pan and placing it in the refrigerator. Chill over night before serving.
Note: If you are making this cheesecake for a gathering where people do not eat meat, you can eliminate the diced ham and the cheesecake will still taste great.
Depending on the muffin tin size, you should get about 24 of the mini-cheesecakes, just like you would when making the Jarlsberg Cheescakes on page 17. The tin size that I use for both recipes holds about 4-5 oz. of batter.
Grilled Brie
Grilled Brie served with crisp apple slices and French bread
I adapted this recipe from an appetizer that I really liked at Citrus Café in Chandler, Arizona. My friends Jeff and Dennis owned Citrus and unfortunately, they closed the café in 2007. I taught this as the appetizer in my camping cooking class and it was a hit!
Makes four servings
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 cup almonds, crushed
One 8-ounce piece of brie cheese cut into 8 wedges
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium-sized apples cut into wedges
1/2 of a crusty baguette, sliced
Procedure:
Place the flour on a plate. Whisk the eggs with the water and place in a pie dish. Place the almonds on a second plate.
Dust each brie wedge with the flour. Place in the egg wash. Then, roll each wedge in the crushed almonds, pressing the nuts firmly onto the cheese. Place the cheese on a plate and keep chilled.
Place the oil in a skillet and heat it until it is very hot, but not smoking. Place the brie wedges in the skillet and lightly brown the nuts on each side. This should take about 5 to 7 minutes. Serve with the apple wedges and the baguette.
Note: I explained to class participants that if this was something that they would make on a camping trip, that it could be made ahead of time at home and then packed in a plastic container, and then transported in a cooler. Then the brie can be grilled at the campsite. Similarly, if you are making it at home, it can be made ahead of time and kept chilled until ready to grill.
Mushroom Crostini
The mushroom crostini topped with Brie and ready to bake.
This is one of my favorite before dinner nibbles. I have even had people that aren’t crazy about mushrooms like these. I have used this recipe many times in hands-on cooking classes. They are usually ready before the rest of the food, so the class participants could eat them as they were preparing the rest of the food, because they can be made quite quickly. Brie is nice to use as it melts so easily, but Camembert could also be used. If you like goat cheese, Montrachet would be good to top these crostini with, or use a goat cheese that is seasoned with black pepper.
Makes sixteen crostini
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 lb assorted mushrooms, sliced (use white, crimini, or shitake) and stems removed.
2 shallots, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 cup brandy
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 of one baguette cut into 16 thin slices
4-oz brie cheese, sliced thin
Procedure:
Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms and shallots and sauté for about 5 minutes.
Stir in the thyme and the brandy and cook a further 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and stir. Reduce until the sauce is fairly thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Divide the mushroom mixture between the bread slices. Top each crostini with a little piece of the brie cheese and bake in a 375-degree oven until the cheese melts.
N’awlins Shrimp
The N’awlins Shrimp ready to serve.
I adapted this recipe from one that I used when I was a chef at Oscar