Camarones al mojo de ajo (Garlic Shrimp) & Cheesecake

Hector likes to recreate dishes that he remembers from when he was a child in Mexico. He'll usually look them up, to see all the ingredients, but then make them from memory. He's very talented in this way.

We've had a bag of shrimp in the freezer for, oh.. about a month now. You see, I don't like shrimp. So, I never made any effort to cook with it. Finally, Hector did one of his searches and came up with "Camarones al mojo de ajo," or garlic shrimp. I watched him, while I watched Cohen.

It was basically a reduction sauce made up of butter, lime juice, 1/2 cup of chopped garlic (yes, HALF a cup..) and EVOO (Rachel Ray's coined term for extra virgin olive oil). Then he added some sliced chipotle peppers and adobo sauce. He threw in the shrimp and let them simmer.

I tasted this dish and it tasted great, except that I don't care for the crunchy/chewy texture of shrimp. But he said it turned out exactly (if not better) than he'd planned. :)

sauteing a ton of garlic ;)

Finished dish. Looks yummy, right??

Great job, honey! I married a winner. :)

We've wanted to  make a cheesecake for a while now. Not sure which foodnetwork chef set us off, but we've really felt a need to try it. Or maybe we do (see below). Now I'm not talking Jello brand, just add milk and you're set.. No, no. From scratch. 

I searched foodnetwork.com for a good-looking cheesecake recipe. I was pretty certain I'd choose a Barefoot Contessa recipe, since she's my favorite. But then I ran across Anne Burrell's Goat Cheese Cheesecake. And it clicked! We'd seen her make this on her show Secrets of a Restaurant Chef! And I could trace our desire to make cheesecake back to the day we'd seen this episode. 

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 Cups gingersnap crumbs (we used graham cracker crumbs)

1/4 Cup sugar

6 Tablespoons melted butter, and a little extra

Pinch of salt

Filling:

2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese, at room temperature

1 (12 oz.) log of goat cheese

12 oz. creme fraiche or sour cream

4 eggs

1 Cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Special equipment:

9 in. spring form pan

Mix crumbs, sugar, salt and melted butter together in a bowl. Rub the extra butter on pan. Press crust mixture onto bottom and about half way up the sides of the pan. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the goat and cream cheeses together until light and fluffy. Then add the creme fraiche until well combined. Next, add the eggs, one at a time until well combined. Now add the sugar and vanilla until just combined. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. 

Pour filling into the crust and bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes. Set the spring form pan on a baking sheet before putting it in the oven. Halfway through, open oven and rotate 180 degrees. If you notice the top of the cake beginning to color, tent the pan with aluminum foil. 

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Preferably, refrigerate overnight before serving. Enjoy!

We did end up putting the foil over ours, because, as you can see, the edges started browning. And just a side note, the middle will still look runny-ish when you pull it out, but don't worry. It will set completely once you refrigerate it. It looks amazing! But we refrained from eating it, and are letting it cool in the refrigerator overnight. Perhaps our lucky foundation group will get to sample it tomorrow night? ;)

Can I just say that this would not have been possible without my stand mixer? It is my dream tool, and it is QUITE living up to all it's hype. 

I can't wait to let you know how this, our first ever Cheesecake, turns out. I'll report on it tomorrow sometime. Cheesecake is Hector's all-time favorite dessert, so we're super excited to see if this is a good recipe or not. If the filling that we licked off the paddle is any indication, I think we're set! :)