Super Fabulous Summer No-Bake Cheesecake!

Today I'm sharing a truly fabulous recipe here on the blog, but first, let me congratulate my blog-sister Cleo Coyle on the release of ROAST MORTEM.

Today is release day, which is always cause for celebration!

And we here at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen do love to celebrate!

Roast Mortem is out right now. You can find it in bookstores everywhere!

Now... Cheesecake...

You won't believe how great this cheesecake is. Seriously.

I hear you: You're protesting, insisting that, no-bake cheesecakes aren't bad, but never as satisfying as the kind you get at a restaurant. I won't lie and tell you that I don't crave a classic cheesecake (Junior's, Cheesecake Factory, Eli's, etc.) from time to time, but I will tell you that baking one in the middle of

summer is not on my agenda. I'll bet it's not on yours either.

I was invited to dinner at a friend's house this past Saturday, with the only request that I bring dessert.

I put this cheesecake together that afternoon and pulled it out of the freezer just as we left the house. Nicely defrosted by dessert time, and best of all? It was delicious!

Six adults all sampled this and everyone raved. I brought home the meager leftovers and my kids went nuts for it. Creamy, rich, easy, and no-bake!

You ready? You're gonna love it!

No Bake Cheesecake a la Julie

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

2 cups pecan cookie crumbs (I pulverized the store-brand equivalent of Pecan Sandies in my food processor until finely ground)

10 Tbsp butter (1 stick plus 2 T), melted

3 Tbsp sugar for the crust

3 - 8 oz pkgs cream cheese - room temperature

1/2 cup sugar for the filling

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 cup whipping cream

Fruit topping

Combine graham cracker and cookie crumbs with sugar. Add melted butter and stir until the mixture sticks together. Press into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator.

Combine the 3 packages of room-temperature cream cheese with the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of sugar. Using a hand mixer, beat until creamy.

In a separate bowl (I used a chilled metal bowl) whip the cream until soft peaks hold. Fold this cream into the cream cheese mixture. Mix well by hand. Don't use the mixer.

Spread into the prepared springform pan. Cover with fruit topping (I used raspberry preserves slightly warmed in the microwave for easier spreading). Once the topping is in place, cover with aluminum foil and freeze for at least an hour or two.

About an hour before serving, remove the springform side and move the cheesecake to the refrigerator. Should be just right by dessert time. Truly, truly, a fabulous dessert. Easy enough to make at home, pretty enough for company.

And... speaking of Cleo... can't you picture her strawberry or blueberry toppings here? Ooh.. I can!!

Have fun with this! Enjoy!

Julie

Author of GRACE UNDER PRESSURE, first in the Manor House Mystery series. At your favorite bookstore today!

Oh no, not them again!

Good morning (or evening, or whenever it is you're reading)!

No, my title doesn't have anything to do with uninvited guests showing up at my door. Nope, today's blog is about something far more dreadful (not!).

But first, I want to remind you of a couple of cool things:

First, this is the perfect time to sign up for Avery Aames' newsletter and to get "in the know" about her first Cheese Shop Mystery, The Long Quiche Goodbye (I *adore* that title!) which Lorna Barrett called "A lovely tour de fromage..."

Avery's book debuts July 6, 2010. Follow the link below to keep updated:

If you want to know more about A Cheese Shop Mystery series and even become a "fan", check out my website by clicking this link: Avery Aames.

And we can't forget Elizabeth's April Contest. If you haven't entered yet, don't delay. The contest ends this week and you won't want to miss your chance to win that great grilling rub collection from Williams-Sonoma!

The first book in the Memphis Barbeque series, Delicious and Suspicious, will be released July 6. To celebrate its upcoming release, I’m throwing a giveaway! :)Are you interested in winning Williams-Sonoma’s Ultimate Grilling Rub Collection? It’s easy to enter! Just send an emailto MysteryLoversKitchen@gmail.com with

“Contest” in the subject line.

Really, really want to up your chances?You’ll get one extra entry if you follow us on Twitter, one extra if you subscribe to our posts (in the right hand sidebar under “Subscribe”), and one extra for becoming a follower (by clicking the “follow” button in the right hand column under our book covers and blog roll.) Just send us an extra email at MysteryLoversKitchen@gmail.com and let us know what you’ve signed up for. If you’re already a follower or subscriber, let us know that, too!

