Junior's Cheesecake Your Cheesecake

 One of New York City's institution is Junior's cheesecake. This treat is the signature dessert of the Juniors chain that many New Yorkers - and tourust's flock to. Now you don;t have to rush to Mnhattan or any of the other locations across the country. You can create this delight at home.

Regular contributor and chef Eric Kim wrote about this in yesterday's New York TImes Wednesday Food section. He creates his version of the classic cake, including their famed sponge cake bottom. Cheesecake has been a part of the city's cuisine since the mid 1800's when German immigrant brught the first recipes over. They were a bit different than today's with the cheese being cottage cheese and the bottom layer being pastry crust. Tis was the standard recipe for kasekuchen  - cheesecake until 1872 when William A.Lawrence a dairyman from Chester, New York in Orange COunty started manufacturing what he called "cream cheese" a variation of the famed  Nuefchatel a crumbly French cheese. He linked this new invention to the fine dairy being produced in Philadelphia which at the time was outstanding.Even today Philly Cream Cheese is being made in upstate New York. Fast forward to the late 1920's and early 1930's when Jewish bakers and deli owners started subbing in the cream cheese for cottage..It made the final product creamier .

Junior's took the recipe to another level. The original owner, Harry Rosen went all over the city ,trying and tasting variations of the cake. He finally created a recipe with his baker Eigel Peterson.It';s still made today , according to Rosen's grandson and current Junior's owner Alan.There is also Eileen's Special Cheesecake that has a similar recipe.It has the airy sponge cake bottom as opposed to the usual dense graham cracker crust one.It's not too lemony as to not overpower the cheesecake's delicate flavor.Preparing the etims can be labor intensive. The sponge cake ones do have to be buttered and then wrapped in foil to prevent water from the water bath seeping in. The whole cake is cooked in a water bath. For the filling use two large eggs and , of course ,Philly cream cheese.It does need a lot of sugar , around a cup and two thirds, almost two cups.  There is also a quarter of a cup of heavy cream added for body and cornstarch is added for binding.The spring form does have to be placed in a large roasting pan with an inch of water.Teenty minutes in the pan has to be rotated. Can you add extras like chocolate chips or coffee for a different flavor? It's best to stick to the original recipe. Serve fruit and if you want chocolate sauce on the side.

Happiness is a good cheese cake.Make Junior's version for a home baked slice of goodness.It's the perfect  dessert for a winter's day.

Plastic's Tight Grip

 Like it or not plastic has a tight grip on how America eats. Without it  our produce along with meats and fish could go bad. We can get sick.Yet our addiction to plastic is deadly. IS there a happy medium for the future?

Regular contributor Kim Severson wrote about this very real problem in today's New York Times Food Wednesday Food section. The US alone [roduces the most with forty percent of it being plastic. The country also has a problem with food waste too. yet one cucumber rotting in a land fill is not as bad as plastic. Yet plasric helps in reducing food waste. Americans have a bad habit of buying too much and not eating or using what they buyThe average American family spends $1500 on produce yearly Not that much is eaten and it's thrown out.The Biden Administration is trying to reduce this. There is already a draft to create a strategy by 2030. Plastic has been protecting produce since th 1930's - for ninety years!It started with cellophane wrapping vegetables and fruits and keeping them fresh, to the plastic clamshells big in the 1980's and those popular bagged salads that arrived a decade later in the 1990's . The top trend now is converting the plastics to biogdegradable wrappings according Soren Bjorn chief executive officer at Driscolls' the company that produces all sorts of fruit.

Other countries are also tackling this, Spain has a plastic tax. France has a severely limited plastic wrapped produce. The Europan is also adding more restrictions to stop plastic consumption across Europe. Canada is trying to hammer out a plan that could eliminate plastic packaging of produce by ninety-five per cent by 2028. Here , companies and scientists are experimenting with new ways of combatting the overuse of plastic wraps. There are some possible alternatives. One is bags from trees. An Austrian company is employing birch and beechwood trees to create celllulose for paper bags.Other companies are creatng netting from trees that can decompose in a few weeks. Then there are the films from surprisingly orange and shrimp shells.Most fruits and veggies now have an edible coating made from plant based fatty acids. This is sprayed on cucumbers, avocados, and other produce. Clamshells are now being tackled with the classic plastic being replaced by cardboard. This will be good for the more fragile fruits and vegetables.

How can plastic wrap consumption be  lessened. It will takes laws and innovative ideas to do such.It can help in a small way of protecting the environment.,

Ramadan Up North

Ramadan has special meaning to the world's Muslim community. It's exemplified in Anchorage, Alaska, with its' diversity  and growing Islamic culture. The many groups celebrate and with an Alaskan twist at times. 

