The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat

I like to think I'm a pretty good cook. I've made all sorts of things, from your standard grilled chicken to a variety of ethnic foods including falafel, chicken tikka masala, Moroccan braised beef, coconut curry, enchiladas and so forth. My cooking career really began with baking, when my mom taught me how to make bread (Sally Lunn bread. I won a contest.) I've made the typical chocolate chip cookies, brownies, raspberry white chocolate layer cakes, biscotti, and the ubiquitous rice krispie treats. I've made mousse, custard and real pastry dough. Last year, for Jon's birthday, I tackled my first real cheesecake (the type that takes days to make, not the kind where you pour some flavored cream cheese in a pre-made crust). I felt confident. On top of my game. Nothing could stop me.

Until I tried to make a Mexican chocolate cheesecake for Jon for Valentine's Day.

First of all, we do not go in for big, fancy Valentine's Days. Neither of us particularly like the holiday and my birthday is a mere 10 days before it. We tend to keep it simple and just celebrate by cooking something fancy. In past years we've done Chateaubriand. This year we were trying beef tenderloin in an orange and poblano pepper sauce. We were having margaritas and spanish rice with it. I thought, what a perfect sort of treat! A Mexican cheesecake! And promptly found a recipe for it online.

Saturday rolled around and I began working on the cake. I was a bit confused when the recipe didn't require you to bake the graham cracker crust at all, as my limited experience with cheesecakes has required that in the past. "No biggie," I thought. "I'll just bake it anyways." And so I did. No problems so far.

The recipe then requires you to mix the cream cheese (24 oz) with 6 eggs, sugar and vanilla. So, in the process of doing this I realize that the cream cheese isn't really incorporating with the eggs and sugar. I have this sort of eggy soup with blobs of cream cheese floating in it. I try a different attachment on the mixer. No luck. Finally, I strain out the cream cheese and put it in the food processor where it finally gets to be the right creamy consistency. Now I slowly add the eggy soup back into it. Except, we have a problem Houston. There is far too much liquid than the processor can hold and it begins to seep out the bottom of the bowl. I quickly add in the melted chocolate before too much more leaks out.

Having very little hope at this point, I pour it into the springform pan and there is WAY too much batter. I set the timer for an hour like the recipe says. After an hour the thing is STILL soup. I leave it in for another hour and then it seems to be done, though looks pretty bad.

After it cools, it looks like this. The ugliest cake in the world.



I took it to Jon's feeling quite depressed that I'd spent so much time (and used up perfectly good ingredients) on something that looks like that. Somewhat surprisingly, it didn't taste terrible. Not quite like cheesecake, but not nearly as bad as it looked. However, I will NOT use that recipe again. Lesson learned.










Because I'm a glutton for punishment, today I decided to try to make homemade baklava. Luckily, this process went very smoothly from start to finish and I am proud to present these goodies:



Haven't tasted them yet, but they hold much more promise than the ugly cake. I feel a bit redeemed :)

Enchiladas

I have to say, these are always a hit and they're really not difficult to make. It is a VERY hearty meal and expect leftovers (not a bad thing as they reheat really well). They are also a good dish to serve at a party since all the work can be done ahead of time and you can serve it with the Mexican Rice recipe also posted on the fudblog. Enjoy!

1 package of boneless chicken
Red pepper flakes
1 large onion, cut into wedges
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
1 yellow pepper, cut into chunks
1 package of flour tortillas (burrito sized)
Olive oil or Olive oil infused with chili peppers
Tequila (optional)
1 can of refried beans
Grated cheddar cheese (lots)
1 can of Hot Enchilada sauce
1 can of Mild Enchilada sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350˚. Trim fat from chicken and cut into pieces approximately 1 sq. inch (can be a little larger). In a wok or large pan, heat a little olive oil (or olive oil with chili peppers) and throw all the chicken in to begin cooking. Add red pepper flakes to your taste.

2. When chicken is mostly cooked, add peppers and onions (these don’t have to be completely cooked through, since enchiladas will go into the oven) and a splash of tequila. Cook until chicken is done.

3. Spread refried beans on the tortillas, top with chicken and pepper mixture and cheddar cheese. Tuck ends in and roll the tortilla (so it looks like a burrito).

4. Spray a deep baking pan with cooking spray and place the enchiladas in the pan, flap down. When the pan is full, cover with enchilada sauce and top with grated cheddar cheese.

5. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream and salsa.