Dutch Chocolate Mint Cheesecake

Dutch Chocolate Mint Cheesecake

So many ingredients for a little cheesecake

so easy to mess up.

"There is no such thing as failure as long as it is a learning experience"

The cheesecake wasn't pretty when it came out of the oven, but there is almost always a way to make your product pretty again. Garnishes are always your friend! My eggs were over whipped into my batter so the cheesecake rose then fell, leaving my ending product a sunken cheesecake. With the work of a knife to flatten out the top and my garnish of sour cream mint frosting topped with shaved chocolate transformed this cheesecake.

Crust: 

12 oz. Chocolate Cookie Crumbs

6 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate

6 Tbsp. Sugar

7 oz. Soft Butter

Process and press into spring form

 Cake:

16 oz.  Chocolate

2 2/3  lbs.  Cream Cheese Frosting

2 1/3 cup  Sugar

3 oz. Cream

2/3 cup Cocoa

6 Eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 1/3 tsp. Peppermint Extract

On low speed cream the cream cheese and sugar, add chocolate, cocoa, scrapping and creaming after each addition. Add cream and flavorings. Add eggs. Bake at 300 degrees until done.

Attempts at a pastry cream (culinary school)

It's so surprising how much you can learn in only 2 days with very letle guidance.

Fall term of school I will be in bakery station and the first 3 days I''ve started in costars, alone. This had me nervous when I heard this having never made a custard before. So the weekend before actual class in the kitchen started I made 3 custard pies. Number one was an avocado coconut, which turned out very well. Number two was white chocolate mixed berry also super yummy and turned out great. Third my personal favorite caramelized onion blue cheese and pear.

I thought I had prepared my self for what was to come Monday in class, but not quite, chef Hurley had me doing a completely different method then I practiced at home.

I made pastry cream, half for a coconut cream pie and the other for danish custards. My first batch I screwed up in the step after tempering the milk into the eggs then pouring the mixture back over the heat to thicken, turns out I more or less had scrambled eggs in the bottom of my pot.

I was mortified, it had taken me so long to get to that step and I had to start over. The second time I attempted it, it wasn't as bad, I didn't make scrambled eggs, I did get worried when the starch started to clump up in the same step my eggs had scrambled before, but it turned out I just needed to whisk like crazy so my custard thickened.

My end results turned out great, every last slice of coconut cream pie sold, which means I did something right.

Avocado Coconut Milk Custard Garnished with Fresh Sliced Avocado

Individual custard garnished with fresh avocado and a dot
of sriracha sauce

Custard with crust, garnished with shrimp
and a dot of sriracha sauce

Ingredients
2 large avocados
1 T lemon juice
1 can (13.5oz) coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
 1 tsp sriracha sauce
2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks


1. Cut avocado in half remove seed and slice Fill 1 cup of sliced avocado press down. Left overs can be used to garnish
2. In food processor blend avocado, lemon juice, coconut milk, garlic powder, salt, sriracha sauce, blend until smooth
3. Whisk eggs and yolks in a mixing bowl
4. Whisk avocado mixture into eggs until very smooth
5. Pour mixture into prepared pie crust or individual custard dishes

         - if in custard dishes fill and place in a pan with water surrounding dish and bake in middle of oven

Bake for 60 minutes in middle of oven at 325 degrees
turn off oven and let set with door cracked until room temperature.

Complements to apronstringsblog.com
Altered custard recipe from site

Simple fiesta

Avocado, broccoli, ground beef and garlic with Humboldt goat cheese crumbled on top. This takes no more than about 6 minutes to make and it's all fresh and so so good!

Place amount of desired raw ground beef in pan season with garlic salt and pepper. Once there is no more pink add in broccoli, avocado and fresh garlic cook until broccoli is soft and serve with goat cheese if desired.

When I'm hungry I usually want something quick, but not frozen and I like it to be tasty and somewhat healthy for me. Sauteing up some fresh vegetables  is always quick and delishes and if you like meat you can always add it in and still have a quick and easy meal.

You can always add fresh French bread to complete this dish.

Enjoy :-)

Deluxe Nachos

Everyone loves a good snack food for game day, study sessions, parties, and more

These nachos here include;

• Corn tortilla chips
• Re-fried beans
• Halved cherry tomatoes
• Grilled chicken
• Cheddar cheese
• More cheddar cheese!!
• and topped with jalapenos

This entree cooks in the oven with in 5 to 10 mins or until cheese melts

Dish and serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole (optional)

Chicken and Vegetables

Just because you don't have a lot of money, doesn't mean you can't eat good or healthy. This dish has only a few very simple ingredients,

• diced chicken breast
• halved cherry tomatoes
• bite size pieces of broccoli 
• fresh green beans
• diced red potatoes 

 You can use almost any vegetable you have and saute it with chicken, season with black pepper, garlic, salt, and oregano and come out with a master piece

This dish is not only very flavorful, but healthy and also filling. 

Optional : serve with toasted bread, or a roll

Pizza's in the new apartment

Living in my first apartment slowly I have came to realize while cooking meals, I do not have all the normal equipment I normally would to make home made pizzas. Now buying all the ingredients is no problem! It wasn't until after making the dough and letting it rise, I realized oops, I don't have any pizza sheets, and only one cookie sheet, but... I have pie pans!

Being a college student, you have to make due with what you have, and use that imagination to create the meals you want with out going out to buy all new materials.

pizza making 101

Ingredients: flour, yeast, water, seasonings for the dough, water, random toppings from the fridge.

Meat lovers pizza; base olive oil and garlic, toppings pepperoni, grilled chicken, bacon, and shredded cheese

 Goat cheese veggie pizza; olive oil, garlic, black olives, spinach, jalapenos, red onion

BBQ Chicken pizza, BBQ sauce, shredded cheese, red onion, green bell pepper, bacon, diced tomato

Making due with what you got is not only simple, but also easy, pizzas in a pie dish not only works, but is a great idea for trying to make small pizzas, or if you want multiple types of pizzas, but you don't want 3 large size pizzas.