In This Menu:

• Julia Child’s Coq au Vin
• Creamy Cantaloupe Soup
• Fried Strawberries

When I was growing up, Sunday evening at the Clary house meant one thing: Julia Childs. We watched her show religiously and my early attempts at cooking were certainly influenced by her. This is Julia Child’s recipe for her famous Coq Au Vin (Casserole of Chicken in Red Wine). I remember making this dish as a teenager and became enamored with the tangy flavor of the red wine. Most of Julia’s cookbooks included this recipe. Coq au Vin (literally “rooster in red wine”) is probably the most famous of all French chicken dishes and certainly one of the most delicious, with its rich red wine sauce, tender onions and mushroom garniture, and its browned pieces of chicken with their wonderful flavor. Coq au Vin seems to be even better when done ahead so all its elements have time to steep together.

History: Coq Au Vin is a Burgundian dish, and is considered a French comfort food. The traditional recipe for Coq au Vin did not include chicken, but rather a “coq,” which is a rooster. For this dish, I chose to use chicken legs and thighs; you can add breasts if you like, but I feel that breast meat dries out and is not nearly as flavorful as the dark meat.

INGREDIENTS

• 2½ to 3 pounds of chicken thighs and legs
• 4 ounces lean thick-cut bacon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• ¼ cup cognac (or brandy)
• 2 cups red wine (Pinot Noir, Burgundy, Beaujolais or Chianti)
• 2 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken stock or broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves garlic, mashed or minced
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ teaspoon thyme
• Brown-Braised Onions (see recipe below)
• Mushrooms (see recipe below)
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• Parsley sprigs

PREPARATION

Dry chicken thoroughly in a towel. Season chicken with salt and pepper; set aside.

Remove any rind off the bacon and cut the bacon into lardons (rectangles ¼-inch across and 1-inch long). In a saucepan, simmer the bacon sticks in 2 quarts of water for 10 minutes; remove from heat, drain, rinse in cold water, and pat dry.

In a large heavy frying pan, casserole dish, or electric skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil until moderately hot. Add the bacon and sauté slowly until they are lightly browned. Remove bacon to a side dish. Place chicken pieces into the hot oil (not crowding pan), and brown on all sides. Return bacon to the pan, cover pan, and cook slowly for 10 minutes, turning chicken once.

After browning the chicken, uncover pan, pour in the cognac. Cook for a couple of minutes to burn off alcohol. Pour the red wine into the pan and add just enough chicken broth to completely cover the chicken pieces. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring the liquid to a simmer, then cover pan, and simmer slowly for about 30 minutes or until the chicken meat is tender when pierced with a fork.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the Brown-Braised Onions and the Mushrooms (recipes below).

When the chicken is done cooking, remove from the pan to a platter, leaving the cooking liquid in the pan. Increase heat to high and boil the cooking liquid rapidly until approximately 2 cups of liquid remains.

While the liquid is boiling, in a small bowl, blend the 3 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons softened butter into a smooth paste; beat the flour/butter mixture into the approximately 2 cups hot cooking liquid with a whisk. Simmer and stir for a minute or two until the sauce has thickened (the result will be a sauce thick enough to lightly coat a spoon – just thick enough to coat the chicken and vegetables lightly). If sauce is too thin, boil down rapidly to concentrate; if sauce is too thick, thin out with additional spoonfuls of chicken stock. Taste the final sauce, adding more salt and pepper if necessary.

To serve: Either serve from the casserole dish or arrange the chicken on a large platter. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Arrange the Brown-Braised Onions on one side of the chicken and the Mushrooms on the other side. Decorate with sprigs of parsley. Accompany with parsley potatoes, rice, or noodles; buttered green peas or a green salad; hot French bread; and the same red wine you used for cooking the chicken. This dish is traditionally served with wide egg noodles.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 12 to 24 small white onions, peeled (or double the amount if you want to use tiny frozen peeled raw onions)*
• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt to taste

* If neither frozen nor fresh pearl onions are available, substitute one large onion cut into ½-inch pieces. (Do not use jarred pearl onions, they will turn mushy and disintegrate into the sauce.)

