Kristen provided the inspiration for this tropical winter dessert, which I made at her dinner party on Sunday. She wanted something that featured guava and cashews. All the other ingredients were just things she and Billy had laying around the kitchen…like Meyer lemon syrup!
This pie was so good that I wanted to share the recipe.
Basically, it is a cheesecake. But when I picture cheesecake, I picture something twice this size. So, I just called it a pie. But if you want to make an 8″ cheesecake, just double the filling ingredients.
Kristen and Anita’s Guava Cheese Pie with Cashew Crust
for the crust:
1 c. unsalted cashews
1 sleeve plain graham crackers, broken up
½ c. light brown sugar
1 tbp. ground cinnamon, plus one more if you really like it
1 tsp. each ground ginger, nutmeg, and cloves
1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter
for the filling:
½ c. canned guava paste, cut into small chunks
1 package cream cheese (we used Neufchâtel) at room temperature
¾ c. greek yogurt
2 eggs
1 c. Meyer lemon syrup, or ½ c. sugar simmered with juice of 2 lemons until syrupy
¼ c. flour
¼ tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a food processor, pulse together all crust ingredients, except butter, until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a small bowl. Melt the butter and add ¾ of it to the bowl. Use your hands or a spoon to get it fully incorporated. Add more butter as necessary until the mixture holds a shape when squeezed in your hand.
Pour half of the crumbs into a pie plate and smash evenly on the bottom of the pan and up the sides to form a ¼” thick crust. Add extra crumbs as necessary to fill spaces.
Place in the oven and bake for about 8 minutes, until edges begin to color. Remove and allow to cool. Extra crumbs can be kept in a sealed container in the freezer for another use.
In a medium bowl, whip together the cream cheese, yogurt, eggs, lemon syrup, flour and salt with a rubber scraper or wooden spoon. Reserve.
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the guava paste with a splash of water. Keep stirring until smooth, and add another splash of water, if necessary, to keep it from sticking.
Pour half of the cheese mixture into the crust. Drop a few spoonfuls of guava on top, and drag a toothpick through the blobs to spread them out a little, being careful not to puncture the crust below. Repeat with the remaining cream cheese and guava.
Place the pie plate in an oven-safe casserole dish or tray that has enough water to come half way up the sides of the pie plate. Bake 20 minutes, then rotate and bake another 20 minutes. Check to see if the pie is set (it’s okay if it still jiggles slightly just in the center) and if not, return to oven for 10 more minutes.
Basically, you can get anything in New York City. And I don’t think I can. ever. leave.
Tramezzini- Simple Tuscan beach/picnic sandwiches on spongy, crustless white bread. My favorite is chopped egg and tuna.
Takoyaki- Japanese puffed pancake balls stuffed with octopus and topped with mayo, Worcestershire sauce, and bonito.
Acaraje- Brazilian black bean fritters stuffed with baby shrimp and pico de gallo (via nymag.com).
Vietnamese Crepe- A big, crispy yellow pancake filled with bean sprouts, shrimp, and sometimes pork; served with lettuce, mint sprigs, cukes and vinegary dipping sauce.
Lahmacun- Turkish spicy lamb pizza served with fresh sprigs of parsley and lemon.
Gulab Jaman- Indian fried dough balls in aromatic syrup, or, as I like to call them: “wet donuts.”
Whitebait- Fried, french-fry-sized tiny fish, eaten whole with dipping sauce. I originally searched for Marithes, the Greek version, but Menupages is weak on Queens.
Elotes- Mexican grilled corn cup with lime, cotija and chili powder. Served hot, and oh-so comforting.
Poutine- Fries with cheese curds and gravy. From Canada, with oat a doat.
Provoletta- Grilled Argentine cheese. (They also have it at Novocento in Soho.)
Festival- Jamaican deep fried cornmeal breadstick. Eaten alongside Jerk Chicken or alone with ketchup. I like both!
Pierogi- Polish filled dumplings. My favorite are mushroom and sauerkraut, but I usually just get them from my local Brooklyn supermarket and eat cold.
Taiyaki- Black bean filled crispy pancakes in the shape of a fish that I was obsessed with in Singapore. This goes beyond Menupages.
All the diet-conscious baking I have been dabbling into paid off this week when a friend asked me to bake some goodies for her friend–the Director of a well known modeling agency–to share with his office.
For this, I wanted to focus on fresh ingredients that would bring a lot of flavor without a lot of fat. From left to right, they were: coconut layer cake with guava filling and tofu cream cheese frosting; lemon layer cake with homemade lemon-yuzu curd filling and shiso leaf; and almond spice layer cake with mango mousse filling. I also made a box of my signature vegan banana carob brownies.
Here are some guidelines for giving your own favorite recipes a healthy makeover:
• Use pureed fresh fruit to replace some of the sugar in a recipe and add flavor.
• You can also substitute 1 ¼ cup brown rice syrup for every cup of sugar in the recipe. It is a natural alternative to sugar and is less sweet. It also metabolizes more slowly so that you don’t get the spike—and subsequent crash—in energy that comes from regular sugar. Agave syrup works the same way, but is slightly more expensive.
• Decrease or omit butter in a recipe by adding other ingredients to give moisture and richness, like fruit puree, ground nuts or seeds, or small amounts of canola or olive oil.
• Nuts, when ground fine in a food processor, can also be used as a substitute for flour to make gluten-free cakes. Almonds and hazelnuts both make delicious cakes when used in conjunction with brown rice flour, which you can make at home by grinding the rice in a food processor or blender until it becomes a fine powder. Use a ratio of 1:2 for lighter cakes, and 1:1 for denser, richer cakes.
