I AM IN LOVE WITH A NEW GADGET

My stepfather's birthday was this past Saturday. My mother wanted to celebrate with a different kind of food. We almost always have Latin food. Having lived in New York City we have had friends from almost all over the world that taught us to cook a variety of international dishes. And if not, we had different restaurants we could go to and try a variety of global cooking. My mom wanted to go Italian. So my sister, my mom and I sat and discussed the menu. This is a big ordeal, planning a meal. In my family it has to be perfect, and a lot. When my mother cooks it is not for just the folks that are attending the get together. She plans enough food for all of us to take to work for lunch and have leftovers the next day in all the households that showed up.

The menu consisted of:
*Antipasto
*Sauteed shrimp fra diavolo
*Steamed clams with spinach, topped with cream sauce and baked
*Spinach and shrimp lasagna
*Buffalo mozzarella topped with grilled Roma tomatoes, strips of basil and drizzled with balsamic vinegar
*Cannoli Cheesecake

All of the above was for 7 people only. And then I wonder why I am struggling with my weight. It should be against the law to know how to cook as wonderful as my mother does. My sister and I picked what we were going to make in order to contribute to the party. My contributions were the antipasto and the dessert.

The antipasto all was store bought, but it turned out amazing. Even buying things from the store takes some thought. You have to combine the ingredients properly in order to end up with an amazing dish. I went to a super warehouse store to buy the different components. I found a jar of grilled vegetables in olive oil. Absolutely amazing. It contained grilled eggplant slices, artichokes and red peppers. I added mozzarella balls to the platter and pimento stuffed olives. The colors were beautiful. We served it with crostini's.

When we had the conversation about the dessert, my first thought was to make a tiramisu. But I knew that everyone is familiar with tiramisu and I wanted to learn to make something new. So I went to the good Ole' dependable google and I entered the words "Italian Dessert". And the one thing that caught my eye was Cannoli Cheesecake. In New York City we all have had cannoli's, so this was the choice.

I am going to share the recipe with you. You need to make this the day ahead. And this is definitely not diet food.



Cannoli Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 3-pound container whole-milk ricotta cheese (6 cups)

7 large eggs

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp. grated fresh orange peel

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate mini-chips



Topping:

3 Tbsp apricot preserves, melted

1 can mandarin oranges (whole segments in light syrup)

1/4 cup shelled pistachio nuts, skins off.



Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease and flour an 8 inch spring form pan. Tap out the excess flour. Wrap the outside of the pan with heavy duty aluminum foil, molding it tightly around the pan to prevent water from getting into it. This is key. Take your time in making sure water won't get in the spring form pan.


Process the ricotta cheese in a food processor, scraping down the sides once or twice until it is completely smooth. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla extract and grated orange peel until blended. Stir in the ricotta. Blend until smooth.


Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Place the spring form pan into a large roasting pan in the oven. Pour hot tap water into the roasting pan to a depth of 1 inch. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until the top of the cheesecake is golden and the cake pulls away slightly from the sides of the pan. The middle will still jiggle slightly when pressed lightly.


Turn off the heat and prop open the oven door about an inch. Let cake cool in the oven for about 45 minutes, not disturbing it. Remove from the oven, then remove the foil. Let cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.


3 hours before serving, take out the cheesecake, unwrap and run a knife around the edge to loosen away from the spring form pan. Open the spring form and move the cheesecake to a platter. Melt the apricot preserve and spread half on top of the cheesecake. Add the mandarin slices around the top. Add the rest of the apricot preserve over the mandarins and sprinkle the pistachios over the top.



Now the recipe originally called for orange slices but I substituted it for mandarins instead. They are a time saver and a bit sweeter. Also, I put the pistachios in a plastic baggie and I pounded them into a coarse grind. I thought it would be easier to eat. My family loved it. Now, it is not an overly sweet dessert. I thought it would be with all the toppings, but it wasn't. Some people prefer desserts that don't make your teeth cringe. And it is not a creamy cheesecake. Ricotta cheese has a grainy consistency which I imagine was the way the dessert was originally made. Cheeses were not over processed back in the day. I think that in order to appeal to the American palate, I will add less ricotta cheese and substitute the balance with cream cheese. I will let you know how the test comes out.


Now, where does my new gadget come in? With the orange peel. I normally do not like the peel (zest) of citrus fruit in desserts and breads. I guess it is because the zest bits are big and chewy, and you can taste the bitterness of the white part of the peel, the pith. This microplane just skims the surface of the fruit. It made the most beautiful tiny curls of zest. The white pith of the fruit was never touched. And when I added it to the cheese mixture, you couldn't even see the zest. It was a wonderful hint of citrus throughout the cheesecake.


Go to your local kitchen supply store and get a microplane. You can grate fresh nutmeg, which is an ingredient for pumpkin pie (hint hint-Thanksgiving is right around the corner). You can grate hard cheeses as a garnish and of course fruit zest.


Here is a picture of my new baby. I purchased this one at a kitchen outlet on sale.



One thing on blogging about food is that I need to learn to carry a camera with me at all times and I forgot to take it to my mother's house this time. So I guess I have to make another cheesecake :-)