Cooking with the Fam: Pho Gà

After our crazy day on June 25th, we were originally planning on driving 5 1/2 hours straight home to get home around midnight but it hit me that I was too exhausted to drive home that night. Thankfully my Dì Thuy and Chu Thai were kind enough to offer us a place to sleep that evening. I was then graced with an impromptu lesson from Dì Thuy on Pho Gà.

Pho Gà is really a Vietnamese Chicken Noodle soup but maybe on steroids. The noodles are longer and thicker, there's a ton of flavour in the broth and a showering of aromatic herbs and veggies. It's also a simpler version, in taste and preparation, of it's more popular brother Pho Bò. It is definitely the kind of cold cleansing soup we all know and love, the kind of soup that works well as a breakfast, brunch, lunch or a light supper.

Pho Gà by Dì Thuy
Printable Recipe


Broth Ingredients
1 whole chicken
Celery, cut into thirds
Carrots, cut in thirds
An Onion, cut in half
Several large slices of ginger
Star anise
Cinnamon
Pepper corns
Whole cloves
Fish sauce


In the bowl
Pho noodles
Pieces of the chicken.
Lime
Hoisin sauce
Bean sprouts
All the good herbs
Green onions
White onions in vinegar

Mmm, raw chicken.

Preparation
Fill a large soup pot with water. Add the chicken, celery, carrots and onion. Turn on medium to high heat to boil. Turn down the heat to a simmer once the water boils. Skim the foam. Cook the chicken for about an hour, or until cooked. Add the spices and let cook for another 15 minutes. While cooking, peel the chicken from the carcass into bite-size strips to later put in the soup. Set aside. Remove the spices from the broth.

Prepare the pho noodles as per the packaging instructions. Place noodles in a bowl, put everything else on top, ladle on the broth.

Unfortunately there's no pretty picture of a bowl of beautiful, crystal clear broth because I was so excited to eat it that I forgot to. It was delicious. Cảm ơn Dì Thuy!

i got all my sisters with me
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Cooking with the Fam: Home made Tofu

June 25th marked 100 days since my Ba Ngoai's funeral. On the 100 day ceremony or "End of Tears" the family got together for what turned out to be a fairly wild day that featured all you can eat buffet birthday madness, a run in the with police and bible trivia during mass. As interesting as that may story might sound, prepare to be regaled about an event that took place the day before. 

My cousin Mai Vy had the opportunity to make tofu with Ba Ngoai and was able to take notes in her pretty notebook as best she could.

The secrets lie within!

So from that, we decided to meet a day before the 100 day and make home made tofu. My cousin Mai Vy took charge of the kitchen and got myself and her little brother Ben to work squeezing the soy milk. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon while Mai Vy told me about the cooking process with Ba Ngoai. We laughed about her bowls of measurement and how she would feel her way through a recipe that seems to be so touchy. If the recipe that follows appears to be a little vague, then at least you know why.

Ba Ngoai's (Grandma's) Tofu, taught by my cousin Mai Vy

Printable Recipe including the notes I took.

Materials required

2 1/2 rice bowls (or cups) of soy beans

Water

Tofu cloth, like a bag or a net with very fine holes in it.

A Tofu block

A Blender or food processor

Tofu cloths

A home made tofu block by our Uncle Rob

Preparation

In a large bowl (They are going to expand!), cover soy beans in water (about 1 inch above) , and soak over night.

Soaked Soy Beans

Blend 2 rice bowls of water and 1 rice bowl of soy beans until it looks fairly liquified.

One rice bowl to rule them all.

  Place a tofu cloth into a bowl and pour the contents of the blender into the cloth.

 Lift the tofu cloth and squeeze the soy mush dry.

Ba Ngoai would tell us you can always squeeze more!

Pour the soy milk that comes from it into a pot. Once it appears to be dry, dip the soy paste back into some water, let the excess water drain and squeeze it some more until what's left in the cloth is dry and chalky. Repeat with the remaining soy beans.

