Cream Cheese Mincemeat Pie

pie crust, mincemeat, mincemeat pie

By LeAnn Ralph

• bottom pie crust for a 9 or 10 inch pie plate

• 3 cups mincemeat

• 8 ounces of cream cheese (softened)

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Make the pie crust and line the pie plate with the crust (I know this seems obvious, but one time when I happened to listen to Oprah -- I have listened to the show about 3 times in my life -- there was a chef who was talking about cooking something in one of those plastic cooking bags. "When you take it out of the oven, cut open the bag and throw it away," Oprah said. "You have to say that because there are people out there who will eat the bag if you don't tell them to throw it away.")

Put the mincemeat on top of the pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes.

Using an electric mixer, whip the softened cream cheese, sugar, the egg and the lemon juice until smooth. Pour on top of the mincemeat and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes or until set.

LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the books "Cream of the Crop (More True Stories from Wisconsin Farm)" (trade paperback, Sept. 2005); "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm" (trade paperback 2003); "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" (trade paperback 2004); "Preserve Your Family History (A Step-by-Step Guide for Interviewing Family Members and Writing Oral Histories" (e-book 2004). You are invited to read sample chapters, order books and sign up for the free newsletter, Rural Route 2 News

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Cheese Trees or Snowman

Pesto, Pine nuts, Kale

Recipe by: Betty Crocker

Serves: 1 Servings

Ingredients:

3 pk (8 oz) cream cheese;
-softened
4 c Cheddar cheese (16 ounces);
-shredded
2 tb Pesto
1 tb Grated onions
1/4 ts Ground mustard
2 dr Red pepper sauce; (up to 3)

Instructions:

-----------------HAVE READY AT SERVING TIME-------------

1/4 c Pine nuts or sliced almonds
2 tb Chopped red bell pepper
Assorted crackers
Kale or Bibb lettuce

Mix cream cheese and Cheddar cheese; divide in half. Mix pesto into 1 half;
mix onion, mustard and pepper sauce into other half. Cover each halh and
refrigerate about 4 hours or until firm enough to shape.

Place cheese mixtures on cookie sheet. Shape each half into cone shape to
resemble Christmas tree. Wrap each tree and freeze..Can be stored up to 1
month...

12 hours before serving, remove trees from freezer. Thaw in wrapper in
refrigerator. Just before serving, roll trees in parsley, pressing parsley
evenly onto trees. Press pine nuts onto trees in string form for garland.
Press bell pepper pieces onto trees for ornaments...Top each tree with star
shape cut from lemon peel.... Dress up the trees with a tree skirt using
kale or Bibb lettuce.

For Snowman: Omit parsley,pine nuts and bell pepper. Mix cheeses together
and divide into 3 equal parts. Combine 2 parts to equal two-thirds pf
mixture; mix in pesto. Mix onion, mustard and pepper sauce into remaining
one-third mixture. Refrigerate as directed. Shape each cheese mixture into
ball; roll in 1/3 cup finely chopped blanched almonds. Wrap each ball and
freeze.

12 hours before serving, remove balls from freezer. Thaw in wrappers.
Arrange balls on serving plate with smaller ball on top for head of
snowman, flatten slightly. Insert pretzel sticks for arms. Decorate as
desired with sliced olives, capers, chopped bell peppers,ect...

NOTES : Makes 2 trees or 1 snowman....

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Quick guide to cheese

by Tim Sousa

Cheese. It's a wonderfully versatile food. We use it to top pizzas, to sprinkle on our spaghetti, to spread on crackers. And without cheese, a grilled cheese sandwich would be nothing but buttered toast.

Cheese is produced in many parts of the world, two of the most well known countries being France and Italy. There are many varieties of cheese, but they are all made in a similar fashion. Milk and cream consist of two parts, the solid milk fats, and the whey. Cheese is produced by causing the fats to come together, forming curds. This is done by either adding acid or various bacteria to the milk or cream, causing it to curdle.

