[Recipe] Almond & Blackberry Cheesecake

...cupcakes!

Super easy. Super delicious. Super adorable. :3
Over the last few months I've been trying to ease into a low-carb lifestyle. It's actually not as bad as it sounds, but it definitely hasn't given my sweet-tooth much playing time. Extra helpings of savory things can only go so far to fill that hole in my heart, so lately I've been venturing into small-serving, carb-conscious desserts territory. It can be a scary place for people who hate the taste of  fake sugar, but it's definitely been fun experimenting. So far these baby cheesecakes are my favorite. Recipe makes 6  - make sure you've got muffincup liners!

FOR CRUST:
2 tblsp of butter
1/4 cup almond meal
(Things I may try next time: dash o' cinnamon or dollop of almond butter.)

FOR CHEESECAKE:
8 oz package of cream cheese (softened)
1/2 tsp stevia ~or~  3/8 cup of  sugar*
1/2 tsp of vanilla
1 egg

FOR THE BLACBERRY SAUCE:
8 oz of blackberries
1 tbls lemon juice
1/4 cup of sugar/stevia
3 tbls of water

FOR PRETTY GARNISH: 
6 blackberries
6 almonds

*The recipe I was using called for Splenda but I'm not a big fan of artificial sweeteners. Ended up using waaaaaay too much Stevia for sugar-substitutin' because I didn't realize the conversion ratio wasn't 1:1. Check out this handy conversion chart on this website if you want to double check my math.

WHAT TO DO:
Preheat your oven to 350. Melt the butter a little so it's easy to mix together the crust ingredients. Then pat a little bit on the bottom of each muffin tin. For the filling, you can either use a mixer/blender or food processor to spin up the ingredients til they're smooth. Fill up each cup almost up to the top. Bake for 15 minutes, cool on the counter for a bit and then chill 'em for a few hours. (I ate one warm because, come on, seriously. It was fine, but definitely more solid when cold.)

WHAT TO DO FOR BLACKBERRY SAUCE:
Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender for about a minute. Then, pour through a sieve to separate the seeds and chunks (I used one of my tea mugs!) Then, drip on the finished cheesecupcakes right before serving. Squish on a blackberry and an almond and you're done!

crack-a-lack-berriez

Overall stats per cupcake: 212 calories, 4 net carbs, 19g of fat, 5g of protein

And your useless fun fact for the day: Google-ing "blackberry" gives you zero results for the fruit. Surprise! Behold the power of search engine optimization.

[[Many recipe thanks go to T1D & Gluten Free and Nick Stellino]]

[Recipe] Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Goat Cheese, Prosciutto & Roasted Garlic on Cauliflower Crust 

Ever since a farmer's market appeared at my workplace I've decided to start cooking more fresh stuff. It's healthier, less expensive than constant GrubHubbing and a good way to keep myself occupied. Of course this means I've been overdosing on veggies -- kale, chard, beets, brussel sprouts -- you name it, I've smothered it in bacon. Best Food Pyramid Ever. 

Anyhow, of all my food adventures the most exciting so far has been the Cauliflower. Right? Whodathunk?

Fun Fact: Orange Cauliflower has 25x more Vitamin A. Suck it, whitey.

Just pretend for a moment you've never tasted it boiled. That trauma is enough to scare someone away from our little caulifriend forever. Turns out, there are a million other ways to cook it and THEY'RE ALL DELICIOUS. It's super adaptable in recipes, makes a great low-carb/high-fiber/potassium-packed replacement for starchy deliciousness of Mashed Potatoes, Tater Tots and even Pizza Crust! I'll post the other recipes later because I'm lazy and I don't feel like writing anymore. Plus I made that pizza for dinner today so it's still fresh in the ol' memory core: 

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:
for Crust:
1 medium sized cauliflower
1 large egg
1 cup of finely shredded cheese
(I used Muenster, but I've seen recipes with Chedder, Mozzarella, or Chevre)
1 tsp of oregano
1/2 tsp of minced garlic
smidge o salt
for Toppings:
Whatever pleases you, man. I spread on a few tablespoons of tomato basil marinara, sprinkled on some shredded wine-soaked goat cheese (THE BEST), chopped up a few slices of prosciutto and squished on some roasted garlic cloves. Next I'm thinking some kind of barbecued hawaiian? Or a spinach mushroom pesto? The permutations are literally endless.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
Start preheating the oven to 400 degrees.
Use a cheese grater to shred the cauliflower (You can also use a food processor, but I didn't feel like cleaning mine. soooo many parts.)You should have about two cups of shavings when you're done. Be wary of fingers.

Shreddin' FRACTALS

When you've finished, stick it in the microwave for about 8 minutes. Let it sit for a bit after so it can cool off and air out. Then mix in the rest of the crust ingredients. Oil up a pan and spread out the pastey mixture into a circle (about 9-12 inches) Bake for 20ish minutes or until it turns a more golden brown.

Then, take it out of the oven, sprinkle on your toppings and pop it back in. 5-10 minutes if you bake it, 3-5 if you broil it.

That's all folks! Mine came out a teeny bit soggy, but I only left it in for 15 because I WAS HUNGRY. Maybe next time I'll use a pan that's more open or cut it in half and shove it in the toaster oven. After all this is an experiment I plan on reproducing forever and ever, we've got plenty of time to come back and tweak it. 

As if you need any more convincing that CauliPower needs to be a part of your diet: check out the Wikipage. Talk about high nutritional density, bro. Plus fractals. Come on.

Recipe inspired by: 
Cravings of a Lunatic's guest post on I Breathe, I'm Hungry
Recipe Girl
and of course, le Google

With Love and Squalor

Oh hello there, I didn't see you come in.

