Cheesecake for Valentine's Day... or any day

Cheesecake is a special treat anytime. I made one yesterday and we ate it today in honor of Super Bowl Sunday (I had to eat a second slice after my Colts blew it at the end). This recipe for rich Cherry Almond Cheesecake would make a great surprise for your Valentine too.

Cherries and almond are a terrific combination, but try as I might I could not find a recipe for a cherry almond cheesecake that sounded good. I experimented with one at Christmas, and it reaffirmed by belief that although almond extract is delicious, it doesn't take much before you have too much in a dish. This one turned out much better. Instead of buying canned pie filling, which is chock full of artificial coloring and corn syrup, I found canned Oregon pie cherries and followed the directions on the back to make pie filling (which was super easy).

Hope you enjoy this recipe... on Valentine's Day or any day.

Cherry Almond Cheesecake
12 servings
Crust:
1-1/4 c. raw almonds
1-1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
2 T. powdered sugar
6 T. butter, melted
1/4 t. almond extract

Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 8-ounce packages reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 t. vanilla
1 15-ounce can cherry pie filling (if possible, buy pie cherries and make your own pie filling)

Topping:
1 c. sour cream
2 T. sugar
1 t. vanilla

Toast almonds and let cool. Place almonds and graham crackers in a food processor and grind to fine crumbs. Pour into a medium-sized bowl and mix in powdered sugar. Combine butter and almond extract, then pour into crumb mixture. Stir until well combined. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up the sides of an 8-inch springform pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing until just combined. Mix in vanilla. Pour into springform pan. Carefully spoon pie filling on top of cream cheese mixture. Using a butter knife, cut through fillings to swirl.

Bake for 45 minutes or until middle is almost set. While cheesecake is cooking, combine sour cream, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl.

Remove cheesecake from oven and pour sour cream mixture on top. Spread over cheesecake so it is completely covered. Return cheesecake to oven and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Cool cheesecake on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around cheesecake to loosen from pan. Cool an additional hour on wire rack. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Soups Help Ward Off The Cold

One of the best things about winter is eating soup. Soups are comforting and warming on cold days. Many of them freeze well, meaning they’re easy to store and pull out when I need a quick lunch or dinner.

Here’s my one piece of advice about soup: if it’s a broth-based delicacy, make your own stock. It’s miles better than anything you can find in a can or box, and usually lower in sodium. Here are some tips to make cooking your own stock easy and affordable:

**Make stock in a slow cooker. You can turn it on and leave it on the counter all day.

**If you want to make vegetable stock, toss your veggie scraps (carrot peelings, celery leaves, tomatoes cores, etc.) in a plastic bag and store them in the freezer until you’re ready to cook the stock.

**Many chicken stock recipes call for a whole chicken, which I never use. Instead, I buy a whole chicken; cut off the breasts, legs and thighs; and put the chicken carcass in the pot. If you don’t want to try cutting up a chicken, buy chicken wings or legs instead.

**Rather than skimming the fat off hot stocks made with meat, I pour the stock into a heat-proof bowl and put it in the refrigerator. Put a couple towels or hot pads underneath the bowl to protect the fridge, especially if you have glass shelves. The fat will solidify overnight, so it’s easy to skim off the top. Fat has a lot of flavor, so you might leave in a couple pieces.

I’m including a basic recipe for Chicken Stock. Try it out with this recipe for Minestrone, which I developed in college when I was trying to eat more vegetables.

Hopefully these soups will find a home among your favorites, and the stock can jazz up some of your old family recipes. The only problem with making your own stock? Once you taste the difference you may never go back to the stuff from the store.

Chicken Stock
Makes 5-9 cups
1 chicken carcass
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks with leaves, coarsely chopped
½ yellow onion, cut into quarters
2 bay leaves
3-4 sprigs parsley, rosemary or thyme
10 peppercorns
1 t. salt

Place all ingredients in a large slow cooker. Add enough water to cover ingredients (usually between 6 and 10 cups depending on size of cooker). Cook on low heat for 8-9 hours, or high heat for up to 5 hours. Remove solids and skim fat.

Spinach Minestrone
Makes 8 servings
1 T. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
1 16-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 16-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, undrained
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
½ c. orzo (or other small pasta)
½ t. dried parsley
¼ t. salt
1 bunch spinach, stems removed and coarsely chopped
Shredded parmesan cheese and fresh cracked pepper, for serving (if desired)

Heat oil in a large stock pot. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add stock, beans, tomatoes, carrot, celery, orzo, parsley, oregano and salt. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover and cook until orzo is tender, about 15 minutes. Add spinach and return to a boil, then remove from heat. Serve with parmesan cheese and pepper if desired.