Here’s a salad that can be ridiculously difficult and time consuming, or quite easy with about 10 minutes of prep time involved. I’ll explain; you choose.

As its name implies, this salad is topped with won tons. You have to make these. There’s no box of won tons out there that you can just toss into your shopping chart and be on your way. Instead, you must buy a package containing little squares of dough that require origami-like folding and deep frying.

After an hour of trying to perfect both of these necessities, I failed to do either.

Here’s what I did do: threw my “won tons” in the trash, made this salad and its delicious dressing, tossed it all together and sprinkled some of those crunchy chow mein noodles on top. (Those are available in a bag at the grocery store.)

Won ton salad
Salad:
Lettuce
4 chicken breasts, grilled and cut into strips
1 C. almond slivers
green onion
won tons/chow mein noodles
Dressing:
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. garlic salt
½ tsp. pepper
4 Tbsp. rice vinegar
½ C. olive oil
sesame seeds

Posted by · October 19, 2006 2:17 AM · Comments (0)

You can teach an old dog some new tricks.

Not to say I’m either old or a dog in this scenario, but recently, I have learned something life-altering.

It’s not hard to make a cheesecake. You do have to know a few tricks though.

One, do not over bake it. Too much time in the oven causes the creamy whiteness to turn brown, plus the top cracks. When it jiggles a little, it’s done.

Two, use a little foil. Bake the cheesecake almost until completion. Then, with about 20 minutes to go, lightly cover the outer circle with foil. This will prevent a brown ring that easily forms on the cheesecake’s rim (a.k.a. the yumminess that touches the spring-form pan) while the center is still baking.

Three, soften the cream cheese at room temperature before using. Otherwise you’ll end up with lumps.

Four, definitely top each slice (this will cover any mistakes if you didn’t heed numbers one through three). My favorite is store-bought fudge (for sundaes) or chocolate syrup, and a homemade fruit sauce (simply blend a few spoonfuls of raspberry preserves with some frozen raspberries and a little warm water.)

Simple.

Cheesecake
Crust:
1 C. graham cracker crumbs
1/4 C. finely chopped walnuts
3 tsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
5 Tbsp. butter, melted
Cheesecake:
3, 8-ounce packages cream cheese
1 C. white sugar
1 C. sour cream
1 C. heavy cream
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine graham cracker crumbs, chopped walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and melted butter. Mix well and press into the bottom of a 9 inch spring-form pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Beat in sour cream and heavy cream. Blend in the flour and vanilla. Add eggs and mix at low speed. Pour batter over cool crust. Bake for 60 minutes, or until center is almost set (filling will be soft). Refrigerate overnight before removing from pan.

Posted by · October 19, 2006 2:03 AM · Comments (0)