Cook soy milk at medium heat. Skim foam.

Skim it.

Fill a small bowl with water (maybe 3-4 cups of water). Add about a 1/4 cup of vinegar and taste to check if it's not too sour.

This exact size of bowl. Very specific!

Add 200 ml of the vinegar mixture and then cover.

Check after 5-10 minutes, it should have started to curdle. "Stir" slowly, try not to break the curds.

Slowly now.

Add another 200 ml of the vinegar mixture. Let simmer for a few more minutes. If you feel it could curdle some more, add about 50 ml more of the mixture but not too much, presumably to not to affect the flavour of the tofu.

Now comes the complicated part. Place the tofu block over your sink or something to catch the excess water. Put a clean tofu cloth in the tofu block. 

We had to turn the cloth 90 degrees so it could fold over correctly.

Pour the contents of the pot into the tofu block, the water should mostly drip through. A trick to make this easier is to scoop out the water from the pot and just leave the curds, but be careful not to break them. Try to make sure the curds are even in the block. Press the tofu in the block, use a pot full of water to hold it down and let it cool.

The shape wasn't perfect but it
tasted great and fresh!

Deeelicious.

Carefully remove from the block and serve.

It can also be turned into something like this.
Omg yum.

Big thanks to Mai Vy for teaching her old cousin some new tricks. Thanks to cậu Dat and mợ Lan for letting us make a mess of their kitchen as well as for a delicious dinner of Gỏi cuốn (Fresh salad rolls). Props to my cousin Ben for helping me squeeze out all the soy milk. This is the first of many recipes I will be looking to learn from my family to share with the world. Look forward to more in the future!

Mai Vy's home made human size Tofu Man.

we are family...

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Bánh Xèo - My Favouritest Fusion

I never have an answer when asked what my favourite x is, where x can be pretty much anything. Fortunately, I have an answer to the incredibly specific question of "What is your favourite Vietnamese food?" Of course, it is a dish that goes ever so well with Nuoc Mam and it is the born from fusion Vietnamese crepe known as Bánh Xèo. The word banh usually refers to anything that's cake like or, better yet, contains some sort of flour? I know that just saying banh means a cake, but saying banh mi means bread. The word xèo (se-yoh?) may sound and appear to be similar to the word xào which means fried and as you will soon see, this crepe is indeed fried. However, xèo does not mean fried. Some say it means sizzling and it does sound like the food makes when it sizzles if you speak Vietnamese "xèo xèo", right?

Photo taken by: Jeff McCrossin

Bánh Xèo is a fantastic fusion of French creperie with Vietnamese ingredients and we were lucky enough to share it with a group of our friends who were coming into town. I was quite happy to prepare this dish for other people as my Me always makes Bánh Xèo for me when I come home to visit. One of our friends in attendance was our wedding photographer and he was kind enough to take some pictures in exchange for food. Thanks Jeff, you're the man.

With respect to the texture or crispiness of Bánh Xèo, sometimes when I order it at restaurants I find that they're extra, super, deep-fried crispy. Maybe that's how it's how they're meant to be but I am biased towards my Mẹ's way of doing it: extra crispy edges and just a soft enough centre to be able to cut without  making a crunching sound. It's complicated but the softer it is, the better it can absorb the fish sauce which is probably why I love this dish so much.

Bánh Xèo 
Printable Recipe

Batter
1 pkg of Rice Flour
Turmeric (thekitchn suggests 1/8 tsp to every 3/4 rice flour but I didn't find it to be enough so aim for a slightly yellowish batter)
4-6 sprigs of green onions, sliced thin

1 can of coconut milk (This is what makes it taste oh so good. Sub in half regular milk.)
1-2 cups of water (Or more. The desired consistency is of a runny batter.)
Beer (Optional. If so, replace the same amount of water with beer used.)

A hometown brew for a homeland batter.

