Eggnog Cheesecake

I'm out in Vegas for Christmas this year, and decided to contribute an eggnog cheesecake to our festivities. I'd already made this once before, giving one to Liv's family for Thanksgiving, but since I was in a rush when I made it, I never posted about it.

Well, I'm here to rectify that.

This recipe was a bit of an amalgam of my last few cheesecakes, with a little bit of improv as well. As of this writing, I haven't actually tasted it–it's currently cooling in the fridge–but I'll update the post when I do.

Eggnog Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon

Filling
3 8oz packages cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
2/3 cup eggnog
1 tbsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

For crust:

Preheat the oven to 350º and place a casserole dish half-full of water on the bottom rack. In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients and mix together with a fork until combined.

Wrap the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan in parchment paper and spray the sides with cooking spray (I use Pam for baking!).  Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan and cover evenly. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven. Set aside.

For the filling:

Let the cream cheese sit until room temperature. In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat. Add the yolks and beat. Add the eggnog, the vanilla and spices. Beat.

Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 45 minutes. Turn the oven down to 200º and bake for 30 minutes more. I took this opportunity to sprinkle a little extra nutmeg on the top. After 30 minutes, turn off the oven, open the door and let the cheesecake sit for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cheesecake sit for another hour to slowly cool before putting it in the fridge.

Mine's currently in the fridge waiting for Christmas dinner. I'll update the post when I have a chance to try it, but it looks great.

A Man's Loaf

I don't know how the conversation got started, but it did.

"My mom's had mozzarella cheese in it."


"We used to put ketchup on ours, but I'm not sure I'm for that any more."


"Ketchup is ok if it's on cold sandwiches the next day."

Not a catloaf

No, it's not a surrealist discussion of the placenta. It's meatloaf! That grand, hearty loaf that's perfect for when it gets all nonsense cold like it's been lately. I'm not sure who was the first to come up with the idea of loafing some meat, but man, is it good when it's done right. The problem, of course, is that it's also the kind of dish that's pretty easy to do wrong, leading to a bland, boring hunk of grey burger. I'm pretty sure mine isn't that.

Dog gets no loaf

No loaf for you, either

Liv and I had some meatloaf and mashed potatoes the other night, and since it'd been a while since I posted about what I was eating, I figured I'd take some pictures and share with you all.

Nothing out of the ordinary with this loaf, it's the same recipe I've been using for a while and have posted about here a couple of times.

Same with the mashed potatoes. Peeled, cubed russet potatoes boiled until soft and then mashed in a stand miser with salt, pepper, butter and sour cream. Simple, people.

Add peas.

Fin.

Dinner & Drinks?

Got this question from a reader this morning:

howdy... where's the best place in ft greene/clinton hill for a group of seven to have dinner and drinks at 6pm this saturday? we are driving down to meet friends there.

thanks,

ryan j.

Great question, Ryan, and thanks for writing in!

My first choice would be No. 7, I think. Great food, awesome bar, and not terribly pricey. It can get kind of crowded on a Saturday night, so you may have to plan on a bit of a wait for a table while you booze up a little.

Aqualis Grill would be another good choice, and they've been decidedly less crowded whenever I've gone, even on Saturday nights.

Other choices? I'd never hesitate to recommend Kif, especially now that they have their liquor license back and bar in place. Cornerstone (formerly Papa's Place, formerly Red Bamboo) has always had a great bar, and I've really liked the food the last few times I've been. Hard to go wrong with Chez Oskar, Madiba, or any of the Italian places, too.

So what say you, folks? Where's your favorite spot for dinner and drinks? Where should Ryan go?

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up Spectacular

For the first time in a few years, I didn't do any cooking for Thanksgiving. Well, I made an egg nog cheesecake that I sent with Liv for her family (and it was received well), but I didn't actually cook anything I ate on Thanksgiving. That doesn't mean to imply no one else did either, though. My stepmother, Pat created quite a spread for the four of us, which I have taken the time to document for your viewing pleasure. No walk-throughs or recipes here, just blatant food porn.

We started out with a couple of great little appetizers - arancini (fried balls of risotto) and stuffed mushrooms.

The arancini were served with fresh Italian parsley and a marinara sauce. The mushrooms were bare.

Instead of a full-blown turkey, Pat went with a brined turkey breast since there were only four of us, and it turned out spectacular. If you've never brined a turkey, it's well worth trying.

The turkey breast right out of the oven. It had been brined in the refrigerator for the previous day or two before roasting.

Vegetables and sides are important.

One of my favorite parts of this year's meal: homemade cranberry sauce with black cherries. 

Roasted root vegetables. It was also very sunny.

 

I guess it's not technically stuffing since it didn't stuff anything, but it was still amazing. There's a lot of Italian sausage in there.

As was to be expected, an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. For dessert we were treated to two pies: pumpkin and pecan.

 

It's been a wonderful yet trying year for me in a lot of ways, and this Thanksgiving was the first real break I've had in months. I want to again thank everyone who takes the time to read Clinton Hill Foodie, and I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.