Let's Start With Dessert!

Haven't you always wanted to start with dessert? Let's do it.
A few of you asked for my cheesecake recipe that I made for the party so here goes. The most difficult part is the oranges for the top and really it's just a little time consuming. I do this after the cheesecake has been refrigerated overnight. Decorate it the next day. It's a great do ahead dessert.

AHRISHA'S CITRUS CHEESECAKE

1 Box Spice Wafer cookies crushed fine

1 1/2 sticks Butter Chilled and diced

1/4 C brown sugar

Put 3 ingredents in food processor and pulse till begins to come together. Pour into a 10" spring form pan with 3" sides and press into bottom and up sides of pan with a smooth bottom glass. Bake 350* for 10 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temp.

4 - 8 ounce packages Cream Cheese, room temp.

1 3/4 C sugar

3 T. Fresh lemon juice

3 tsp Vanilla

pinch salt

3 T. Flour

5 large eggs

Beat cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, salt till smooth. Add flour and mix in. Add eggs one at a time till blended. Be sure to scrape bowl occasionally. Pour into cooled crust.

Bake cheesecake till outer edge is puffy and only slightly browned and center is just set. Do not over bake. This is variable for each oven. My last oven baked this cake in 1 hour. This last time I made it in the new oven it took 1 1/2 hours to bake! I suggest you set the timer to 60 minutes and check it then go from there. It will jiggle in the center slightly but will set up more as it cools. Remove from oven but maintain oven temp.

2 C sour cream

3 T. Sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Wisk together and pour over warm cake smoothing to the edges. Bake till just set, about 5 minutes. Cool cake to room temp then refrigerate overnight in the pan. Do not remove from pan till totally chilled. Run a knife between the crust and the pan to remove cake.

Slice 3 oranges very very thin. Using only the pretty large slices from the center of the oranges.

In a large pan with a flat bottom and sides bring to a boil 1 C Sugar & 1 C water. Boil a few minutes and stir till sugar is melted. Reduce heat to a simmer and place the orange slices around the pan in a concentric circle as on the top of the cake. Simmer the slices slowly till transparent, about 1 hour. Cool, then place around top of cake one by one. Decorate with whipped cream. ENJOY!

The main course dish was Pasta Premavera and with all the vegi's from the garden it was a good choice and it's so easy to make for a crowd. The Alfredo Sauce I used is from "The New Complete Book of Pasta" by Maria Luisa Scott & Jack Denton Scott. This is a book I have had for years and one of my favorite cookbooks. If you ever run across it pick it up I'm sure you will enjoy it.

I saute all the vegi's individually in butter and set them to the side while I make the sauce. I season each vegi as I like with fresh herbs of thyme, oregano or sage and S & P. When the sauce is finished and the pasta cooked I toss it all together in the pot I cooked the pasta in then serve it in a big pasta bowl and everyone can help themselves.

Alfredo recipe

1 stick of Butter Do not substitute
1 1/2 C Light Cream
Lot's of freshly milled black pepper

1 C. grated parmesan cheese

1 egg yolk

Melt butter in a pot then add cream and gently warm over med heat. Do not boil. Wisk in yolk and pepper. Sprinkle in cheese to melt. Stirring till slightly thinkened and hot. Toss with vegi's and pasta. Sauce will thicken as it cools.

Pickled Red Beet Eggs. Are they popular where you live? Here in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country they are served everywhere. This is what they look like just after I put the hard boiled eggs into the pickled beets. After a day or so they get very dark red and taste yummy.

This jar was a WalMart purchase and is perfect for this. The lid prevents spills as I am moving the jar from the fridge to the table.

This was all part of my menu from the party. Hope you enjoy the recipes.

Please visit Designs by Gollum to view the list of others joining Michael Lee for her weekly event, FOODIE FRIDAY.

~ ~Ahrisha~ ~