Filling (You'll have to eyeball filling to batter ratio)
Oil
Mung beans, soaked over night
Bean sprouts
Pork butt, sliced and seasoned with some salt and pepper
Onions, sliced
Uncooked shrimp, deveined and de-shelled. Sliced butterfly style down the middle. (I bought some frozen)

Accompanying Herbs/Seasoning
Cilantro, Thai basil, all your favourites.
Lots and lots of lettuce!
Nuoc Mam Pha

Preparation
Steam the mung beans for 20 minutes or until tender.

In a hot pan, add oil and onions. Add the pork and stir fry until cooked through. Set aside.

Mix all batter ingredients together in a bowl. Put a couple spoons of oil into a hot 9 inch pan with a top (Get a bowl and put some oil to add to the pan before each time you add batter). Put a few pieces of shrimp and pork into the pan.

Once the shrimp is cooked, move the meat over to one side of the pan. Now get ready with one hand on the pan and another with a ladle of batter. Pour in a ladle of batter and swirl the pan to cover the whole pan in batter. Pro Tip: My Mẹ told me that I needed to "lắc lắc" (shake shake, sounds like "lak lak") once I poured the batter in. I may have shook too hard since it sent the meat all over the place. 

Add bean sprouts and mung beans.

Cover the pan and until batter has cooked through.

Make sure none of the batter is stuck to the pan using a spatula and fold the Bánh Xèo over then cook until golden brown or desired crispiness is achieved.

Later I flip this one to get it golden brown, but the yellow is quite pretty.

Serve! 

They're certainly meant to come straight off the pan but if you're looking to have everyone eat at the same time, either have multiple pans going or warm up the oven and put them onto a baking sheet.

Minus the fact that some of them are broken, this
tray made me feel like my mom.

But wait, how do I eat this? If you're asking how I eat it, as usual, I never do anything the right way. Here are the two answers I usually give people.

Method 1: How to eat Bánh Xèo the 'right' way.

Step 1: Put some mixed fish sauce in a bowl.

Step 2:  Cut away a piece of Bánh Xèo.

Step 3: Roll it up inside a piece lettuce with some herbs of your choosing.

Step 4: Dip in fish sauce bowl.

Step 5: Ride the train to flavour country.

Method 2: How to eat Bánh Xèo for those who lack lettuce rolling skills like me.

Step 1: Cut up Bánh Xèo and put into bowl.

Step 2: Tear up lettuce and herbs and mix into bowl.

Step 3: Pour on healthy amount of fish sauce.

Step 4: Choo! Choo!

Although slightly more primitive, the second method offers a much simpler meal with the same flavours but you may not look as refined while eating it. Then again, spilling Bánh Xèo all over the table as I am prone to do while attempting method 1 isn't so refined either, now is it?

Photo taken by: Jeff McCrossin

This was my entry for July's edition of Delicious Vietnam #15 brought to you by Anh from A Food Lover's Journey and Ravenous Couple. The July edition is hosted by Lan of Angry Asian Creations.

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White Fish Tacos with Pear and Mango Salsa

Every week I look forward to hearing from my cooking partner, Sivan, in order to mentally prepare myself for an adventure into a new realm of the culinary world. Last Thursday, the day that comes before Friday, I receive an e-mail that says

Depending on how expensive fish is, how do you feel about a good salsa?

Although the price of fish has little to do with how I feel about salsa, I told her that I have strong feelings for a good salsa. Some of our regular dinner attendees were confused by the idea and thought it to be perhaps a strange combination. In the end, Sivan stuck with her idea and with the help of this recipe from fruitandveggieguru.com, we ended up with a vibrant, delicious meal full of lovely colours.

