IP Food: Cheesecake

OMG!

Hurricane Lane was a doozy!  The amount of rain it dumped here was absolutely insane.  I can only imagine it will take weeks (maybe even months for some residents) for East Hawaii to recover from the flood damage.

My home is generally good during heavy rains.  Even though our foundation is a slab, it's built high enough and has fairly good drainage.  Unfortunately, part of my property borders a pasture which also shares a boundary with another lot.  Both property boundaries meet up along my fence, and both have contributed to headaches for me during heavy rains.  The runoff from the pasture is just disgusting, and somehow, during heavy storms, the pasture flows alongside my fence.  The other property owner is elderly and has done nothing to maintain the far reaches of her property, so the area along my fence is overgrown with weeds.  No doubt that these weeds and brush contributed to the backup of the drainage, which makes the pasture flow into my property even more.

Luckily, after the pic below was taken, TheHelp was able to figure out from where the gush of water from the pasture was entering, and he was able to put up a reasonable dike to minimize the pasture water flowing into the pool.  In addition to the outside water woes, this time TheHelp also had to crawl into my attic to fix 2 places in my roof where water was seeping into the wall.  I am hoping that there will be no lasting effects, as the water was draining out (I saw the water draining onto my patio and master bedroom sliding door area).  With the exception of the roof and the pasture, we managed to fare alright.

I was pleasantly surprised that we had power during the storm.  I was worried about having to deal with thawing food, not being able to do laundry, having to cook on the patio, and, the worst, having no internet.  And with a storm like Lane, there would have been no way for HELCO to get power back on until after the storm settled.

School was cancelled on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week, and I was glad the decision to cancel was made early.  The decision-makers in the past, especially when I was in school as a student, had a tendency to wait for a long time before making the decision (in my older years, I've come realize that the decision-maker back then was just pathetic).  Having time off was nice, but like other "vacations", the time seems to just slip by.  I realized today that we will soon be entering September.

Even if school has been in session for close to a month, in my mind, it's still summer.  Anything August is summer.  And one of my favorite desserts to have during the summer (actually, I lie...anytime is good for this) is cheesecake.  Like D2, I cannot get enough of cheesecake.  My aunty in Seattle made THE BEST cheesecake.  I was lucky enough to eat it often when I lived in Seattle.  It was like AChar had an endless supply of cheesecake in her chest freezer in the basement.  It was a heavy, stick-to-your-ass kind of cheesecake.  And I loved every ass-sticking bite I had of it.

Of course, it was an old-fashioned cheesecake, baked in a springform pan.  Yes, baked.  I have baked a few cheesecakes, but recently, caught up in the Instant Pot craze, I experimented with making cheesecake in the Instant Pot.  I will be the first to admit, it's not even close to AChar's, and her cheesecake did not have a sour cream topping.  But it's fast and rather convenient.  No need to worry about the water bath and cracking.  And because the size is rather limited, it makes a cheesecake sized just right for a small family.

One of the popular cheesecakes for the Instant Pot is Cheesecake #17.  This recipe is not cheesecake #17.  In fact, this isn't anyone else's cheesecake.  This is MY cheesecake.  I came up with this formula because TheKeeper often blesses me with fresh eggs.  Unlike store eggs, TheKeeper's eggs come in various sizes, so that is why this recipe has a volume measurement for eggs.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Creamy IP Cheesecake

     8 rectangular graham cracker sheets
     1 tbsp brown sugar
     2 tbsp butter, melted
     16 oz cream cheese, softened
     1/2 c sugar
     1 tbsp flour
     1 tsp lemon juice
     1/4 tsp vanilla
     7 1/2- 7 3/4 tbsp beaten eggs (a little less than 3 large eggs)
     1/2 c sour cream
     1 tbsp powdered sugar
   
Line bottom and sides of 7" springform pan with parchment paper.  Pulverize graham crackers into crumbs.  Add brown sugar.  Add butter.  Press into pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 6 minutes.  Prepare filling.  Combine cream cheese, sugar, flour, lemon juice and vanilla.  Add in eggs.  Pour over baked crust.  Add 1 1/2 c water to Instant Pot (IP) and place trivet in pot with arms folded.  Center a 20" aluminum foil sling on trivet.  Place springform pan on sling.  Set IP to Manual (high pressure) for 35 minutes.  Set valve to seal.  When cooking is done, use natural pressure release for 20 minutes.  Release any pressure left and open the lid, being careful not to drip water on surface of cheesecake.  Combine sour cream and powdered sugar.  Spread evenly on surface of cheesecake.  Chill cheesecake at least 12 hours prior to serving.