The curds are then processed in different ways to form different cheeses. The type of cheese made depends on the type of milk used, the percentage of fats in the milk, and the process used to make the cheese. Most cheeses come from cow's milk, but cheeses are also made from goat's milk, sheep's milk, and real mozzerella cheese is made from water buffalo milk. Cheese is generally categorized

by it's texture, hard, semi-firm, semi-soft, or fresh.

Hard cheeses are generally aged for 12 months or more. They usually have a sharp salty taste, and are excellent for grating over pasta or salads. Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano are examples of hard cheeses.

Semi-hard cheeses may or may not be aged. In general, the longer the cheese ages, the sharper the flavor will be. A taleggio, which only ages for about 6 weeks will have a milder flavor than a cheddar that has aged for months. Semi-firm cheeses are good melting cheeses, or good to eat on their own.

Semi-soft cheeses like Camembert are good cheeses for spreading on crackers or crusty bread.

Fresh cheeses range from a mild cream cheese, to a rich creamy marscapone. These cheeses can be eaten spread on crackers, but are also commonly used for cooking desserts. Marscapone is an essential ingredient in tiramisu.

While talking about cheese, we can't forget to mention blue cheese, which is a cheese, with blue-green veins of mold, which gives the cheese a sharp flavor and aroma. Blue cheeses include gorgonzola, roquefort, and stilton.

If you are going to be serving cheese as part of a cheese course, hard, semi-firm, and semi-soft cheeses shoud be allowed to stand at room temperature for an hour before serving. Fresh cheeses, should be served chilled. Choose three or four types of cheese, either cheeses with similar characteristics and flavors, or contrasting cheeses. If you like, you can serve the cheese with crackers or crusty bread. Also some people serve their cheeses with a variety of fruits, apples, pears, figs, and seedless grapes would be good choices, as well as shelled walnuts.

Whether you like using cheese for cooking, or eating on it's own, cheese delivers it's own goodness and flavor.

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Cheese Salad

by E. Fleetwood, Lincoln, NE.

Serves: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

2 c Crushed pineapple
1 pk Lemon flavored gelatin
1 tb Unflavored gelatin
2 tb Cold water
Juice 1 lemon
1/4 c Chopped pimento
1/2 c Chopped nuts
1 Stalk celery, chopped
6 Marshmallows, quartered
1 c Whipping cream
6 oz Cream cheese
1/8 ts Salt

Instructions:

Drain juice from pineapple. Add water to make 2 cups. Heat to boiling.
Pour over lemon flavored gelatin, and the unflavored gelatin, which has
been softened in cold water. Stir until dissolved. Add lemon juice and
salt. Mix thoroughly. Cool until partially set. Add pineapple which has
been mixed with cream cheese, pimento, nuts, and celery. Add marshmallows.
Fold in whipped cream. Pour into mold which has been rinsed in cold water.
Let stand in cold place 12 hours. 10 servings. Readmore »»

Cherry Cheesecake

cherry pie, cheesecake, vanilla extract

By Elizabeth Morgan

Looking for the perfect dessert to bring for Thanksgiving dinner or a deliciously sweet treat to impress an important date? Then a cherry cheesecake is your answer. This simple yet intricately flavorful cheesecake is great for both a big family lunch fest and a romantic dinner, especially with a light sparkling wine.

And no, forget about buying the cherry cheesecake. Why don’t you make one instead? With the right tools and this simple how-to, you’ll be able to put together a scrumptious cherry cheesecake in no time.

For the crust, you will need a cup of graham cracker crumbs, sugar (about three to four tablespoons is enough), and some melted butter. To make the cheesecake, you will need softened cream cheese and about three to four medium-sized eggs (both the eggs and the cream cheese should be at room temperature). You will also need about fifteen ounces of chilled, cherry pie-filling, sugar, and vanilla extract.

Now that you have all the ingredients on hand, you can start by making the crust. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, the melted butter and the sugar, and then force the mixture down into the bottom of a spring-form pan. Pop this in the oven and bake it at about 350 degrees for ten to twelve minutes.

