Lemon mini Cheesecakes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

It's time for another Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge from Lady Behind the Curtain.  Each month we are assigned two ingredients.  The challenge is to make a delicious dessert with those two ingredients.  This month it's Blueberries and Lemon.  One of my favorite food combinations!  I had a difficult time deciding what to make.  I finally decided to take an old family favorite recipe for mini cheesecakes and give it a blueberry-lemon twist.

Ingredients (printable recipe)
Cheesecakes:
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 eggs
cupcake holders
vanilla wafers
Blueberry Sauce:
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Directions
Place one vanilla wafer into each cupcake holder. Beat together softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice until smooth. Add 2 whole eggs and blend well. Pour into prepared cupcake pan. Bake at 325 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Makes about 20 mini cheesecakes. Fill any empty spots in your cupcake pan with water before baking. This helps the cheesecakes bake more evenly. Let cool completely and chill in refrigerator, preferably overnight.

Make sauce before serving. Combine blueberries, sugar, corn starch, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Over low heat, cook mixture, mashing blueberries slightly, until sauce has reduced and slightly thickens (about 5-10 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool. Serve over mini Cheesecakes.

Recipe for mini Cheesecakes is originally from a friend in Texas. I changed it slightly.
Recipe for Blueberry Sauce is from Foodnetwork Canada (just the sauce part).

Notes: Add some lemon zest to the cheesecake batter next time to boost the lemon flavor.

cute, easy little crust

An ice cream scoop makes pouring batter into cupcake pans easier and less messy.

Baked and chilled overnight. Ready to make some Fresh Blueberry Sauce!

Before

After about 10 minutes on low heat.

They're mini so it's OK to have a few. Stack them up and serve with lots of yummy blueberry sauce.

The Results...
The fresh blueberry sauce is definitely worth making again.  It has simple ingredients, was simple to make AND it tasted so good that I licked the pan clean. :)  It would be delicious on pancakes, waffles or ice cream, too.  It was tasty on top of these cute mini cheesecakes.

The only thing I would change next time is add some lemon zest to the cheesecake batter.  The lemon flavor in these cheesecakes needed a boost.  If you like cheesecake give these mini cheesecakes a try.  They are much easier to make and quicker to bake than a whole cheesecake. Enjoy!

I share recipes at these linky parties.
This recipe is part of the Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge.  Check out the other Blueberry and Lemon recipes at the end of this post.
   

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Simple Sausage Gravy

SOLD!!!  If you follow on facebook, you already know that we sold our house in just 5 days! 

It all started when we found some beautiful land nearby for sale---almost 9 acres with a large creek.  When we saw that this creek could be in our backyard, that was it!  We made an offer and it was accepted.   

As soon as our offer on the land was accepted, we listed our house.  Our realtor was having a difficult time putting pictures online for our listing.  He ended up just getting one picture of the front of the house to work.  The next morning we had a call that someone was interested!  We've never sold a house before, so we didn't want to get our hopes up that the first person to come to our home would want to buy it.  But, that's exactly what happened!

As you can imagine, the last couple of weeks have been quite busy for us with selling our home, finding a rental and starting the process to build a new home.  And it will only get busier as we start to pack and get ready to move-out.  I'm going to need some quick and easy dinner ideas like this Simple Sausage Gravy.

Ingredients (printable recipe)
1 (16 oz) package of ground pork sausage
3 Tablespoons butter
4 Tablespoons flour
3 cups whole milk
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. Cook sausage in large skillet. Breaking it up into pieces as it cooks. After cooked through, remove sausage with slotted spoon, set aside.
2. Reserve drippings. I had very little drippings (maybe 1 Tablespoon), so I added 3 Tablespoons of butter. Reduce the amount of butter if you have more reserved drippings in your pan.
3. Add flour to melted butter and whisk. Keep whisking until it turns a golden brown (you're making a roux).
4. Keep whisking and pour in the milk. Whisk away any lumps. Return sausage to skillet. Simmer gravy until thickened.
5. Serve over biscuits or toast or potatoes.

