Mini Cheesecake

I've had these mini (2 inch x 1 ½ inch tall) cheesecake pans with removable bottoms for a little more than a year now but have never used them. I stored them and promptly forgot about them, this happens often (sigh, I'm getting old. ;D). I finally took them down from the upper shelves to use for baba au rhum that I intended to make today. But it was already late in the day when I thought of making them and there wasn't enough time for the dough to rise twice, I'll make them another day. So, today it's cheesecakes...

Mini Cheesecake

2½ cups crushed honey graham crackers

½ cup melted butter

2 tablespoon sugar

2 8-ounce cream cheese, at room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

4 teaspoons flour

½ cup heavy cream

½ cup Kahlua or Bailey's Irish Cream

• Mix graham crackers, butter and sugar. Press firmly on a 10-inch pan with removable bottom. If you have mini pans, use 1 ½ T of the cracker mixture, refrigerate while preparing the filling.
• Pre-heat oven to 325°F.
• Beat cream cheese and sugar with electric beater until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend together the cream and flour, beat into the cheese mixture, add the liqueur, mix well. Pour into the pan. Bake for 40 -50 minutes, or until almost set. Set aside until completely set. Refrigerate before serving.

Serving suggestions: top with sweetened cream and pieces of hard caramel or pralines, or serve with caramel sauce.

Sauteed Celery Root

Last week I got a celery root to make into soup but made the misua and patola instead. The root has to be cooked before it gets bad and I did not want it to go to waste but it is getting warmer everyday and soup is no longer desirable. I julienned the celeriac and 3 carrots, then sauted them in 1 tablespoon butter until half cooked, about 2 minutes. Then I added 1 teaspoon each salt and sugar and 2 tablespoon water and steam cooked, covered, for 2 minutes. The dish does not need any other condiments and is surprisingly very flavorful. I sliced some previously roasted pork belly to go with the sauteed root vegetable.

Pork Belly Roast With Maple Syrup
2 pounds whole pork belly
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
maple syrup

• Marinate pork belly in sugar and salt up to 2 nights in the fridge. Roast in 375°F oven for 1 hour, skin side down. Brush all over with maple syrup, turn meat so that skin side is up, bake for another hour. Brush again with maple syrup and bake for another 30 minutes. It is recommended to let the roast pork cool overnight in the fridge because it is easier to remove the fat that will solidify. It will also be easier to slice when it has completely cooled. You can also use this pork belly to flavor assorted vegetables such as pinakbet or to flavor pancit.

Deviled Eggs With Caviar

I have never made deviled eggs before and always avoided them at parties. Although I love eggs, these have never appealed to me because they look dry and blah. I have prepared the very versatile eggs in many different ways: fried, scrambled, omelettes, egg whites added to Chinese soups, soft and hard boiled to ramen soup, chopped for salad and sandwiches with olive spread, foo yung, and with red sauce, I could go on and on.:p. I was looking for a simple deviled eggs recipe and found one that is lemon flavored and topped with caviar. It's fortunate I have a jar of really cheap Icelandic black capelin caviar in the pantry that I was planning to use for onigiri and sushi.

Deviled Eggs With Lemon
8 eggs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons lemon juice
¼ teaspoon sea salt or to taste
lemon zest for garnish
black caviar

• Use eggs that are at least 1 week old. The day before making deviled eggs, tape the box of eggs and lay it on its side to center the yolks. The next day, put eggs in a medium saucepan, add water to cover, let come to a boil. Immediately remove from heat, cover and set timer to 12 minutes. Drain and fill pan with cold water, changing 3 times. Leave the water and eggs in the pan, peel eggs under running water to avoid breakage and for ease of peeling. With a sharp knife, cut each egg in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks onto a bowl. Cover whites with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Mash egg yolks with a fork, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate both for 30 minutes. Mix egg yolks with the rest of the ingredients, except lemon zest and caviar, until very smooth. Using a medium star tip, pipe yolk mixture into the egg white holes, extending a little bit over the hole. If serving immediately, spoon a little of the caviar on top using plastic utensil. Sprinkle with lemon zest. These can be covered and refrigerated a day before, adding caviar just before serving.

Fried Catfish Fillet With Tomato Sauce

My daughter asked me to cook meatless or fish dinners on Fridays because she is giving up a few things during Lent, and meat on Fridays is one of them. I am more than happy to feed everyone in my house fish and this is my chance to cook fish more often.

Fried Catfish Fillet
1½ pounds catfish fillet
1 tablespoon lemon or calamansi juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sea salt
cornstarch
olive oil for frying

Tomato Sauce
1 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 large tomatoes. diced
1 tsp lemon or calamansi juice
1 tsp soy sauce
½ tsp salt
ground black pepper
fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

• Marinate fish in lemon juice, soy sauce and salt for no more than 10 minutes. In a large skillet heat oil on medium high. Roll fillets in cornstarch, fry until golden brown and crispy. Transfer to a serving dish.
• While fish is marinating, prepare the sofrito: Saute garlic and onion until cooked, about 3 minutes. Add lemon juice, soy sauce and salt, stir fry for 1 minute. Turn off the heat, add tomatoes, cilantro and ground pepper. Mix well and set aside. Spoon on top of fried fish fillets. Serve with steamed baby squash.

sweet and tender steamed and lightly salted assorted baby squash