While baking, go right on to making the cake. It’s a good idea to use an electric mixer to blend together the cream cheese, the eggs (remember to drop them in one by one), and then the vanilla and sugar. Once you get a firm consistency, bake it at about 450 degrees for ten minutes. Then, adjust the temperature to about 25 degrees lower and go on baking for another forty minutes.

You can then carefully take the cake off the pan and let the cake cool. Pop it in the refrigerator overnight (or for at least nine to twelve hours). Finally, generously spread the cherry filling over the cake.

cherry pie
cheesecake Readmore »»

Crazy about cream cheese

cream cheese, Neufchatel cheese,

by Veronica Berglind

Consumers enjoy eating cream cheese in everything from cheesecakes to pates, from Jell-O[TM] molds to stuffed mushrooms. Since first introduced in 1880, fresh, smooth cream cheese has become an American staple. Whether starting the day with a breakfast bagel rich with flavored spread, enjoying a hot plate of enchiladas stuffed with spiced-up cream cheese for dinner, or perhaps experiencing a rich crab fondue for special occasions, the home chef has many options. Food processors, however, trying to tease taste buds with new and original offerings, have to meet different needs.

Using cream cheese presents certain challenges to food developers, and Kraft Food Ingredients Corporation (Memphis, Tenn.) provides some answers. For one thing, cream cheese is a fresh, non-cured cheese that requires refrigeration. Freezing damages the distinctive texture, so proper refrigeration is a must and adds to product costs. Cream cheese often represents one of the more expensive ingredients in many popular desserts. Since its price fluctuates considerably, food processors frequently request an ingredient that delivers the flavor and texture of cream cheese at a lower, more stable cost.

Kraft[R] Cream Cheez Blend PN 62515 and Kraft[R] Neufchatel Cheez Blend PN 70507, both introduced recently by Kraft Food Ingredients, address the cost complications for food processors that wish to use cream cheese and Neufchatel cheese in their formulations. Designed as 1:1 replacements, these blends provide similar levels of saturated fat and trans fat as standard cream cheese and Neufchatel cheese. Made with real cream and Neufchatel cheese, the two blends offer the same functional characteristics of the cheeses and can be used as direct replacements, without the costly reformulation of existing products. Kraft[R] Soft Cream Cheez Blend, PN 62527, a soft version of the Cream Cheez Blend, is ideal for products requiring a smoother texture, such as icings, fillings and spreads.

Easier on Formulations

The only changes food technologists will need to make for products switching to Kraft Cream Cheez Blend PN 62515 and Kraft Neufchatel Cheez Blend PN 70507 from traditional cream cheese applications will be in the ingredient lines; manufacturers still will be able to state "cream cheese" and "Neufchatel cheese" on the product label. These cheeses were developed to allow the manufacturer to include the standard of identity cheese in their ingredient lists, while reducing overall costs and market volatility. Wherever cream or Neufchatel cheeses have been incorporated, Kraft Cheez Blends will fit right in.

There are no similar refrigerated items on the market today. The dry ingredient alternatives that exist cannot compare with the 1:1 functionality of real cheese blends. According to Mike Jackson, senior business marketing manager, soft cheese products, "real cheese blends are the only way to 'meet the viscosity requirements of cheesecakes and fillings. Reconstituted dry ingredients require the addition of expensive emulsifiers and other additives to even approximate real-cheese texture."

Kraft's scientists have done extensive testing, in both laboratory and real-life manufacturing settings, to confirm that Kraft Cheez Blends are truly the functional equivalents of their standard of identity counterparts. "The combination of proprietary technology and ingredients, along with the use of real, standard of identity cream and Neufchatel cheeses, means these blends mimic the standard of identity cheeses, in terms of the cheese structure itself," adds Jackson.

A number of Kraft Food Ingredients' customers are successfully using Kraft Cream Cheez Blend and Kraft Neufchatel Cheez Blend in applications designed for traditional cheeses, and feedback has been deliciously positive.

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Pierogi Recipe: Cheese and Potato Filling

sauerkraut, pierogi, velveeta cheese

By Michael Stazko

The Pierogi is a versatile food that can be enjoyed several different ways and it is also one of the most popular Polish dishes. It is basically a dumpling that can be stuffed with meat, sauerkraut, potato, or any other filling of your choice. My personal favorite is pierogi stuffed with cheese and potato. Here is the recipe.

