holiday inspiration: cranberry lemon cheesecake

Heading out to a holiday party feast I decided to try my hand at a lemon cheesecake with cranberry sauce. I haven't perfected it yet (and have no excuse to make another already) but conceptually very tasty.

lemon mustard dressing

Salad dressing is a great intro food to cooking. They are easy to make and because they are so flavor rich you really notice your effort. I started regularly making my own dressing in college and always get compliments on them. You just need a few condiments to start making dressings ... which is especially shocking when you look at the ingredient list of your favorite store bought dressing. It probably has at least 15 ingredients, most of which you don't recognize and of the ones you do recognize are sugar and salt and cheap oil.

Lemon mustard dressing

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 t. wholegrain* mustard

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix garlic, wholegrain mustard, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt & pepper. You can add the olive oil to this mixture or to emulsify (therefore the dressing won't separate and seems creamy) grab a whisk (I have an attachment on my hand-blender) and slowly pour the oil into the dressing while constantly whisking (why the electric whisk is so handy). Pour the dressing into a saved jar and refrigerate.

Notes: If the dressing is oil rich, it will solidify in the fridge (this dressing doesn't) so pull out when you start making dinner and it will be ready by dinnertime.

* wholegrain mustard is a mustard with whole mustard seeds - you'll find it with the other mustards.

preserved lemons

A while back I posted a cous cous salad that calls for preserved lemons. Preserved lemons are a staple of moroccan and middle eastern cuisine and frequently found in meat dishes. They are available in many arab markets in the US, however, if you don't have an arab market nearby they are also very easy to make. The one caveat is they must rest for a month before eating.

Preserved lemons:

large jar

lemons

salt (copious amounts)

lemon juice and/or boiling water

1. Quarter lemons into nearly 4 pieces (keep attached at one end).

2. Stuff with salt.

3. Stuff lemons into jar. Close jar.

4. Let jar rest on counter. Once a day shake jar a bit. After a week cover lemons with lemon juice and/or boiling water.

5. Seal jar and place in refrigerator. After one month lemons are ready for use.

6. When using preserved lemons, fish out of jar and rinse well. Remove pulp and discard (if desired). Use peel as recipe calls - usually sliced or diced.

Lemons will keep for several months (a year??) in the fridge. I use them primarily in the summer and make a few at a time. I've read that you can keep adding lemons to the brine and reuse the brine, although I've never done this.