• For vegan cakes, you can substitute vegetable oil for butter and coconut milk for milk. Since coconut milk has its own fat, you can also decrease the amount of oil added to the recipe ¼ of a cup for every cup of coconut milk added.
• Look for products that have minimal or no preservatives and additives. Also, stick to ingredients that are the least processed, like unbleached flour or sea salt.
• Tofu adds body (and protein) to frosting when substituted for butter. Here’s a simple and really yummy recipe for chocolate tofu frosting. But keep in mind the following, which I learned the hard way: confectioner’s sugar has the OPPOSITE effect on tofu than it does on butter. Instead of thickening, it will create a runny, gooey mess. Use a small amount of agave syrup instead.
• To thicken mousse without egg yolks or gelatin, you can use agar flakes, which are odorless and flavorless–even though they are derived from seaweed. For every leaf of gelatin called for, substitute ¾ tablespoon agar flakes (I know, random, but it works). Next time I think I’ll try to grind the flakes to a powder for a smoother consistency.
I was so inspired by the host of my new favorite cooking show I decided to make up a recipe of my own. Here is a breakfast I made that is a cross between Japanese egg custard soup with fillings and good ol’ poached eggs. It may seem a bit fussy, but trust me, it is worth the effort. This meal was gone in seconds.
There are various ways to poach an egg, but the only foolproof one that works for me is the ladle method I use in this recipe. It is so easy you will feel like you have just skipped the school pep rally to go do wheelies in the parking lot! (more…)
On Friday afternoon, Kristen and I met at gate 51 of the Port Authority Bus Station on 42nd Street. Our destination–the sole stop on the minibus departing from gate 51–was Mitsuwa, a huge Japanese supermarket in Edgewater, New Jersey, perched on the banks of the Hudson River directly across from Harlem.
I had read about Mitsuwa on Serious Eats, while searching out taiyaki, the fish-shaped, golden griddle cakes I was hooked on in Singapore, (more…)
Today I met Ashanti for lunch at a place called Spoon on West 20th Street. She works nearby and goes there almost every day.
Like Grey Dog, the menu is coffee/sandwich/salad centered, which made my heart sink when I first walked in (see that post for why), but one glimpse of the goodies behind the glass at the front counter perked me back up.
We each started out with a strong drink (iced coffee for Ashanti, and verbena mint tea for me) and two squares of gruyere pizza with oven dried tomatoes and herbs. The pizza was amazing even though it was “cold pizza” a.k.a. served room temperature. You know, I don’t really have a problem with cold pizza. It reminds me of my first coed sleepover, and how it helped me recover from the trauma of watching my sister kiss a boy for the first time playing spin the bottle. Comfort food!
Ashanti and I had a lot to talk about, and by the time we devoured our pizza, plus a delectable green tea pot de creme with peanut tuile we’d picked out on impulse, we realized–30 minutes into our lunch date–that we’d not yet had a proper meal. So Ashanti went back to the line to order us up something meaty.
Meanwhile, I admired the steel blue, cream and robin’s egg accented interior of the place, softly lit with low hanging frosted glass fixtures and mirrors. All of the tables were vintage, and at the center of each one was a Mason jar filled with fresh white and lavender mums. Considering that the prices here are comparable to most quickie [read dreary] Manhattan lunch spots…$8 sandwiches, $4 soups…I’d say these are some pretty nice perks.
Ashanti returned with a tray of herb roasted chicken, mashed potatoes & cabbage, and a slice each of roasted acorn squash, portobello mushroom and braised leek, for us to share. The chicken was perfectly seasoned and juicy, like a home roasted chicken, and the vegetables were a hearty enough (for lunch) accompaniment.
On our way out, I saw Audrea’s sister, Melissa. She had walked all the way over from her job on Lexington just to get their roasted portobello sandwich.
I think Spoon’s focus on fresh, local ingredients has a lot to do with their popularity right now, but basically, the food just tastes good.
Spoon
17 West 20th Street, between 5th & 6th Avenues
Chelsea
Three cheers for Brooklyn! It looks like we are going to get our own Kuma Inn outpost. Kuma Inn is a Japanese/Pan-Asian Tapas place on the LES…it’s one of those sign-less, up the stairs and through the magic curtain type of places I love so much. And home of the magic dancing bonito flakes!
My friends Sky and Jessica took me there last year. When we walked in, there was a tiny kitchen where I could see King Phojanakong’s and his sous chef at work. To my surprise, they looked up, smiled and said “Hi.”
The small dining room was low lit and intimate. I don’t remember everything we ordered, but I do remember we ordered multiple times, got the seared Aji tuna…twice, and finished three bottles of white wine (it’s BYOB). Maybe that’s what made our above Oyster Omelette so magical…
Love those dumplings
By the end of our meal, Bob Marley was playing at party volume, and we danced right in our seats. We were among the last to leave, and when we did, the chefs–still perched in their little corner kitchen–bid us a friendly farewell.
I heard the menu at the new Kuma will be slightly different. I can’t wait to see what other surprises await! Stay tuned…
(Thank you, Sky, for the video/pic.)
UPDATE: Edible Manhattan Magazine did such a fun food shopping tour of Chinatown with King and he took them to my beloved beef jerky palace! They don’t have the food map on their website, but you can read the article.
Someone from my new favorite baking blog, at the King Arthur Flour test kitchen, posted this recipe for home made breakfast sandwiches. They look too good to pass up! Click the picture for the recipe, and let me know if you try.