Now, onto today's recipe.

I titled this "Oh no, not them again!" for good reason. Whenever we at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen blog about Brussels Sprouts, we get fewer comments and fewer hits. But the poor maligned vegetable deserves better treatment (I'm talking to you, Dave!)

I'm including a super easy recipe that makes those itty bitty cabbages taste great! Trust me. I blogged once about a Brussels Sprouts appetizer. This one is a side dish. One that's gotten rave reviews from family members who claim to hate the little green sprouts.

So, with a little trepidation and hoping I haven't lost all our readers for the day, here goes:

(adapted from Vegetarian Cooking)

2/3 cup whipping cream

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

1 1/2 lbs Brussels Sprouts, sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a shallow baking dish (I used a 10 x 14 Pyrex glass dish). Blend cream, milk, cheese, and seasonings in a bowl.

Place a single layer of Brussels Sprouts slices in the dish. Add half the garlic. Pour about a quarter of the liquid over the sprouts. Then add another layer of sprouts and pour more of the cream over them. Continue until all sprouts are layered and all liquid has been used.

Cover and bake for about an hour. Check on them and push any uncovered sprouts back into the mixture. Bake until bubbling and until the edges of exposed sprouts begin to brown. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Mmm!! Delicious!

I hope you give this recipe a try. Next week I have something completely different to talk about. Please tune in. No Brussels Sprouts. I promise!

Have fun!

Julie

Please sign up for my newsletter at my blog here. A new version will be going out very soon! Lots of updates. Contest coming too!

Avery Aames Cheese Stix

I don’t know if I’ve told you, but I recently moved back to Los Angeles. It’s where my husband and I met, and we wanted to return to warm weather, sunshine, and family.

[Book note: For those of you looking forward to reading The Long Quiche Goodbye, the first in A Cheese Shop Mystery series, family is all-important to my protagonist Charlotte Bessette.]


Now, granted, our twenty-three-year-old son and his young bride have chosen to live in New York and why not? It’s such a fabulous city. We figure we’ll visit them there a lot. But for now, as my husband moves into a new career consulting for college sports, and I can write anywhere, we’re in the West.

And loving it! [Did you know LA had 75 degree temperatures for the past month, whereas the rest of the country was suffering from ice storms and more? It's the main reason people move to California during the winter.]

One little MOVING snag. We thought we could buy a house, close quickly, and move in, except we couldn’t find one that didn’t need a total reconstruction. Not just a kitchen. Not just a bathroom re-do. An overhaul. What an experience! I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say that the house is quite naturally air-conditioned at this moment!! We're living in a little apartment.

This also means that most of our “things” are in storage. Lock-down storage. In Connecticut. Where we can’t get to them.

So...working out of a kitchen that I didn’t supply with more than the essentials has proven to be a challenge for my “gourmet” blogging needs.

Today, I improvised by combining wine with cheese.

No, I didn’t use wine in my cheese stix. I used a wine bottle as a rolling pin! I kid you not!!!

Take a look.

And then enjoy the flavor of these tasty morsels.

Perfect with salads.

Perfect as a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack.

AVERY'S CHEESE STIX

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. paprika
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
4 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
6 Tbs. heavy whipping cream
2 Tbs. water (as needed)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Directions:
Mix flour, salt, pepper, paprika, baking powder. Cut in the butter.

Mix in cheddar. Add cream and enough water to make dough sticky.

Roll it into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for an hour.

Remove from refrigerator. Knead then roll out on a lightly floured board, about 1/8 inch thick and 3 inches long. Cut in slices. Set on a cookie tray.

Bake at 425 degrees for 8 minutes.

Cool and enjoy!

***For Gluten-free cooks, make it one cup of your favorite GF flour, add 1/2 tsp. Xanthan gum, and know that you’ll have to hand-form these little gems because it’s too hard to roll out the dough. But they taste absolutely fabulous!


Remember, our next Iron Chef week is coming up with our new secret ingredient.

Also remember, if you’d like, sign up for my next newsletter, where I share lots of tidbits about my new book as well as a history about particular cheeses, click on this link: Avery Aames Newsletter. My first CONTEST via the newsletter is NEXT WEEK. All who are signed up are eligible to win.