New York Cheesecake

Here is the tasty filling for the Pate Sucree.



First put the cream cheese in your mixer bowl.



Beat for a little while with the sugar till it is smooth and creamy (we think it's the best).



Add your eggs one at a time and mix in completely before adding the next egg.



Add the sour cream, heavy cream and the vanilla.



Mix all together and pour into the pan to bake.

Classic New York Cheesecake

• 1 recipe Pate Sucree

Filling:

• 3 packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 3 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice, or ½ tsp. lemon oil (I did add this, I just didn't get a picture)
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. sour cream
• ½ c. heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 325º.

Using a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until soft and no lumps remain, stopping to scrape down the bowl once or twice. Do this using the slow speed; you don't want to incorporate air into the mixture. Add the sugar and salt and mix until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is smooth before adding the next egg, and scraping the bottom of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the lemon, vanilla, sour cream and heavy cream. Stir just until the mixture is smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake in the 325º oven for 45-50 minutes; the edges of the cake will be set and a light golden brown and the middle should still jiggle when you nudge the pan. The internal temperature when measured an inch from the center should be 165º or above. Turn the oven off, open the door slightly and let the cheesecake cool slowly in the oven for 1 hour. During this time the center will finish setting. Cooling the cake slowly will keep the top from cracking very much and ensure an even, smooth texture inside.

After an hour, remove the cake from the oven and run a knife around the edge to allow the cake to contract as it cools. Refrigerate overnight before serving. Top with fruit or whipped cream, if desired.

Sweet crust **recipe update**

So this is a traditional French sweet dough called Pate Sucree. This is going to be a two-part post with my own delicious recipe for New York Cheesecake to follow in a couple of days...weeks...whenever...




Mix with your flour,



powdered milk,



sugar,



salt.



and cut in stick of COLD butter,



uuhhhh...yeah...moving on...



Mix together an egg yolk, vanilla bean paste, and the water,



Dump said egg mixture onto the aforesaid flour mixture,



and mix into a "shaggy mass". Memorize what this looks like...you should have already done this with the pie crust.



Here comes the tricky part. Dump the dough in to the pan, cover with plastic wrap, and mush/pat the dough into and 1" up the sides of the pan with the measuring cup.



Dock the surface liberally with a fork.



Bake and let it cool while you prepare a tasty filling.

Pate Sucree

• 1 1/4 c. pastry or all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. powdered milk
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 8 tbsp. (1 stick) COLD butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. water

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then cut in the cold butter. Whisk together the egg yolk, vanilla and water and stir into the dry mixture; the dough should be crumbly but hold together when squeezed. Roll out the dough (hard way) or press it (easy way) into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch square or 10-inch round (preferably removable bottom) tart pan. Prick all over with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375º.

To prepare blind baked, ready-to-fill crust, weigh down the crust with pie weights, a nesting pie pan, or line with parchment and fill with rice or dried beans. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the crust is set. Remove weights, extra pan, or parchment and return to the oven for 6-8 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool before filling.

Pie Crust Recipe

• 1 1/4 c. Flour (I use pastry flour because it makes the crust flakier)
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1/3 c. shortening/ lard
• 3-4 tbsp. ice water

Mix together the flour and the salt. Cut in the shortening/lard till the size of peas. Add the water just until it forms a ball. Refrigerate for ½ an hour. Roll out to an 1/8 of and inch thick and put in your pie pan. Trim and flute according to taste. Bake according to recipe instructions.

Pie Crust

As promised, here is an easy, step-by-step, pie crust that never fails me. The recipe is from the inside cover of an old 1960's version of a Better Homes & Gardens cookbook.



First, mix the flour and salt together and add the shortening. See that fork? That will be your BFF for the rest of the recipe. In fact, you should have used it to mix up the flour. (A note about shortening. Most cookbooks now say to use butter or Crisco. I perfer to use lard. Please...use the lard too.)



Start "cutting" in the flour with the fork. "Cutting" really is just mashing the shortening/lard into the flour and the side of the bowl.



This is what "shortening the size of peas" looks like. I'm so sorry that our ancestral grandmothers couldn't come up with a description a bit more...well...descriptive.



Add the ice water. Now here is the tricky part because the recipe says "3-4 tbsps." I always start out at 3 tbsps. and work my way up. The recipe says that because the humidity level in your kitchen will directly effect how much water you put in.



Here is the dough at 3 tbsps. The AC was on today so I already knew it was dry in the house. Even if you know that it is dry in your house, always, always, always use the least amount of liquid first. You can always add more, but you can't take any out.



Here is 4 tbsps. This is what the dough should look like. It should be just enough water to hold the flour together. I know that is a little vague, but once you get it...you should always get it.



Shape the dough into a disk.



Wrap it up in saran wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.



Un-wrap and flatten out a bit with your hand.



Then start rolling from the center out.



Give the dough a quarter turn thus ensuring that it doesn't stick and that the dough stays in somewhat circular shape.



Roll it out to an eighth of an inch thick and fold it in half.



Fold in half again and place in the pan.



Situate the dough in the pan, trim and flute according to taste. Put the dough in the fridge and make your filling. Bake as directed. Hope that helped. Sorry if it didn't. Let me know if there is anything else that is scary in the cooking world that you would like to know how to do and I will do my best to show you. I will put the recipe up later today.

Hamburger Buns

These buns are The Chef's favorite buns/rolls of all time. They are slightly sweet and as airy as all get out.


Mix the water and butter,



egg,



flour,



salt,



yeast,



onion powder, (optional but this dough is great for onion buns)



and dried minced onion (again optional and again great)



with your stand mixer for 10 minutes to develop the gluten in the flour.



Make sure that if the day you make this it is humid out, that you add more flour while it is mixing till it isn't sticky...or you might end up with Club Hand like The Chef...just sayin'



Transfer to a lightly greased bowl and let rest in a warm spot for one hour till doubled.



Cut into 8 pieces...weigh out the whole lump of dough and divide that number by 8.




Form dough into tightly rounded balls (called boulles) and put on a parchment lined baking sheet (or greased if you don't have parchment paper).

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.

Hamburger Buns

• 1 c. water
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 egg
• 3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. yeast
• 1 tsp. onion powder (optional)
• 1 tsp. dried minced onion (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl or your stand mixer for 10 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape into a ball. Place the balls on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover and let ride for 35-40 minutes, until they're quite puffy. Preheat the oven to 375º. Bake the buns for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Split and use for burgers or sandwiches.

sorry about the wait...The Chef's photographer took awhile getting the pics back the The Chef...

May 26

I am of the school of mind that cooking can be simple, but fancy at the same time. Some of the best scrambled eggs I've ever had only had S&P in them and a little bit of cheese. This is what this blog is about. Having food taste and look fancy...but be simple.