Inspired by these two recipes: Taste and Tell and Cook Like a Champion

 

The Results...

Simple Sausage Gravy really is simple to make and tasty, too.  I had planned on making some biscuits, but there wasn't time.  I needed to pull something together quickly, so instead we ate this gravy over toast for dinner with a veggie.  I heard mostly 3 (out of 5) stars, which means it was good, but not outstanding.  "Good" still gets the job done.  Everyone was full and happy.  Mission accomplished!

What do you make when you need a quick and easy dinner? 

 I share recipes at these linky parties.

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Homemade Caramel Dip

Apples dipped in caramel are a wonderful fall treat!  When I saw how simple this recipe looked, I wanted to make my own caramel dip, instead of buying the pricey little containers sold near the apples at the store.  

Ingredients (printable recipe)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (dark is the best!)
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
1. In a 2 qt. saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.
2. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and milk. Stirring to combine. Increase heat to medium or just below medium.
3. Stir constantly until mixtures starts to boil. (Use a spoon that doesn't melt!)
4. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
5. Serve warm or cool with apples or drizzle over ice cream.
Makes about 3 1/2 cups

Additional notes: For a thinner caramel, cook and stir mixture just until sugar completely dissolves.
Store extra caramel dip in the refrigerator. Microwave for a few seconds to soften before dipping. 

Source Tammy's Recipes

The Results...
Fabulous!!!  This caramel dip is rich, soft and sweet.  I liked dipping green tart apples into this caramel for a sweet and sour combo.  Homemade Caramel Dip would also be delicious drizzled over ice cream or a slice of apple pie.  Everyone agreed that homemade is better!

This recipe is featured at Southern Sundays @ A Slice of Southern

I also share recipes at these linky parties.

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Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Alfredo

Christmas is just 3 days away!  This time of year is exciting, busy and just plain crazy at times.  I still have a lot to do before the big day comes.  I'm a little behind and today the kids came home early from school to start their holiday vacation.  Plus, my son has a basketball game tonight.  But, with everything going on I'm not stressed about dinner.  Why?  It's already cooking in the crock pot...     
 

Ingredients (printable recipe)

8 (4 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (mine were still frozen)

1/2 cup water

2 (.7 ounce) packages dry Italian-style salad dressing mix

1/2 tsp. garlic powder or 2 cloves fresh garlic

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (substitute low-fat if you like)

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup

 fresh sliced baby bella mushrooms

1 lb. package of angel hair pasta

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or basil

Directions

1. Place frozen chicken breasts in a large crock pot (6 qt.). Combine Italian dressing mix, and water in a small bowl. Pour over chicken; sprinkle with garlic, cover, and cook on high for 4 hours.

2. After 4 hours, whisk softened cream cheese and cream of chicken soup together in a bowl. Pour over chicken; stir in mushrooms. Cover and cook on Low for 1 additional hour.

3. Cook pasta according to directions on box.

4. To serve, spoon chicken and sauce over hot cooked pasta and sprinkle with parsley or basil. 

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

The Results...
The biggest fan of this recipe was my 4 yr. old.  She gave this a solid 5 stars and cleaned her plate (which is unusual for her).  My two older kids both gave this 3 stars.  I thought this was good, but I didn't like the fresh parsley on top.  I think basil would taste better.  My husband and I gave this recipe 3 1/2 to 4 stars.  Dinner tonight was easy and tasty.  Plus, since I doubled the original recipe, I have leftovers for another busy night!

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Grilled Pound Cake with Warm Berry Sauce

While shopping in the supermarket I found a package of pound cake on the "we baked too much rack."  The pound cake reminded me that I had some frozen berries in the freezer at home.  I thought there must be a quick and delicious way to put the pound cake and berries together for dessert that night. 

Ingredients (from Everyday with Rachael Ray.)