Cod Tacos with Pear and Mango Salsa inspired by fruitandveggieguru

Printable recipe

Fish Sauce (Or sauce for fish)

1/4 cup Vegetable oil
An entire lime worth of Lime juice
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Cumin, ground
1/2 teaspoon Salt1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper, ground (We didn't have cayenne on hand and used tobasco sauce instead)

A healthy amount of White fish fillets (recipe suggest 6, we just had a couple big fillets)

A bag of flour tortillas

Salsa

1 pear, cut into cubes

1 mango cut into cubes

1/2 Red onion, minced

A handful of cilantro, chopped

1/2 tsp salt

The actual recipe calls for 1 tbsp Jalapeno pepper and red grapes. I would use the pepper in the future, but probably never bother with the grapes.

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350F
Whisk oil, lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt and tobasco in small bowl; set aside.
Place fish in single layer in a baking pan. Pour oil and lime juice mixture over fish and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes until fish is opaque and flakes with fork.
Mix pear, mango, onion, jalapeno, cilantro and salt in small bowl.
Serve fish and salsa on warm tortillas.

There are no pictures of the fish, nor the fish in taco form because we were too busy munching away and being pleasantly surprised of how well this meal went together. I'm not sure why I was surprised, I guess it was just that much better than I thought it would be especially considering how quick and easy this was to make.

This week, we are heading on a road trip south across the border to visit Baltimore, MD and Washington D.C! Since our trip spans across a Friday, we are currently planning to cook a meal for our hosts. Look forward to Friday Friday in the USA! (A wonderful combination of two songs that achieved an unfortunate level of catchiness)

Not to overshadow this Friday, but also look forward to next week because it will be a "Cooking with my family" special edition. What makes it even more special is the fact that it will be 100 days since my Ba Ngoai passed away so we are going to visit the grave and attending a service. After a bit of poking around on the internet, I found that the 100 days after is known as tot khoc, or the end of tears when the family visits to close the burial rites. I will be cooking with one of my cousins and we are hoping to make something extra special to honour our grandparents.
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Bánh Mì for Ba - A Father's Day brunch?

While my wife was away for a week, I took the opportunity to indulge in watching a BBC documentary about baking bread called "In Search of the Perfect Loaf". Is it just me or does the BBC have far superior television than the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation when it comes to food related programming? Yeah, I spent an hour watching a guy find different ways to bake really good bread and enjoyed every second of it. Seriously though, it was awesome and inspiring. So inspiring that I got kick started on my project of making Bánh Mì as a Father's Day breakfast. I'm not a father yet, nor do I live near enough to my Ba to give him a sandwich but I can write about it for him. Suddenly, I yearn to chase two tangents here but instead will settle for point form in an attempt to stay on topic.

1. Breakfast is a great meal and the idea that only certain foods can be eaten is a little bit close minded. Try a Bánh Mì or Bánh Bao for breakfast!

2. My dad eats super healthy and Bánh Mì isn't exactly the epitome of health food so he might've preferred a bowl of shredded wheat for this breakfast post. Then again, Father's day is a special day so why not indulge a little. Here's to your health, Ba.

Despite living near a couple bakeries that make great French baguette, I decided it would be better if I made my own. As far as I know, my family doesn't have a recipe for Bánh Mì so I scoured the internet until one from Viet World Kitchen appeared to fit my style. I learned that some bread recipes contain rice flour which explains why the bread from Bánh Mì shops have a slightly different taste and texture than French Baguette. It's a taste and texture I'm not crazy about so the recipe from Viet World Kitchen fit perfectly upon my taste buds. 

However, before we start making bread, we need to make some pickled Daikon (I should know what this is in Vietnamese, but I have spent more time in Japan than Vietnam) and Carrots. I say we because I want to include you, the reader, in this fun experience despite the fact that I was alone in this endeavor. After having found my recipe for baguette, I noticed a little recipe for these pickled delights on Viet World Kitchen once again. Although I paid little attention to the measurements, because my wife likes it to be extra vinegary, I really liked the whole salting/sugaring tip followed by squeezing of the veggies before putting them in the brine solution. It made all the difference in the world.