Hope everyone is having a nice autumn. I presume it's better now that you have Goldblum burned into your retinas. My fall has been pretty chill, not too much new in the Life department. Been working on grad school apps. Moved in with three cool dudes at the top of Mt Olympus (I shit you not). Perpetually surrounded by clouds, we sit on our collective butt watch obscene amounts of Battlestar Gallactica. It's great. Also, I've been stocking up on authentic San Francisco experiences -- felt my first real earthquake the other day AND it was a two parter- 4.0 and 2.5. Then I saw Craig from Craigslist walking down the street because apparently we share a neighborhood. But that's all. So I guess it's about time to pump out another prepackaged bundle of associative memories to the Spotify cloud. This particular bundle was requested by Miss Natalia so I kept electro to a minimum. (Eh, I was in a broody grooves mood anyway.) Some newies, mostly oldies. Because my laptop is currently inpatient somewhere around Dell headquarters, this mix is only available streaming for now. Yeah, after two years of touching various metals to the side of my computer in lieu of a power button, I finally decided it was time to cash in on my warranty. Imagine! Anyhow, without further ado: For Nat--

With Love and Squalor

 Spotify / Grooveshark (boooo, incomplete)

1. Lifeboat (Instrumental) - Nathaniel Merriweather, Lovage, Dan the Automator
2. Power (feat. Danny Brown and Despot) - Das Racist
3. Parade - Justice
4. Rabbit In Your Headlights - UNKLE, Thom Yorke
5. Singin' In The Rain - Mint Royale
6. Oh Lord - Foxy Shazam
7. A Pretty Girl is Like - The Magnetic Fields
8. Tuff Ghost - The Unicorns
9. Foxes Mate For Life - Born Ruffians [Guest track contributed by Chris Johnson, "for your gaylist"]
10. Strangers on a Train - Nathaniel Merriweather, Kid Koala, Lovage et. al.
11. Daydreamin' (feat. Jill Scott) - Lupe Fiasco
12. Undiscovered First - Feist
13. This Momentary - Delphic
14. Weatherpeople (Instrumental) - RJD2
15. Phosphene Dream - The Black Angels
16. I'm A Goner - Souljaboy, Andrew W.K., Matt & Kim
17. Soundtracks & Come Backs - Goldfish
18. Experiment Number Six - Lemon Jelly
19. A Fifth of Beethoven - DJ Daddy Ray Z

Tangential Note: If you haven't read Salinger's Nine Stories (Title Reference), please do. You can't let negative associations Catcher in the Rye infect his other work. (Am I inside your head or what?)

Completely unrelated note: If you ever find yourself needing Photoshop on a computer where it's not installed- Pixlr is a ridiculously legit alternative. Spread the word!

Audio.Video.Disco.licious

(more like LEAK-a-licious, am I right? oh so right)

So listening through a few times I'm actually happily surprised. Maybe the early-released singles had lowered my expectations a few hundred kliks but in all the honesty, this album isn't half bad. It's solid. And precious. While any songs standing alone may be pretty weak, as a unit it allows you to appreciate this sophomore album for what it is: a little quest. Venturing off from Hard House roots, exploring and breaking through new sound ground.

<< Don't worry, I'll post links as YouTube catches up to the rest of the internet. Current favorite is Parade, so that'll be first on The List >>

Obviously, you can't go into this album expecting another Cross. Everything they've put out since A Cross the Universe has indicated they were heading in this new direction. Like glamrockers from the future nostalgic for the early 80's, there's just .... something in those epic orchestral synth chords. Their Dior Homme set (aka Planisphere) and remix of Let Love Rule were probably the most noticeable steps in the transition. The release of Civilization and Audio Video Disco were just confirmation.



So in the end, f you're still stuck on zee old Joostees, don't even bother. Go listen to some SebastiAn. That dude ROCKS HARD. He'll fill that hole in your heart right up. I think Total is the most cohesive bundle he's put out to date but I'm probably biased because I'm hands down obsessed! with that shit.

Then again, maybe these new Justice tracks will fill a hole you didn't even know you had. That one hole that requires equal parts Alan Parsons Project and Ratatat, slightly reminiscent of Daft Punk.

What can I say, these musical heart holes are oddly specific.

Lucid Dreams

It's official, I'm addicted to making playlists.
That, or my tendency to obsess over a limited number of songs easily lends itself to documentation. Whatever. Either way, this one's an attempt to capture the experience of  wandering around SF in the summertime. Overall, pretty upbeat and chill, ranging from delightfully quirky to full-on strange. Definitely recommending you whip out a solid pair of headphones-- tracks like Cornelius' Mic Check and Franz Ferdinand's Lucid Dreams are infinitely improved with legit acoustics. Also, if there's any way you can absorb these tunes while laying in the grass bonding with rapidly shifting cloud formations, it's preferrable. Trust me.

Stream on Spotify or Grooveshark / DL on le Dbox

1. 7th Street - Chinese Man Records
2. Nights Off - Siriusmo
3. (My 1st) Big Break - Cut Chemist
4. Tetra - SebastiAn
5. Ladyflash - The Go! Team
6. Life Coach - Fang Island
7. Summer of All Dead Souls - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
8. Winter That's All - Fol Chen
9. Royksopp Forever - Royksopp
10. Forever Lost - Pretty Lights
11. Bad Idea - Siriusmo
12. Rolling Nectarine - Hooray for Earth
13. Vision One - Royksopp
14. Run Run Run - Phoenix
15. Lucid Dreams - Franz Ferdinand
16. Youthless - Beck
17. Mic Check - Cornelius
18. Of The Mountains - Dan Deacon
19. High School Art Class - Pretty Lights

Album art: cropped Gustavo Peña painting
[Check out the rest of his work, this man's a boss.]