2 heaping cups mixed frozen berries, such as raspberries and blueberries (12 ounces)

Juice of 1/2 lemon (1 tablespoon)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 store-bought pound cake, sliced 3/4 inch thick

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the berries, the lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the vanilla and 1/4 cup of water. Cook, covered, until the berries are softened, about 10 minutes. Stir the sauce, partially mashing the berries. Taste and add the remaining sugar if the mixture is tart.

In a small bowl, stir 1 tablespoon of water into the cornstarch, then stir the mixture into the berry sauce and continue cooking, uncovered, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.

Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-low. Brush the pound cake slices with the melted butter. Grill until the cake is toasted, about 2 minutes on each side. Spread the warm sauce on dessert plates, place 2 cake slices on each plate and top with additional sauce.

Make it your own

Cut the pound cake into 1-inch cubes and thread onto skewers for a dessert kebab.

Here we go...

I followed the sauce directions closely and added the full 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Brushing the pound cake with butter.

Grilling the cake on medium heat.

The Results...
How can you go wrong with pound cake and berries?  The sweet, warm, buttery pound cake and the sweet (but still slightly tart) berry sauce didn't last long at our house.  We added some whipped cream on top, too.  I would make this again, especially when I need a dessert that's quick and easy.   

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Raspberry Sauce

We recently picked our first raspberries!  We planted raspberry bushes last year and now we are enjoying the sweet rewards.  We love to eat them plain or tossed on cereal or yogurt.  As we continued to get more and more raspberries, I began to wonder what I could make with them.  I thought a raspberry sauce would be delicious with the beignet recipe I posted earlier.  I found a recipe on Recipezaar that looked straightforward and simple and decided to give it a try.

Ingredients

2 pints (4 cups) raspberries

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions  

1. Crush the raspberries with water in a saucepan. 

2. Add sugar and cornstarch. 

3. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. 

4. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. 

5. Push through a foodmill or strainer.

Serves 6

It's exciting to us that we planted and now harvested our own berries.  Here they are.  Aren't they beautiful!

I crushed the berries with the water and added the sugar and cornstarch.  Then, I let it boil for 2 minutes.  I poured the cooled sauce into a mini-foodmill.  Since the seeds are so small a lot of them still went through the foodmill.  I was able to remove about half of the seeds from the sauce.

 

The Results...
We drizzled some of this sauce on beignets for breakfast.  We all agreed that it was delicious.  I thought it had just the right balance of sweetness and tartness.  Of course you can always add more sugar if you want a sweeter sauce.  It also had a good consistency (not too thick or thin).  We look forward to having more of this sauce on pancakes, waffles, ice cream, cheesecake, chicken, salads....  

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Strawberries and Ice Cream with Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

I've had balsamic vinegar reductions in restaurants and they add so much flavor to salads, chicken, fish, meat, even desserts.  Balsamic reductions are also delicious with strawberries this time of year.  I would like to make my own reduction and see how it turns out.  This recipe is from wholefoodmarkets.com and it combines strawberries and a balsamic reduction with ice cream, yum!

Ingredients 

1 cup aged balsamic vinegar

1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

1 pint vanilla ice cream

Method 

Heat the vinegar into a small saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat until thick, syrupy and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 15 minutes. Watch carefully to make sure vinegar doesn't burn. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, toss strawberries with orange juice and set aside.

When vinegar has cooled to room temperature, scoop ice cream into dishes, top with strawberries and drizzle with balsamic vinegar reduction.

Nutrition 

Per serving (about 7oz/195g-wt.): 170 calories (50 from fat), 6g total fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 25mg cholesterol, 60mg sodium, 26g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 23g sugar), 2g protein

I measured out 1 cup of balsamic vinegar and let it simmer for 15 minutes.  I watched it carefully to make sure it didn't burn.  After 15 minutes it reduced down to 1/3 cup.  While it was cooking the kids were anxiously waiting.  I told them I was making a sauce to go on ice cream.  My oldest was a bit worried because as it cooked the kitchen smelled like strong vinegar.  (Next time I should turn on the fan.)  He didn't want anything to ruin his ice cream!