As for the protein, I decided to make my Ba Ngoai's Thit Nuong recipe. I was also lucky enough to have some Cha Lua (Vietnamese processed pork) from my great aunt. Finally, I bought some paté from the grocery store. 

 Bánh Mì Thit Nuong and Cha Lua

- French Baguette bought from the store or home made!

- Pickled Daikon and Carrots

- Fresh Cilantro

- Liver Paté

- Butter

- Cucumber, sliced into long sticks

- Cha Lua (Made by my great aunt)

Ba Ngoai's Thit Nuong (Deciphered from her notebook)

Printable Recipe

1 lb pork, thinly sliced (I used pork butt)

6 tsp Sugar

1 tsp salt

1-2 stalks of Green Onion, chopped

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp of lemon grass, finely chopped

1 garlic clove

2 tbsp fish sauce

A few edits: I added 1 chopped shallot, and an extra garlic clove.

Preparation

Mmm...meat.

Mix it all in a bowl and let marinade for at least an hour and overnight if possible. I don't have any kind of grill but one can  put it on a grilling rack and set the oven to broil. It will crisp up deliciously. This time I fried them in a pan and placed them on a plate covered in paper towel to absorb the excess fat.

Side note:  However, in my quest to blacken the meat, I ended up blackening my pan. Originally I was going to try and make a little gravy/sauce from all the stuff that stuck to the pan but then it kind of became a sheet of black (Future experiment!). A little bit of vinegar and baking soda helped to transform my pan back into its steel-coloured state.

To begin sandwich making, slice open the bread, spread some paté on the bottom and some butter on top. Be generous, all the shops are. Fill with meat then toast in the oven to give that bread some extra bite. Add the veggies and enjoy. 

Seriously, enjoy it! The crunch of the bread mixed with the sweet and sour of the pickled veggies, the aromatic flavour of the cilantro, the fatty, juicy meat and the smoothness that is brought by the butter and paté. A great sandwich for a great Ba to start off a hopefully great Father's day.

This was my entry for June's edition of Delicious Vietnam #14 brought to you by Anh from A Food Lover's Journey and Ravenous Couple. The June edition is hosted by Dang and Oanh from rauom.

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Foodboxing - Parsley, Parsnip Soup

We paid for a large food box this time and the featured ingredient was rhubarb, one of the suggested recipes a "Rhubarb Chicken" that sounds interesting. Aside from that we had a ton of stuff that we decided to turn into a soup by googling every ingredient we usually have trouble finding a use for. In this case it was parsley. I didn't think a whole ton of parsley would be good in a soup, but it was surprisingly delicious.

Parsnip, Parsley and friends soup, inspired by Parsnip Soup with leeks and parsley from simplyrecipes.com

Printable version

- 1 leek, thiny sliced

- 1 medium size onion, chopped (this was for a lack of more leeks)

- 2 cups of finely chopped parsley

- A knob of butter (It was like a knob. Maybe more like a hefty slice.)

- 1-2 stalks of celery, chopped

- A couple potatoes, peeled

- 1 lb of parsnips, chopped

- 2 cups water

- 4 cups mushroom stock (is what I used. Vegetable, beef, chicken. Whatever you got.)

- Salt, Pepper, Thyme

Preparation

In hot saucepan, soften leeks and onion in butter. Add celery, parsnips, potatoes and season with salt, pepper, thyme. Sweat them out a bit more, then add the water and stock. I usually just add the water and the stock cubes at the same time, probably not the best idea but it works just fine when I forget to make the stock beforehand. Bring to a boil and let simmer until parsnips and potatoes are tender. Remove from heat, add parsley and blitz with a hand blender or regular blender by adding the soup in batches. Serve. 

It had a peaceful, soft green colour. I thought the parsley would come out punching but you can really 

taste the parsnip. It played gently with the parsley in the playground that was our soup.

We followed up the soup with some chicken sausages and mash potatoes. Yum.

if this is chemical...