The bad weather brought by Hurricane Lane was perfect for one thing...knitting.  I finished one project, which is currently blocking.

Another project finished drying just before the storm actually hit.  This was a good thing because alpaca takes a while to dry (and is horrifically stinky when wet).

Pic was taken just one day before the pool picture earlier in the blog post

This is Keene by Alicia Plummer.  How can anyone resist such a cozy, snuggly turtle neck?

...and huge hugs and a big thank you to TheHelp for the new banner art...maybe I need a PhotoShop Elements upgrade.

Korean Lettuce Wraps

My summer vacation is officially over.  Actually, it's been over for more than two weeks.  The Hawaii school year seems to begin while most of the northern hemisphere is still enjoying the dog days of summer.

So once again, the dilemma of packing a lunch presents itself.  I really don't enjoy making sandwiches.  Seems like a lot of dishes for a mediocre output.  Leftovers are a better choice for me, and a great way to use up leftover barbecue (beef, chicken or, my favorite, pork) is to make lettuce wraps.  My last post, Korean spicy bbq pork, is what I normally use for lettuce wraps.

The Help remembers having lettuce wraps as a kid.  He said they did a simple one where they put rice and some shoyu on a lettuce leaf.  D1, before she was rat lung worm-phobic, couldn't get enough of the minced chicken lettuce wraps from Hilo Rice Noodle.  We would need to buy 2 orders...1 for her and the other one for the rest of us.

For the neatest lettuce wraps, use Manoa lettuce.  The leaves are soft enough to mold around the filling, but not so soft that it will disintegrate.  I've seen it described as a leafy, bibb-type lettuce.  It is readily available in supermarkets here, and I usually buy the hydroponically grown type sold in the giant plastic bubble (takes up lots of space in the vegetable bin).  If Manoa lettuce isn't available, a boston or bibb lettuce will work.  A leafy lettuce would also do fine.  I had The Keeper over for sake sipping and served lettuce wraps using organically-grown baby Romaine.  That worked out well, since the leaves were just the right size to hold a golf ball-size rice clump and some meat slivers.  But please don't use iceberg lettuce...that would be more appropriate for minced chicken.

What makes these lettuce wraps really tasty is the sauce.  I used to buy kochojun, until my friend's mom shared her sister's recipe for the homemade stuff.  It's infinitely better than the store-bought variety.  My dad even uses it to make his own taegu.  Of course, if you're not so ambitious and don't want tubs of kochojun in the fridge, buying it in small jars is the sensible alternative.  The sauce (you can see some of it on the rice in the pictures above and below) has some kochojun in it, and I think it adds a nice flavor to the wraps.  But my dad prefers to use straight kochojun.  He smears it on the lettuce leaf before adding the rice. 

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Korean Lettuce Wraps

     Manoa lettuce, separated

     cooked rice
     strips of cooked, seasoned beef, pork, or chicken 

     3 oz shoyu

     1 tbsp kochojun (gochujang)

     1 1/2 tsp sugar

     1 1/2 tsp rice vinegar

     chopped green onion

Combine all ingredients except lettuce, rice, and meat.  To eat, place rice and desired meat on lettuce leaf.  Spoon sauce over.  Wrap up and eat.

 
It's been a little over two years since my mom passed.  Although I still miss her dearly, I feel like some normalcy and routine have returned to my life.  I'm hoping to post more frequently since I'm cooking more now (I have another mouth to feed during the work week).  Over the past few years, I've become more adept at knitting, something which would have made KikukatMom proud.  While I will continue to share favorite recipes, I hope to also share my knitting triumphs, fails, WIPs and FOs.