Regular contributor and food reporter, Victoria Peterson wrote about this in yesterday's New York Times Food section. A native Alaskan, herself, Ms. Peterson explored the wide diversity in the state's largest city. It is also home to Alaska's only mosque.Surprisingly the city is also an immigrant city with one hundred languages being spoken within the city's school districts. The Islamic Community Center of Anchorage has members from between forty and fifty countries. Some are Muslim s from the US , like Maleika and Gregory Shuaib Jones from North Carolina but there are others from Bhutan and Somalia. They are all bonded together  unlike in other cities where mosques reflect the majority of the people attending them. The only problem they have is the short winter and long summer days. Fasting can be hard, especially during the warmer months when sunset begins at 11:30 PM. Many adopt to Mecca's time for prayer and breaking the fast.

Feasting happens afterwards with traditional halal foods. When graduate student Sajid Raza first arrived there in 2016, there was only a pizzeria and and Indian restaurant. Now, six years later there are three halal specialty shops along with restaurants with several halal dishes on the menu. Local Walmart, Safeway and Costco stores also stock halal certified options. There are also a few international markets springing up across the city too. Mr. Jones feels that it's a remarkable because halal is becoming more and more mainstream in America. Their neighbor even killed and prepared a caribou in the Islamic law and ritual. Families have no trouble in finding rice, lentil, flour and vegetables, staples in every Muslim home. They are even getting Medjool dates, those big gooey ones that are becoming easier to find during Ramadan. There are also pot luck dinners at the mosque which turn into s buffet thanks to the wide variety from s;; over the Muslim world.. Ms. Jones and her daughter Shumalaiah are making kebabs, roti and fruit with yogurt. There will also be samosas filled with potato and meat.

Ramadam anywhere in the world is special. In Anchorage it is very, with bonded community celebrating togehter. They will fast. They will eat They will be there for each other in the country's most northern city.

Easy Cooking From The Sunday Times.

Many think cooking a chore. It involves too much time and effort to create a delicious dish.Then there's the endless clean up afterwards. Yet imagine having recipes that are not only flavorful but also relatively easy to cook up. You can. The Sunday New York Times put out a keeper issue One/Pot/Pan /Skillet yesterday of simple dishes.

This is a compilation of all the Wednesday Food section writer's recipes.There are twenty-four recipes that can make for an easy supper, lunch or even brunch.Best of all they're made in either a single skillet, pot or pan.There are meat recipes along with vegetarian options too. Best of all you won't find yourself tied to the kitchen sink for thirty minutes to an hour. These free you up.Another plus is that there are little tips at the bottom of every recipe. The feature everything from pro tips to fun facts and substitutions along with additions and slow cooker instructions. I really like this extra and plan on making many of the recipes. They're the perfect winter ones too. I definitely want to try the shakshuka with feta one. This North African egg dish is a one skillet blend of spicy tomato- red pepper blend and eggs.Cumin and paprika add fire while  crumbled feta on top keeps the dish cool.Another must cook is Kay Chun's baked barley risotto with mushrooms and carrots. This is a mix of different mushrooms, from white button cremini and shitakes cooked in a Dutch oven with carrots and pearl barley.it's first cooked on top of the stove and then popped into the oven for thirty minutes.

There are some delicious meat recipes here too. They can easy be made meatless thanks to vegan beef crumbles and Beyond Meat sausages. There is a cheesy baked pasta with sausage and ricotta by Melissa Clark. It's chock full of ricotta and crushed tomatoes all cooked and baked in one skillet.Another  hearty , rib sticking dish comes from Sam Sifton and is based on Los Angeles chef Roy Choi's mother's recipe. It's Korean braised short rib stew or galbijjim. This tasty stew can also be cooked in a slow cooker or even an outdoor cooker. They're marinated in a mix of fresh orange juice, mirin,a type of rice wine along with apple juice and garlic cloves. A variety of mushrooms are added to it as well. Sheet pan lovers will appreciate Ali Slagle's sausage and Brussels sprouts with honey mustard.The name says everything. It's these ingredients plus Yukon gold or red potatoes drizzled with a homemade honey mustard sauce. It's zinged up with mustard seeds. Another sheet pan recipe is roasted fish with roasted peppers. Again this is another Melissa Clark recipe that has hake fillets cooked with sweet red peppers and black or green olives.

One Pot/Pan/Skillet is a must keep. It's chock full of easy , unfussy recipes that you can make any time. Try any of them today and be free from all the clean up afterwards.