Carla's Honey Goat Cheese Cheesecake

Honey. YUM.

Despite my slight fear of bees and some weird hang-ups about honeycomb (It’s actual WAX! That people eat!), honey is a super spectacular sweet flavoring that I can’t get enough of.  Predictably, I love honey swirled into tea or on crunchy toast with butter.  Instead of thinking of it as an accent for this week’s theme (as I usually do), I decided to brainstorm a dish that would really be able to show off the unique attributes of honey.

Immediately, I thought of how delicious honey is alongside cheese and decided the perfect concept would be to create a type of cheesecake.  This would allow me to combine some of my favorite flavors together with the honey: goat cheese and pistachios.

And so, the Honey Goat Cheese Cheesecake was born:

Honey Goat Cheese Cheesecake

Make in an 8x8 pan for 16 square sized pieces

For the Crust:

-          ½ cup pistachio meat (I was able to buy a small bag of the unshelled goods for only $5 at my Trader Joe’s)

-          1 cup graham cracker crumbs

-          2 tbsp sugar

-          6 tbsp butter (plus an extra pat to butter your pan)

For the Filling:

-          8 oz  cream cheese

-          10 oz goat cheese

-          1 tsp vanilla extract

-          1/3 cup honey

-          1 egg

For the Pistachio Dust

-          ¼ cup pistachio meat

-          1 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Pulse the pistachio meat in a food processor to mimic the texture of the graham crackers.  A few larger chunks are, of course, just fine (and likely even desirable.)   Melt your butter on the stove and let it cool.

Combine the ground pistachio meat, graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a bowl.

Once your butter is cool, add to the dry mixture and combine.  After properly buttering your pan, spread the crust mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Throw the pan in the oven for 8-12 minutes to set the crust and give it a nice toasty-brown look.  Set it out to cool.

Begin your filling by combining your cream cheese and goat cheese in a mixer.  Whip until just mixed.

 

Add the vanilla extract, honey and the beaten egg.  (Depending on your sweet tolerance, the 1/3 cup of honey may not be enough.  I wanted to get the honey flavor without too much sugar in order to be able to detect the goat cheese, so I loved it as is.  If you have a small taste of the filling and find it not sweet enough, consider adding a tbsp of sugar instead of more honey.  Since honey is sweeter than sugar, it’s easy to overdo it.)

(PS- If you’re not using a real vanilla extract (imitation extract is, sadly, in rampant use), may I suggest upgrading? My local TJ Maxx, Home Goods or Marshall’s often has versions for a great price and it really does make a difference.)

Pour the mixture over your crust.  Bake (at the same temperature of 350 degrees) for 35-45 minutes.  My oven required a full 45 minutes to set properly in a glass pan- what you’re looking for is a very slight jiggle in the center of the pan.  Once complete, cool the pan on a rack until it is able to be refrigerated.  Allow to refrigerate for AT LEAST two hours (and I ALWAYS prefer overnight for the best flavor and texture).

To create the pistachio dust to top off the cake, candy the nuts on your stove.  Add the nuts and sugar over medium heat.  As the sugar melts, stir to coat your nuts.  Once all the nuts are coated, set them aside and allow them to cool.  After they’re cool and crunchy again, pulse in the food processor before sprinkling over your completed cake.

The Verdict:

This slightly sweet cheesecake picks up some great tang from the goat cheese and a really amazing pistachio crunch from the crust.  A must-try (in my humble opinion).

Alyssa's Honey-Glazed Salmon

Our recipe theme this week is honey.  My first thought was to do a fun dessert, maybe a honey-thyme ice cream.  But I know Carla is going to show you a fancy sweet treat, and I'm not even going to try to compete with it!  So I decided to incorporate honey into a savory dish instead.  When given the choice between salty or sweet, I go with salty any day (see Carla's popcorn post vs. mine! Can you tell who has the sweet tooth?).

Salmon is a really affordable protein option in Japan, and I love eating it as a healthy lunch.  I usually incorporate Asian flavors, making a marinade of miso, soy and ginger.  But after playing around with honey glazes this week, I am definitely adding this into my rotation.  The honey makes a thick, sticky sauce that caramelizes under the broiler.  These blackened bits may look like a mistake, but they're actually the best part of the fish!  I added a little cayenne pepper for a touch of heat, and some soy sauce to cut through the honey's sweetness with a bit of saltiness.  This is such an easy recipe, and you probably have all of the glaze ingredients in your kitchen already!

Honey-glazed Salmon
serves 1

2 salmon fillets or 1 steak (depending on their size and how hungry you are!)
1/4 c honey
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you want it)

Preheat your broiler. Line a pan with tinfoil and coat with nonstick spray.  Place the salmon skin-side down on the tray (if using fillets).
Whisk together the honey, soy sauce and pepper.  Brush the glaze liberally over the salmon.
Broil for 3 minutes.  Flip salmon, brush with more sauce and return to the broiler for 3 more minutes.
Brush again with glaze and return to the broiler until done.  My fillets were fairly thin so they only took 6 minutes (and I like my salmon cooked on the medium side, rather than well-done).  You may need a few more minutes, especially if you're using steaks.  The edges should caramelize, so don't be afraid if it turns black in some spots!
Remove from the broiler and brush again with sauce.  I liked the glaze so much that I ended up just pouring it over the salmon!

Enjoy!