blue artichoke

When people ask me about my blog, I sometimes lie and tell them that it is a list of all I eat in a day. I consider that a joke, because who would be interested in reading a list of what I eat? Well, as it turns out, some people are. Several people have asked me what I cook for dinner. A few people have asked the same of Gentleman Caller. Neither of us has been able to answer the question. I'm a little frightened by my lack of short-term memory. I plan a meal, pick out recipes, shop for ingredients, prepare the meal, eat the meal and promptly forget what I ate. Most meals are good, but only some are memorable. So, in an effort to remember what I eat and to satisfy the curiosity of those who are interested, I'll start including a dinner menu in my posts. Last night it was Tomato, Onion and Goat Cheese Tart with leftover Chicken Parmesan. Tonight it is Spinach, Goat Cheese and Roasted Tomato Salad with Maple-Balsamic Vinaigrette with fake chicken and leftover tart. A very goat-cheesy night.

And now, as promised, feedback on the Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel-Bourbon Sauce:
The recipe is from the November 2005 issue of Bon Appétit. It has a pecan crust, which I was a bit concerned about because the crust is so dark that it is difficult to judge the desired level of prebakedness. The color is the same raw, cooked and, I imagine, overcooked. I had to toast the pecans first, then grind them. As I did not have a food processor yesterday (but I have one today!), I ground them in very tiny batches in my magic bullet. The filling had lemon peel and whole-milk yogurt, which are not usual pumpkin cheesecake ingredients, mixed with the cream cheese, sugar, eggs, pumpkin and seasonings in my stand mixer. Easy. Baked in a water bath. The sauce was a dark brown sugar caramel sauce with bourbon and toasted pecans, poured over the top of the chilled cheesecake. It looked really nice, though I didn't see it this morning after the sauce set. I licked out the saucepan, though, and thought the sauce tasted just fine on its own.

Gentleman Caller took the cheesecake in as his contribution to the office thanksgiving party. I had him swipe a slice for me before the cheesecake was set out, just in case there wasn't any leftover for me to try. Usually I don't mind sending in an already-sampled cheesecake, but this was a fancy lunch and might seem a tad tacky. I'm glad he did save a piece because the cheesecake was gone after the fourth table got to it (out of twelve tables). Three tasters preferred the Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake (the reigning champ), though one preferred the gingersnap crust of the Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Gingersnap Crust. Another taster preferred this cheesecake for having a perfect texture, good crust and topping and a good presentation. One complained that it was too small. As far as cheesecakes go, I think that is a common complaint.

This is getting difficult to judge. This is one mighty fine cheesecake. I’d eat it with no complaints. But, I think the Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake might be better. It remains champ, but with a very close runner-up. Oh, it’s so close. But there can be only one winner. This one has a less soggy crust, which may be due to my improved technique for wrapping the springform pan in foil before submerging it in hot water. Or it could be because of all those lovingly and meticulously ground pecans. It also has a good texture, perhaps because of the addition of whole-milk yogurt. If the Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake wins the Snackdown, I might toy with the recipe a bit, trying different crusts, and perhaps adding yogurt. Just to see what happens.