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Dunderi - Ricotta Pastaling

Today the power went out, but thankfully we have a gas stove and since there was nothing to do I decided to make some pasta that doesn't require a pasta machine. I started watching a series called "Two Greedy Italians" to get a better idea of what non-pasta Italian cuisine is. Dunderi is like an ellipse of ricotta, parmesan and flour so it's kind of like a pasta dumpling? A pastaling?

This will be a partial episode of Foodboxing, since we got a large box of produce on Tuesday with an interesting special ingredient.

Dunderi Ricotta Pasta Dumplings (Pastalings) as written down from episode 1 of Two Greedy Italians
Printable Recipe

Dunderi Ingredients
200g flour (After looking this up, it is about 1.6 cups of sifted flour)
A little more flour for dusting dough/work surface
220g ricotta cheese
3 egg yolks
20-30g parmesan cheese
A pinch of nutmeg
A pinch of salt and pepper
A pot of salted boiling water.

Sauce 
1 red chili, chopped, seeds and all (I used red pepper flakes)
3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
Olive oil
2 cans of diced tomatoes
A generous handful of basil, chopped

Preparation


Get the water in a pot and on the stove. Combine ricotta and egg yolks in a bowl with a fork. Mix in parmesan, nutmeg, salt, pepper. Add flour and use your hands to combine ingredients into a ball of pasta dough. Lightly flour a work surface and knead just a teensy bit more. Slice the ball into about 1 inch slices. Roll each piece into a roll. Lightly flour the tops. Slice the rolls into little pieces. Guests might think they look like pieces of banana.

Start on the sauce. Put some olive oil into a hot pan. Toss in the garlic and chili. Add the tomatoes. Stir briefly then add the basil.

Put the dunderi into the boiling water and cover for 3-4 minutes. Eventually they will rise from the bottom and start to float.

Remove the dunderi from the water with a slotted spoon and mix into the sauce pot. Make sure they get all covered in the sauce. Serve with fresh grated parmesan.

This was surprisingly easy and quick to make. It was also very different from any pasta I've ever had. It had such a natural taste with an incredibly fresh and aromatic sauce. One of my friends and I discussed how home made sauce doesn't quite pack the same kind of kick that store bought sauces do. I'm guessing our salt content is much, much lower or perhaps these home made sauces taste better the next day? I'll find out tomorrow at lunch.

it battles and devours me
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Red* Velvet Cheesecake - Birthday Cake, Birthday Cake

Note: I didn't mark the title with a star because I thought that this cake was a shining star of cakes, nor did I think it was a French comic book viking. 

My Friday dinner cooking partner first introduced me to red velvet cupcakes two years ago when she, my wife and I went to visit a yearly 'Ye Olde' Market in Old Montréal. Along the way we stopped into Les Glaceurs, a cup cake shop which has a prime location right next to the Notre Dame Basilica. 

We each picked one cupcake. I picked the top right lemon one. 

Bites were shared and we all agreed that red velvet was super duper number one. At a later get together, she went and made red velvet cupcakes so needless to say, she likes them a lot. It was only fitting that after being inspired by the Cheesecake Factory in Boston, I decided to make a red velvet cheesecake for her birthday. 

I can't write about cheese cake and not mention my Mẹ's cheese cake cup cakes. They're white or chocolate cheese cup cakes, with a graham cracker base, that have sweet cherries on top. Family and friends will speak of the famed cheese cakes and since my Mẹ is so nice, she will always make plenty if she knows there are guests coming who crave the cheese cake.

This will be the first time I've ever made cheese cake but I have cheese cake flowing through my blood and from that comes the experience and knowledge required, right? Unfortunately, they weren't red velvet so I pointed at the internet and said "red velvet cheesecake, go!"

Red Velvet Cheesecake (From Recipegirl.com)

(If you click 'print recipe' on her site it's going to print 2 pages, where the 2nd page will contain half a sentence. I hate that!)

