Lox Sushi

Another nice piece of sushi rolling from one of my students

Last "recipe" from this week's class: hand rolls stuffed with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and typical bagel & lox condiments. We used capers but you could use thinly sliced red onions, strips of cucumber, diced tomatoes, or diced avocado. Use what you have, use what you like.

You can find instructions on how to make a hand roll in the tuna poke post. You can find instructions on making a sushi roll like the one in the photo all over youtube. I like this succinct video best but you don't need to wrap the roll in plastic to cut it. Make sure to dampen your sharp knife before each cut and wipe off the blade after each cut.

To make a lox roll, you'll need:

• thin strips of smoked salmon
• small sticks of cream cheese (see below on how to cut it) 
• sushi rice
• sheets of nori
• toasted sesame seeds

Beyond these, you will want one or more tasty accompaniments:

• capers
• thinly sliced strips of red onion
• strips of cucumbers (peeled if you like and seeded if not an English cucumber)
• diced avocado
• diced tomato
• strips of pickled jalapeño (not traditional but very tasty)

It can be hard to cut up cream cheese. It's very sticky. The trick is to slightly freeze it before trying to cut it. Put a chunk of cream cheese in the freezer for 20 minutes before you want to cut it. If it softens up while you are trying to cut it, stick it back in the freezer for a few minutes and try again. Also, don't try to use reduced-fat cream cheese; it's much too soft and sticky to cut. 

Cheesecake Cupcakes

These cheesecake cupcakes were decorated by my daughter - flags of N. and S. America

Cheesecake is not something you throw together in an hour. It's special occasion fare. A cheesecake feeds a lot of people. It's not easy (though it's not that hard either) to get right. It suffers from image problems because it is really rich. OK, this recipe isn't any less rich but it does make a small amount, good for a small party or a few days of snacking, and the cheesecake comes in little pieces which means you can eat just a little bit at a time. Assuming you can resist them.

There a few tricks to making these, or any other cheesecake.

• Make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature and the cream cheese is really soft.
• Mix the batter until there are no lumps of cream cheese. If your cream cheese and eggs are warm, they will come together better, without getting lumpy
• Since there is a bit of beating going on, don't try this unless you have an electric mixer. Your arms are going to be exhausted getting this together otherwise.

Cheesecake Cupcakes
(makes 9)

Filling:
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 ½ large eggs, at room temperature (½ an egg  is 1 ½ Tablespoons. Beat an egg then measure what you need.)
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
3 Tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon sugar
⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300° F.

Line 9 regular sized muffin cups with cupcake liners.

For the filling, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Make sure egg is fully incorporated before adding another. Beat in sugar and vanilla. Divide among muffin cups (about ¼ cup per cupcake).

Bake for 45 minutes or until just set. Do not overbake! They should not brown at all. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl. Fill the depression in each cupcake (it will form while cooling) with about 1 teaspoon sour cream mixture. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Cool completely. Store in refrigerator. Serve chilled.