Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake.

From Kevin. Made this about as healthy as I could. Since I was using a shallow 9-inch pan and not a springform, I cut the creme cheese to two packages. I used one "fat free" and one "1/3 less fat". I also used one less egg and half the amount of dark chocolate chips but bumped up the amount of cocoa powder. Turned out reasonably well. Should have used more cocoa powder and sugar as it had a bit more tang than I would have preferred. Not sure where the Guinness went; a stronger stout may be in order.

Jalapeno Popper Dip Redux.

Rehashed this recipe using fresh jalapenos (via friend) instead of canned and pickled. The heat is better and more uniform. Generally, it just has a fresher taste.

New York Pasta.

Wow, it's been a long time since I cooked anything new and interesting. Apparently, all I do is drink. I figure it's the summer heat and nothing that I normally eat or want to eat sounds suitable for the weather. I came across this a while ago here. Chaya does some interesting things (like those potato muffin thingers).

A bagel with lox and cream cheese is one of the best things ever. If you can't have a stick-to-your-ribs country breakfast, this is probably the next best thing. A big, chewy bagel with a buttery crust, barely toasted; rich cream cheese (in this instance, one of the rare occasions I won't go out of my way to get a low-fat something); and buttery smooth, smoky, salty lox. Awesome.

It calls for 8oz of whipped cream cheese, but I only had a package of fat free and a package of regular cream cheese so I took half of each and tried to whip it myself a little. I also only used two eggs. The whole thing comes together pretty quickly and is pretty tasty. It was less salty than I imagined with the lox.

Oatmeal Mango Cheesecake.

Went looking for a mango cookie recipe and found this instead. Seriously, what's the deal with everyone wanting to sprinkle crumbled crap all over everything? I thought it looked way better without the topping and just a fan of mango slices.

Yeah, definitely would have tasted better without the stuff on top.

Radish and Scallion Dip.

Sourced from Farm Girl. Basically just processor'ed radishes, creme cheese, feta, scallions, a bit of pepper and lemon juice. I used only half the amount of creme cheese so it came out a bit watery but very fresh tasting. More creme cheese = more like a spread, which would be/is pretty good on some pulled pork or turkey sandwiches.

Artichoke Bread.

Sourced from Closet. Basically artichoke dip bread on bread and baked a bit. Pretty good.

Holiday on a Roll.

Finally got around to recreating the sandwich I had a few summers ago. Turkey, creme cheese, and cranberry sauce. I added some onions and nixed the sprouts because they are damn expensive.

Crab Jalapeno Popper Dip.

Yanked from the Closet. Simple and straightforward. Pretty good because, generally, dips are pretty good.

Reuben Dip.

I've had this one in my back pocket for a while now, ever since I saw it on Closet Cooking, mainly just waiting to buy some corned beef and have some leftovers for this. I more or less bought the corned beef with the sole intent of ending up with this. Anyhow, it was pretty good. I didn't get the top browned like I wanted, but I didn't feel like moving racks around after I had checked on it at the 20 minute mark. Basically a reuben converted to a creme cheese-based dip. There's also horseradish in there. I don't really know if I like horseradish as it always reminds me of Arby's Horsey Sauce which I do not like, but it worked well here.

Carrot Cake.

Finally got around to using the carrots that had been sitting in my fridge for about a month. Referenced a few sources, but mainly Elise. Buttercream frosting. Was a hit with everybody and got a marriage proposal. Not the healthiest thing, but...carrots?

ADDENDUM: Freezes just fine.

Pork empanadas.

I couldn't decide which picture sucked less. They both have their minute pros. This dough, courtesy of Elise, is crazy. 1:1:3 of creme cheese, butter, and flour. The pork was some leftover from some braising and marinated in some of leftover salsa I was trying to get rid of.

The egg wash just before baking helped give it that glossy, buttery finish, as if it needed to look more buttery. The pastry ended up varied, depending on the thickness of how I rolled the dough. But 18 minutes at 375 does it about right.

I also fiddled with the pork a bit. I rarely add salt to things, so I ended up adding a bit of salt and pepper to the marinated pork to end a bit more punch. That went into the second batch, blended with some cheese.

I was out of sour cream, so I used Greek yogurt and jalapeños instead; it worked quite well.

Addendum: These freeze well.

Crab Stuffed Tilapia.

So here's something interesting to start off the season. I caught a glimpse of something similar at the market so I thought I'd give it a spin. The stuffing is:

• creme cheese
• crab
• a little bit of garlic (I used powder this time.)
• some lemon juice

Give it a taste every now and then to decide how much lemon and garlic you really want. Blended, it should end up quite homogeneous. I did look at what other people seem to like to do for filling and they just use bread crumbs instead of creme cheese. I think that would end up a bit dry/not as cohesive.

I have these awesome individually packaged tilapia filets so I used a couple of them. By stuffed, I really mean "rolled up", so don't overdo the filling. I put my seasoning in the flour (paprika, salt, pepper) instead of seasoning directly and then egged (I had two yolks in one egg. Weird.) and breaded. Bake at 400 for about 20-25 minutes or "until fish flakes easily with a fork" as everyone likes to say. I greased my baking dish with olive olil and topped each filet with a bit of butter to get the breading toasted nicely. Clearly, it didn't spread as evenly as I would have like so brushing with melted butter may work better.

Also, the little balls on the side are extra filling I had. They got the same treatment as the filets.

Like I said, the butter didn't spread as evenly as I would have like so crust was a little bland in some places. And I think I might have liked to add some herbs to the breading itself. I will also say that I find tilapia a rather bland fish. That being said, I thought this was pretty good. Of course, the filling is what carries most of the flavor, but you can still taste each component if you look for it. I also think the lemon juice helped temper the sweetness that heated creme cheese+crab mixtures tend to have. In then end, I think I would have to say it turned out rather well. It could have used a little more seasoning (more salt and paprika, someone added cayenne) but I really liked how light the fish was in comparison. I'll have to try other things with fish in the future.

I've also decided I like taking pictures by the window because I can get some real light, but in this case, the color blew out a little bit in some places, and I haven't learned/gotten around to doing any photo editing. Also, I've resigned myself to the fact that my food will get cold while I take and re-take pictures. As long as I can get it to look ok, right?

Stuffed porkchops.

Simple stuff from break at home. Thick center cut chops. Scallions and crumbled bacon make a big part of it. The original recipe called for bleu cheese though I used creme cheese in this instance due to people's tastes. I think it's better with bleu cheese. Stuffed and pan fried (in the bacon fat for best results) for a few minutes on each side and then baked until done.

My sister made the hashbrown casserole and steamed broccoli. Mom made the oranges and apple rabbits this time.