blue artichoke

So, after a couple of weeks of eating out, I decided to make a meal -- a vegetarian meal -- in the kosher kitchen. It's a simple mushroom stroganoff. It's described as "rich and meaty," but it's not.

It wasn't a bad meal, I'll be honest. But it was rather bland. Perhaps I'm just not adept at cooking mushrooms, and perhaps I'm not good at creating cream sauces... but one thing I can say is that I cannot stand is margarine.

Margarine.

I really can't stand it. I don't think it tastes good. I think it looks unnatural. And I don't care for the way it cooks. I'm a proponent of butter. The REAL DEAL. It will be a problem when I want to make meat dishes, as butter is dairy... but for this meal I could have used butter and that would have helped slightly.

I will say that my upcoming Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Bourbon Sauce (courtesy of Blue Artichoke last year) will be made with real butter. Can't wait to cook it now that I'm back at sea level! Recipes no longer require high altitude adjustments! Yay!!!!

Editor's Note:
As Red Momo pointed out in the comment section, the pumpkin cheesecake recipe link above leads to the wrong cheesecake. That is the recipe for the front runner in the Snackdown battle, but is not the cheesecake to which RM referred. The recipe for that one was discussed here and here, but never posted. It's great, but was edged aside. Here's the recipe:

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake With Caramel-Bourbon Sauce

Crust
1-1/2 cups pecans, toasted, cooled
3 tablespoons golden brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Filling
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
4 large eggs
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Large pinch of salt
Sauce
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 tablespoons bourbon
1-1/2 cups pecans, toasted, cooled

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Grind first 4 ingredients in processor until nut mixture sticks together. Press evenly onto bottom of pan. Bake crust until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool completely. Wrap outside of pan in triple layer of heavy-duty foil.
For filling:
Using mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, and lemon peel in large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then pumpkin, yogurt, flour, vanilla, spices, and salt. Pour into pan.
Set springform pan in roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cheesecake. Place in oven. Bake until outer 3 inches puff slightly and center is softly set, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool in water bath 30 minutes. Remove from water. Cut around sides of cake to loosen. Refrigerate in pan until cold, about 4 hours. Cover and chill overnight.
For sauce:
Bring sugar, cream, butter, corn syrup, and salt to boil in deep medium saucepan, whisking until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium; boil 1 minute without stirring. Remove from heat. Stir in bourbon, then pecans. Cool, stirring occasionally.
Remove foil. Cut around pan sides; remove sides. Cut cheesecake into wedges; spoon sauce over.

Makes 12 servings.

Bon Appétit, November 2005