I also had a bottle of raspberry wine vinegar.  I was curious if it would also make a nice reduction.  I measured out 1 cup and let it simmer for 15 minutes, too.  It didn't work like the balsamic reduction.  The raspberry wine vinegar reduced down much more to just a few tablespoons and it had a harsher, more acidic taste to it.  So, I learned it doesn't work for a reduction, but it's still quite tasty in a vinaigrette.

The Results...

When the vinegar cooled I put this dessert together in bowls.  I forgot to toss the strawberries with the orange juice.  I did cut the strawberries in half and put them on top of the ice cream with a drizzle of the balsamic reduction.  I was hoping the kids would like this.  They usually have chocolate syrup on their ice cream, not balsamic vinegar!  Would they think their ice cream was ruined?  After they tasted this, they told me that they really liked it!  I had no complaints.  The balsamic reduction complemented the strawberries.  I think it enhanced their flavor.  The balsamic reduction was also a nice contrast against the sweet ice cream.  It was slightly tart and tangy.  Now we have a new favorite sauce for strawberries and ice cream.

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Tzatziki Sauce (Greek Yogurt and Cucumber Sauce)

We had lamb and pita bread, but we couldn't have gyros without tzatziki sauce!  I came across Kalyn's Kitchen and she claims to have the "world's best tzatziki sauce recipe."  "World's best" sounded good to me.  I gave it a try.  She has great step by step instructions with photos which made this recipe easy to follow.

Ingredients

(Makes about 3 1/2 cups. You can cut the recipe in half.)

3 cups Greek Yogurt (or regular plain yogurt, strained)

juice of one lemon (about 3 T)

1 garlic clove, chopped

2 medium cucumbers, seeded and diced

about 1 T kosher salt for salting cucumbers

1 T finely chopped fresh dill (can substitute mint leaves for a slightly different version)

Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

If you don't have Greek yogurt, strain plain yogurt. Peel cucumbers, then cut in half lengthwise and take a small spoon and scrape out seeds. Discard seeds. (If you use the small seedless or European cucumbers with few seeds, you can skip this step.) Slice cucumbers, then put in a colander, sprinkle on 1 T salt, and let stand for 30 minutes to draw out water. Drain well and wipe dry with paper towel.

In food processor with steel blade, add cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice, dill, and a few grinds of black pepper. Process until well blended, then stir this mixture into the yogurt. Taste before adding any extra salt, then salt if needed. Place in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving so flavors can blend. (This resting time is very important.)  This will keep for a few days or more in the refrigerator, but you will need to drain off any water and stir each time you use it. 

I strained regular yogurt.  I didn't have a small colander.  I improvised with 2 coffee filters and a funnel, but it worked!  See all the liquid that drained out after 2 hrs.  For 3 cups of strained yogurt I used 1large 32 oz. yogurt container and 1/4 of another large container. 

Letting the cucumbers sit with the salt for 30 minutes. 

Cucumbers, garlic clove ( I used a garlic press), fresh dill, fresh ground pepper and juice of 1 lemon.

I love how quick the food processor blends everything!

 Now, I just have to wait 2 hours and I can assemble the gyros!

The Results...

My husband put the leftover lamb in the food processor.  Then, he added it to a hot skillet with a chopped onion and a little olive oil.  I chopped the leftover tomatoes, cucumbers and olives from our Greek salad and used them for the gyros, too.  We put everything in the homemade pitas with this tzatziki sauce and they were DELICIOUS!!!  This is quite a tasty tzatziki sauce.  Is it the "world's best?"  I'm not qualified to determine that (I haven't had a lot of different tzatziki sauces), but I can tell you that it was delicious and really fresh tasting since all the ingredients were fresh.

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