Today I've been cooking up a storm while Don is at work. Miraculously, Ulysses slept most of the morning. So I made some things to go for the week. A big pot of chili is in the oven, made with stir-fry beef, kidney beans, chili beans, pinto beans, Penzey's chili con carne blend, and extra cumin, hot pepper, and paprika. And of course my favorite secret chili ingredient, a big tablespoon of cocoa powder. Also a sack of dried chilis: pasillos negros.
Before that, I made a tray of Greek pastitsio, kind of like what I remember from when I was a kid and we belonged to the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Baltimore. They would serve this sometimes at church suppers. It was wonderful: great pans of ground beef spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon and mixed with elbow macaroni, layered on top with a thick custard fragrant with nutmeg.
Meantime, I've had a hankering to make cheesecake. I looked among the classic cookbooks: Joy of Cooking, Betty Crocker's 1950 cookbook. None of the recipes seemed to be what we think of as cheesecake in these modern times.
I picked a recipe from the Anniversary Slovak-American Cookbook from Don's New Jersey days. Our of about a half-dozen recipes in that book, it was the only one that used cream cheese rather than cottage cheese.
Well, let me tell you. I think that cheesecake yesterday and cheesecake today are vastly different things.
At first it seemed I wound up with something that looks terrific on the outside but disappoints on the inside. The stiffly beaten egg whites separated upwards to form a tasteless meringue. The two bricks of cream cheese mixed with egg yolks, vanilla, 1/2 cup sugar, and a cup of cream (I used half and half) is a bland goo.
Throughout the day, I tried to think of what to do with this ensemble of rich, luscious ingredients. Crush it into something and rebake it? Something involving fruit?
Good news.The Slovak ladies haven't let me down yet when it comes to dessert. The secret ingredient for this cheesecake was time, it turned out. The consistency somehow evened itself out over the course of the day. It turned itself into a mild. poufy cake. I cooked up some fruit topping with strawberry jam, some fresh blueberries I happened to have on hand, water, and corn starch. Just the thing.