Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

This recipe is surely going to make you a crowd pleaser! Substitute this dessert for your traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie and no one will mind!



Crust

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 1/3 cup Christie Honey Maid Graham Crumbs
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  

Directions

• Melt the butter
• Pour the crumbs and sugar into your 9 inch pie plate. Pour the melted butter on top, mix together and press into the bottom of the plate.
• Optionally, you can bake at 375°F for 8 minutes.

Hints

• For a twist to this crust mix, why not grind up some Oreo cookies? If you use Oreo cookies, then don't worry about adding sugar or butter!
  

Cheesecake Filling

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages of Cream Cheese (Kraft's Philadelphia works best)
  
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup canned puree pumpkin
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
  
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  

Directions

• preheat oven to 250° F
• In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar and vanilla; mix at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended.
• Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Put aside one cup of this cream cheese mixture (for swirling). To the remainder of the mixture, add the pumpkin puree, remaining 3/4 cup sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Mix well.
• Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust. Then pour the remaining cream cheese mixture that we put aside onto the top of the mixture we just added. Using a butter knife, swirl the batter several times without touching the crust for a marbled effect.
• Bake for 75 minutes or until set.

Hints:

• You can substitute spiced pumpkin pie puree for the pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
• When making this dessert, I tend to make it the day before so that I can leave it covered in the fridge overnight. This gives the cake a good consistency.
• Use a circular 9 inch springform pan (I use this one from Paderno).
  

Poached Eggs with Salmon and Avocado

This recipe makes a great, protein-rich breakfast... if you can afford the time first thing in the morning! (That's not to say it takes a long time, just more than pouring a bowl of cereal!) My taste-tester had her doubts when I told her, but was quickly convinced that this recipe deserves to be made again (and again).

Ingredients

• 1 small red onion
• 1 avocado
• 1 large piece of smoked salmon tip
• 4 eggs
• 4 slices of bread
• Fresh chopped green onions

Sauce

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• Juice from half a lemon
• 1 tbsp chives
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Pepper, to taste

Equipment

• Egg poachers
• Knife
• Pot or frying pan to boil water for poaching eggs.

Steps

1. First, set a pan or pot with water to boil at a nice rolling boil speed (so you don't have to wait later for it!)
2. Next, make the sauce. Add the components of the sauce together in a small mixing bowl, and mix until it is thoroughly blended. Set aside for later.
3. When the water is ready at a slow boil, break the eggs into lightly oiled egg poachers, and set them in the water. Cover, and cook for approximately 4 minutes. This should cook the whites of the eggs, while leaving the yolk mostly runny. Cook longer if you prefer it more hard-boiled. Remove the poachers from the water when the time is up. In the meantime...
   
4. Toast 4 pieces of bread.
5. Cut the avocado into 4 pieces, and remove the rind and seed. Cut each quarter into several slices, and lay the slices from each quarter on to each of the 4 pieces of toast.
6. Chop the red onion into small, thin slices, and lay as many slices are you wish on the top of the avocado layer.
7. Next to add is the salmon. I prefer to buy a single large piece from the supermarket, and I break it into 4 quarters and crumble the quarters over the avocado and onions. (See my note below for a variation.)
8. Spoon a tablespoon or two of the sauce over the salmon. Again, add as much as your taste desires.
9. Remove the poached eggs from the poachers by using a knife to loosen the edges and then flipping the whole thing upside down over the salmon. The eggs should fall out easily.
10. Finally top the whole thing with a sprinkle of fresh green onions, and salt and pepper to taste.

For a more complex and fancy variation, try purchasing larger filets of smoked salmon. Instead of crumbling it over the avocado, use a medium-sized piece to wrap the poached egg, and place the whole thing over the rest.

Also, if you don't have egg poachers, you can poach the eggs directly in the boiling water. The trick is to not have it rapidly boiling, and to add a splash of white vinegar to the water. The vinegar ensures that the egg whites don't just spread out everywhere in the water, but rather that they coagulate as a whole piece. For the same reason, a minimum amount of boiling helps as well... you need it hot enough to cook, but not so rapidly boiling that the bubbles destroy the eggs to bits! (Unfortunately, I know this from experience!)