Techonological Troubles

Have you ever been in that situation where it feels like every single electronic item you own is suddenly on the verge of death and no longer working correctly? That's me right now.

I'm afraid it's slowing my blogging down, and will continue to do so for a little while. And I've been making some neat stuff, too! My pictures of it may be lost, sadly. Soooo, hopefully, after Christmas, I shall be back...

Eggnog Cheesecake

Cheeeeeeeezecake. I've been asked before to post about this most decadent of deserts (well, most fattening, anyway), but haven't gotten around to it. I don't make cheesecake very often, but when I do...prepare to die of a deliciousness induced heart-attack.

There are many, many versions of cheesecake out there! And multiple ways of making them, too. I make mine the old-fashioned way - with a waterbath. The waterbath is the secret to preventing cracking (although it can happen anyway, to my personal frustration.) It also helps prevent over browning, by keeping the humidity up in the oven. Bakes the cake evenly, preventing the pulling that creates the cracks.

I'd never made an eggnog cheesecake before, but I'd seen the idea  floating around on allrecipes.com, and put it on my 'to try' list. Tis the season, so why not? I made this for a meeting, my cheesecake went like hotcakes! I replaced the cream I'd normally place in my cheesecake with eggnog, plus about a 1/2 cup extra. That's a lot more moisture in the cake, so I added 2 TBS flour to help it firm up.

If you're going to do a waterbath for a cheesecake, get one of those aluminum big turkey roasters to do it. Perfect size! And cheap. The water needs to be hot already when you add it, too. Otherwise it will really slow the baking down.

Cheesecake should NOT be fully cooked through when you turn the oven off - needs to be jiggly still in the center. Simply leave the cake in its hot water bath in the oven for another hour. The water's and the cake's own heat will finish cooking it. This prevents over-browning from occurring.

I made homemade eggnog whipcream to go with it. Literally, instead of all cream, I whipped eggnog FOREVER, added some cream and fine sugar, and then whipped some more. Eggnog did not want to turn fluffy. Had to stop because my arm was tired - the results are what you see above.

So delicious. I can't even begin to describe. Sends off small fireworks on taste buds, which catch brain on fire. That kind of tasty.

Venison Soup

That's right, venison. As in meat of deer. I recently received several pounds as a gift, and am now trying to put it to use. I'm placing this recipe in the 'Kentucky' file in my recipe box. It's a hunter's soup, and using turnips (hunters plant it to attract deer) and venison (Bambii should've stayed away from the turnips) simply, well, feels of this state.

Game meat recipes are few and far between, but uniquely, one of Owensboro's Junior League cookbooks is loaded with them. This soup is one, with some modifications. (Gave it the Katie touch.)

It's gotten to be so cold down here in Kentucky! I wanted it to get frosty, simply so it could feel like winter. After a few hours of bone chilling horribleness, I've changed my mind. Sixty degrees again, PLEASE!! I'm sorry for thinking cold thoughts!

I tasted no 'gamey' flavor at all in this delicious soup. John ate two bowls with no comment (and no knowledge that it wasn't beef. Never did reveal, even afterwards.) The red wine and lemon juice could have a lot to do with this. One of my mottos - Add liquor, whether wine, vodka, rum, bourbon. Makes food taste better. Also nice to sip on while cooking. ;) The addition of a can of tomato soup sweetened it up, too. If you don't have venison meat, beef will do just fine too. Or lamb. Or even bison.

Turnips are a vegetable I've never worked with before - turns out, I really like them. Taste and consistency like daikon radish, which turnips are a cousin of. Peeled it, chopped it, placed in pot. Will have to use them again soon.

While my soup cooked I worked on an eggnog cheesecake, and basted my Kentucky Bourbon Fruitcake again. Only one will eventually appear in Smalltownkitchen... 

Baked Broccoli

Allow me to introduce you to today's lunch. Baked broccoli is the most amazing thing on earth. It's like eating candy. Or a hamburger, or filet mignon. Amazing.

I was at my friends TW and SW's house, and SW asked me if I'd ever eaten baked broccoli before. She'd found the recipe off of Pinterest (something of which I don't spend much time on, surprisingly), and fell head-over-heels in love with it. TW and SW apparently are eating baked broc 3 times a week!

I'm one for hype, so I tried it out on my own. WOW. John and I are eating this vegetable all the time now, too. Who knew that vegetables could be so dang tasty? Never steaming again! (Well, we'll see about that.)

After doing some research on this recipe, it looks like the original came from one Ina Garten's cookbooks, aka the Barefoot Contessa. I don't follow her, but this recipe blew me away. Will have to look into her more of her recipes!

Some tips - to get the best crispiness and browning, the broccoli needs to be dry. That means no washing. Ewww, I know. But I haven't died yet, and your going to be baking this in a 425 degree oven. What kind of bacteria is going to survive that?? If it's pesticides you're worried about, buy organic.

The original version of this called for lemon juice, but I have used balsamic vinegar instead. It's very good.

Try it. You will never view vegetables the same again.