Rhubarb Cheesecake

That's right.  Cheesecake.  And it was awfully good.  This was Kyle's birthday cake, a day early. We get boxes of frozen rhubarb every year and it's nice to find another way to use it besides rhubarb crisp.  It was a hit with everyone!

Ingredients

• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell
• 3 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, toss the rhubarb with 1/2 cup of sugar and the flour. Pour into the pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove pie and lower the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sugar until smooth. Stir in the eggs one at a time until each is blended. Pour this mixture over the rhubarb in the crust.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until set. Remove from the oven, and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and vanilla. Spread over the top of the pie while it is hot. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled before serving

So our variation on this was adding chopped pecans to the pie crust recipe.  I used the pie crust recipe I posted the other day.  It was an amazing addition and perfect with this pie!

Pie Crust

This is the recipe I used for the peach mango pie yesterday. It is just the recipe (that Bettie told me about, of course) from the Better Homes and Gardens (aka...red and white) cookbook.  This is the recipe for a single crust pie. Don't be afraid.  I had a little trouble the first time I tried this recipe when it was a baked shell before filling.  But as a filled first shell, it was great!  I'm sure it works as a baked first, but I didn't do it right I guess. I think the chilling and pricking would have helped.  As well as I've heard of lining with foil and putting in dry beans.  Anyway, according to me, as someone who doesn't like pie...it's a great tasting pie crust. And easy too!




1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 t. salt
1/3 c. shortening
3 to 4 T. cold water

In a mixing bowl stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening till pieces are the size of small peas.
Sprinkle 1 T. of the water over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push to side of bowl. Repeat till all is moistened. Form dough into a ball.
On a lightly floured surface, flatten dough with hands. [If you aren't going to do this right away, form it in a circle and put it in a ziploc bag in the fridge.  Make it a flat circle, that will prevent rough edges later when rolling out.] Roll dough from center to edges, forming a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Wrap pastry around rolling pin. Unroll onto a 9-inch pie plate. Ease pastry into pie plate, being careful not to stretch pastry.
Trim to 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate; fold under extra pastry. Make a fluted, rope-shape, or scalloped edge. Do not prick pastry. Bake as directed in individual recipes.

If you need to bake the crust first when called for by the recipe, prick the bottom and sides of pastry generously with the tines of a fork. Bake in a 450 oven for 10-12 minutes or till golden. Cook on a wire rack.

Easy Lasagna

I have always been wary of making lasagna.  But Bettie to the rescue, once again.  She gave me this recipe that doesn't require you to cook the noodles first!  And it is delicious.

15 oz. ricotta or cottage cheese
2 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella, split in half
1/2 c. parmesan cheese, split in half
1/4 c. fresh parsley or 1 t. dried parsley (whatever looks good)
1 egg, lightly beaten
26 oz. jar spaghetti sauce (I like mine saucy so I usually use an extra half a jar)
1 lb. ground beef/bulk sausage (Kyle's favorite) or 1 c. TVP reconstituted in 1 c. liquid
3/4 c. water
dry lasagna noodles

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix ricotta and half of the mozzarella and half of the parmesan with the parsley and egg.  Cook and drain meat. Put some sauce on the bottom of your 13x9 pan. Stir remaining sauce in with meat. Pour water in the jar to rinse it out and add the water to the meat and sauce mixture.  This water helps cook the noodles. Layer noodles, cheese mixture, meat sauce mixture, ending with noodles. (I usually end up with three layers of noodles and two layers of the cheese mixture). Put meat sauce (or extra spaghetti sauce) on top of the last layer of noodles and sprinkle on remaining cheeses.  Cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 15 minutes more. Take out of the oven and let sit for 15 minutes.

12 hour rolls

I got the recipe from my friend Bettie who got it from her Grandma.  She taught me how to make them a couple weeks ago and I've made them twice since then.  The trick to these rolls is that you let them rise in the pot and there is no kneading involved.

1 c. milk

1 T. yeast

1 T. sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

3 eggs, beaten

1/2 c. sugar

3/4 t. salt

4 C. flour

1/2 stick melted butter

Heat milk in a pot.  Heat on low so it doesn't scald. Put a small amount of heated milk in a bowl with the yeast and 1 T. sugar.  In the meantime, melt the stick of butter in the milk.  Let milk cool to lukewarm and add yeast mixture. Stir in the remaining ingredients and put the lid on the pot.  Let rise for 2-3 hours until doubled.  Punch down dough and cut in half. Shape each half into a circle. On a lightly floured surface roll out one circle until large and thin (about 18" maybe?).  Cut with a pizza cutter into 16 wedges. Roll loosely from large end to the point (like rolling crescent rolls) and place on sprayed pans.  Cover with towels or sprayed plastic wrap and let rise 4-5 hours until double. Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 10 minutes.  Makes 36 rolls.

Sour Cream Peach Pie

Another recipe courtesy of Allrecipes.com.  It was a hit!  We didn't even need whipped cream or ice cream, and that's saying something!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
• 4 cups sliced fresh or frozen peaches
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the sour cream, white sugar, 1/3 cup flour and almond extract until smooth. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour over the pie crust to prevent it from getting soggy. Alternate layers of peaches and the sour cream mixture, beginning with a layer of peaches and ending with a layer of sour cream.
3. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for an additional 35 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and sprinkle brown sugar over the top. Set the oven to Broil, and broil for 2 to 3 minutes, until caramelized.

Here's the ways I changed the recipe:

I used vanilla instead of almond extract.

I followed other reviewers' advice and put the brown sugar on for the last 10 minutes, instead of doing the broil.

I used about 1/3 mangoes and 2/3 peaches.  It is what I had in the freezer.  I defrosted the fruit first and drained the liquid so the juices didn't mess up the recipe.