Dough:

2 cups of flour
3/4 cup of warm water
1 egg
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Filling:

2 large or 4 regular sized potatoes
3 slices of Velveeta Cheese
2 tablespoons of cream cheese
salt and pepper to your liking

Directions:

Peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces. Put the potatoes in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium/high and let the potatoes cook for 20 minutes or until soft.

While the potatoes are cooking, start making the dough. Spray and coat an empty bowl with cooking spray. Add the water, egg, and vegetable oil to the bowl and stir. Then mix in the flour and salt until you make a dough. Take the dough out of the bowl and kneed it on a table with flour until it is smooth and not too sticky. Roll the dough into a ball, put it under plastic wrap, and let it sit for 30 minutes.

When the potatoes are done cooking, drain the water out of the pot. Add the Velveeta and cream cheese along with some salt and pepper. You can also add a small bit of milk to make the potatoes easier to mash. Then mash the potatoes until they are smooth and fluffy. Let the potatoes cool.

After you let the potatoes cool for about 15 minutes, your dough should be ready. Take a large piece of dough and flatten it out, with a rolling pin, on a table coated with some flour. Use a circle cookie cutter and cut out pieces of dough. With a teaspoon, scoop a small amount of the potato filling and put it in the middle of a piece of dough. Close the dough around the potato and pinch shut with your fingers and a fork. Keep repeating this process until you run out of dough or filling. This should make about 20 pierogi.

When you are done making the pierogi, boil them, five at a time, in a pot of water for two to three minutes, or until they float. Then fry them in pan with butter. Now they are ready to eat. You can top them with sour cream, onion, bacon, or your favorite gravy. Either way, this is a dish you are sure to enjoy.

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Philadelphia Cream Cheese With Jelly is Way Cool

Cream Cheese, jelly,

By Lance Winslow

When studying brand name marketing and line extension on a product it is necessary to look at reasonable, relative and current case studies. Too often academia and business colleges that produce MBA students are too busy looking at the past and what worked then or did not work. Studying current topics and current products gives the students a better idea of the actual marketplace and what might work in the future.

Academia has often been accused of looking too far in the past to give advice as to what to do in the future without regard to the changes that are taking place at all times. One recent product innovation has been Philadelphia Cream Cheese with jelly. Many people like to put cream cheese on their bagels and sometimes they like to put jelly. Sometimes people like to put both. Knowing this the research and development department of Philadelphia Cream Cheese came up with a new blend.

The new blend has Philadelphia Cream Cheese Original mixed with jelly and to the customers love it. In fact, they were able to roll out this product with very little advertising due to strong brand loyalty. This is one great example of how a company can revitalize its brand and increase customer sales through its existing customers, while bringing in new customers. Please consider this to 2006.

Cream Cheese Readmore »»

Organic Cream Cheese Brownies

dietician, vanilla extract, yogurt

by Mambo Sprouts

Ingredients: ************ 1 pkg NO PUDGE! Fat Free Fudge Brownie Mix (any flavor) 1 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt 3 oz. (6 Tbsp.) fat-free cream cheese, softened 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation: ************ Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine No Pudge! mix and 2/3 cup of the yogurt according to package directions. Pour into nonstick pan. Blend remaining yogurt, cream cheese and vanilla extract in small bowl. Drop teaspoonfuls of this mixture onto brownie dough. Use knife to marble mixture through brownies. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. For easy cutting, let brownies cool, then refrigerate until chilled. When wrapped in plastic, brownies stay fresh for two weeks.

Servings: 16

Nutritional data per serving: calories 104, fat <1g, protein 4g, sodium 130mg, carbohydrates 22g, dietary fiber <1g

Nutritional data in these recipes is approximate. It is provided by manufacturers or through analysis with industry software that uses USDA data. Persons on special diets requiring more specific nutrient data should consult a physician or registered dietician.

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