I know I often joke about how I stray from the recipe but I 100% followed this one. Wait, actually, I remembered that because I didn't have a cake pan, I borrowed one from the birthday girl and it was an 11' pan so I had to crush a few extra Oreos, but that's fine...

Ingredients:

CRUST:
17 oreo cookies, crushed finely (23 if using an 11' pan)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 Tablespoon granulated white sugar

CHEESECAKE:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
2 ounces red food coloring (two 1-ounce bottles)

FROSTING:
3 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
heavy duty foil

Directions:

1. Prepare crust: Stir together Oreo crumbs, melted butter, and 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar; press mixture into bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

2. Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare water bath: Fill large roasting pan (big enough for springform pan to fit into) with about 1 inch of water. Place in oven and allow to preheat along with the oven.

3. Prepare filling: Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Add eggs and remaining cheesecake ingredients, mixing on low speed just until fully combined. Pour batter into prepared crust.

4. Take out two sheets of heavy duty foil and layer them on top of one another. Place springform pan on top of the foil and wrap the foil gently around the pan and up the sides. Make sure that there are no tears or holes and that the foil comes all the way up around all sides of the cake. Carefully place the foil-protected pan into the water bath in the preheated oven.

5. Bake for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300°F. Bake for an additional 75 minutes or until the center is firm. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven for 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven. Carefully remove cheesecake from water bath and place on wire rack. Run a thin knife around the outer edge of the cheesecake. Cool on rack for a couple of hours, until the cheesecake becomes close to room temperature. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours (or overnight). Remove sides of springform pan.

6. Prepare frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Spread evenly on top of cheesecake. Garnish, if desired.

Tips:

*You may sub 1 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs for the crushed oreos.
*You may choose to bake the cheesecake instead with no water bath. Bake at 325 for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300 and bake for an additional 75 minutes. Let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes. Remove from oven; cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. (Baking without a water bath - you run the risk of cracking the top of the cheesecake).
*Some readers have indicated that there is far too much frosting for this recipe. I personally like a lot of frosting, so you can see a thick layer of frosting in the photograph. If you're not big on frosting, you can leave it off entirely or cut the frosting recipe in half.

Source: RecipeGirl.com (Adapted from Southern Living)

This cake is so amazingly rich and delicious. One would think that a cream cheese icing on top of a cheese cake would be overkill, but it works quite perfectly with the red velvet which was more mousse-like than cheese cakey. However, this may be more related to how we only let it set for a couple hours (it's a long story).

The finished product.

If you've taken a look at RecipeGirl's recipe, you're probably noticing a slight disparity between the colours of our respective cheese cakes. For a reason I have yet to determine, mine took on a fuschia/raspberry colour! It basically happened at the point where I added the two bottles of food colouring. I was extra excited to bake this cake because I got to use my new Kitchenaid mixer that has been sitting in the cupboard for a month. I usually like to bake with my own two hands but I figured for a cheese cake I could use all the help I can get.

One minute, it's cocoa brown.

The next, it's raspberry velvet!

So I strayed from the recipe but only in the base, and the base is sitting next to the mixer, unable to have any effect on the mixture!

Crushing up an entire bag of Oreos has always been a
dream of mine.

If I were to investigate what could have possibly gone wrong, I would guess that it would be in my mixing of light and regular cream cheese. The recipe called for 3 and a half packages (including the cream cheese icing). I bought two regular and two light (slightly less fat) packages then mixed two regular and one light as the three packages that go into the cake batter. Perhaps there is some property of the light cream cheese that lightened up the red of the food colouring. I just dug through my recycling to make sure that both the bottles of food colouring said 'Red' and they did, just to confirm that I didn't end up buying 'Fuschia'. In the end, the birthday girl enjoyed it and everyone thought the colour was interesting. It does look more refreshing and summery rather than a green and red Holiday cake.

Any other thoughts on why I got Fuschia cake?

We were slightly impatient

that slow southern style

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