Granini's Black & White Cheesecake

Granini's Black & White Oreo Cheesecake

SO good, you'll want to risk salmonella, just so you can lick the bowl!

[Imagine a pretty picture of it here.  I'll insert one the next time I make it.]

Ingredients:

3/4 of a bag of Oreos, smashed into smithereens.  

1 cube (8 Tablespoons) salted butter

3 cubes (8 ounces per cube) cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, melted

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (I love Ghiradelli)

2 Tablespoons HOT water

For the chocolate curls:

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 Tablespoon butter or margarine

Recipe:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Smash up the Oreos (either in a cuisinart, or stuff 'em all in a plastic bag and bash them to smithereens with a rolling pin.  Pour the crumbs into a 9 inch springform pan.  Melt 1 cube of salted butter and pour over the Oreo crumbs.  Using a fork, mix the crumbs together with the melted butter until all the crumbs are moistened.  Gentle press the crumbs onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan, making sure not to leave any holes.  I put my hand inside of a plastic sandwich bag to keep my fingers from getting icky and to keep all the crumbs for making their way up my fingernails, but you do what you gotta do.   Set the crust aside.

In a stand-up mixer, place the 3 cubes of soft cream cheese, the sugar and the salt, and slowly mix together, gradually increasing the speed of the mixer until they are light and fluffy.  Turn your mixer speed down, but leave it running, and add one egg in at a time.  Slowly add in the sour cream.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl and turn on the mixer for a few more turns, making sure all the ingredients are fully incorporated.  

Pour half of this mixture into a bowl and set aside.  

With the remaining mixture, slowly turn on the mixer again, and slowly add in the melted chocolate chips.  In a small bowl, add 2 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa and 2 Tablespoons of HOT water.  Stir until they mixed thoroughly, almost like a thin paste.  Then add 1 Tablespoon of the thin paste to the mixture, allowing it to mix in thoroughly, before adding in 1 more Tablespoon of the thin paste.  Don't worry if you have a wee bit of the thin paste left over.

Pour the chocolate cheesecake mixture directly onto the Oreo crumb crust.  Smooth with a rubber spatula until it completely covers the bottom of the pan.

Then, pick up the remaining cheesecake mixture (from the bowl you set aside), and plop that on top, smoothing it out with a rubber spatula, until it covers the surface.

At this point, you may feel free to either put your cheesecake in a water bath and then pop it in the oven.  OR, if you're lazy and don't want the mess of the water bath, simply pop the whole thing in the oven for 1 hour.  Turn off the heat, and then let the cheesecake stay in the oven for another hour.

Allow the cheesecake to cool completely on a baking rack, and then refrigerate for 6 hours, or overnight.

Recipe for chocolate curls:

Place chocolate and butter/margarine in a glass bowl and melt in the microwave for 44 seconds, or until thoroughly melted.  Pour melted chocolate onto a baking sheet or marble slab.  Quickly spread chocolate in a very thin layer with a metal spatula.  Refrigerate until firm, but still pliable.  Using a small spatula, held at a 45 degree angle, push chocolate, so the chocolate curls as it is pushed.  Use a small skewer or toothpick to transfer chocolate into a container.  I pop mine in the freezer for months at a time, and they turn out great.  * This recipe is taken from a Treasury of Christmas.

Before serving, place the chocolate curls on the top in a decorative pattern, and enjoy!!

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Granini's Jambalaya

Hello all!  I'm back from our amazing Alaska adventure, and I have about a gajillion things to do before the summer is over and I head back to work, writing my second murder mystery novel.  

So I'm going to make the best of the rest of my summer vacation, and start posting a few more recipe favorites!!

I'd like to thank gimmesomeoven for their original recipe.  I've changed the recipe a bit to accommodate our family's inability to eat overly spicy foods.  hahaha.  If you want the super spicy version, simply follow their recipe!!  

*So a wee bit of a note here, we have a vegetarian in our family (gasp!), and frequently I make recipes that can be easily adaptable to accommodate both the vegetarians and the carnivores in our clan.  This is a favorite dish that meets both the vegetarian's needs and the carnivores' needs with extremely little effort to accommodate both.  If you're not a vegetarian and want the full carnivore experience, you can simply start with the chicken getting that all sautéed up, and then go on to add in the onions, peppers, and so on.  Just leave the sausage for the last few minutes, and only pop the shrimp in at the VERY VERY last bit.  If you're a vegetarian, or don't need the full carnivore experience, simply skip the meats all together.*

**And a second note, some people like okra and will add that too.  

I am not one of those people. 

 Just sayin'.**

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 yellow or orange pepper, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 can (14 oz.) of diced or crushed tomatoes

1 1/2 cups of white rice

1 qt chicken broth (I use Trader Joe's box o'chicken broth.  But you can use 3 cans of chicken broth if you aren't lucky enough to have a TJ's near you.)

3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon thyme

2 teaspoons Creole cajun spices

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Carnivores:

If you're not a vegetarian and want the full meat experience, you can also add in the following:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 chicken breast, cut into small bite-sized pieces

2 cups of diced spiced sausage (I used andouille sausage, also from Trader Joe's)

2 cups of shrimp (with shells removed and deveined, obvs.)

Directions:

1. Cut your veggies.  Add your olive oil to a large saucepan, and saute your veggies until tender, but not mushy.
2. Add in tomatoes, rice, and chicken broth.  Stir.
3. Add in spices. 
4. Cover and simmer for 25 mins or so, stirring VERY often to prevent the bottom from getting crusty.
5. While your yummy goodness is simmering, you can heat up the optional meats.
6. In a separate saucepan, heat up the oil.  Add chicken and cook that up right nice until the edges are lightly browned and the insides are no longer pink.  Lightly sprinkle with creole spices.  Place the chicken in a medium bowl.
7. Add the sausage to the saucepan and heat completely.  At the last minute, pop in your shrimp and cook for about a minute or so, or until they are pink.  Add all the meats together into the bowl.
8. After you've ladled out a heaping serving for your vegetarian friends and family, add in the meats to the rest of the jambalaya, and stir completely, allowing the flavors of the meats to mix with the flavors of the creole spices and jambalaya goodness.  Serve while piping hot and devour!!!

Enjoy!!

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I wrote a murder mystery!  Here are the links so you can buy it:

You can buy the paperback version of my book here:

Diamonds for Diamond by Kay Nimitz Smith

Or, you can buy either my e-book or the paperback version on Amazon here:  

Diamonds for Diamond by Kay Nimitz Smith

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