PREPARATION

While chicken is cooking, drop onions into boiling water, bring water back to the boil, and let boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and drain. Cool onions in ice water. Shave off the two ends (root and stem ends) of each onion, peel carefully, and pierce a deep cross in the root end with a small knife (to keep onions whole during cooking).

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil, add parboiled onions, and toss for several minutes until lightly browned (this will be a patchy brown). Add water to halfway up onions and add ¼ to ½ teaspoon salt. Cover pan and simmer slowly for 25 to 30 minutes or until onions are tender when pierced with a knife.

NOTE: Onions may be cooked in advance, set aside, and then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ pound fresh mushrooms, washed and well dried; left whole if small, sliced or quartered if large
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ tablespoon olive oil

PREPARATION

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat butter and olive oil; when bubbling hot, toss in mushrooms and sauté over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat.

NOTE: Mushrooms may be cooked in advance, set aside, and then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving.

I love soups and in the summer (as you know if you read this blog with any regularity) I like cold soups. Here is one using cantaloupes that is perfect for a warm summer evening.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium size cantaloupe,
  peeled and cut up

• 1 pint half and half
• ½ cup honey
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Dash orange juice
• Dash champagne
• Sour cream

PREPARATION

Blend cantaloupe, half and half, honey, and cinnamon in blender. Orange juice and/or champagne may be added for zest. Serve chilled with a dollop of sour cream in each bowl.

When I first opened Clary’s, I was looking for a different kind of dessert and a friend had just returned from the West Coast and had fried strawberries at a restaurant. I was intrigued and began to play with the idea. The recipe below is the final result.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pint fresh strawberries
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Granulated sugar
• Oil (for frying)
• Whipped cream
• Mint sprig (optional)

PREPARATION

Wash strawberries and pat dry with paper towels. Put flour in a shallow bowl. Beat egg and milk together in a bowl. Mix cinnamon and graham cracker crumbs in a shallow dish. Dredge strawberries in flour, then in egg/milk and then roll in graham cracker mixture. Have enough oil heated for deep frying. Deep fry strawberries for 1 to 2 minutes or until coating is crisped. Drain on paper towels and roll in sugar. Place strawberries (about 4 per serving depending on size of berries) on a plate with whipped cream and garnish with mint.

This week’s menu will be a perfect choice for this coming Mother’s Day! The soup is light, healthy, and refreshing. The Garden Burger is made with turkey, has much less fat and is sure to please the most discriminating mom. To finish it off, who doesn’t like blackberry cobbler? Give it a try and enjoy!

In This Menu:

• Garden Burger
• Creamy Strawberry Soup
• Blackberry Cobbler

My dear wife loves ground turkey. She eats it instead of ground beef and I have learned to really like it as well! If you never have had a “turkey burger” now would be a good time to try one. They have less fat than beef burgers and really do have a clean, light flavor. Enjoy!

Pictured above with the garden burger is our Six Bean Salad which is available in the Deli.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. 90/10 ground turkey or
  ground chuck

• 1 tablespoon basil pesto or 2
  tablespoons finely chopped,
  fresh basil leaf

• ¼ cup small diced Campari
  tomato

• ¼ cup chopped, frozen
  spinach

• 3 tablespoons No Fat Feta
  Cheese

• ¼ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoons black pepper
• Wonder hamburger bun
• Guilden’s mustard

PREPARATION

Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix with a spoon until all ingredients are incorporated into the meat. Do not over mix. Form into patties and cook as you usually would a burger.

It is difficult to describe how delicious this soup is. Cold soups are a perfect starter in warm weather. This particular soup is not only delicious, it also has no fat and just a little sugar. You can also substitute honey or an artificial sweetener for the sugar if you wish. I used to make a strawberry soup that had chardonnay in the recipe, but I couldn’t find it. I decided to just play around a bit, fully intending to add the wine to the strawberry mixture at some point. After adding the ingredients above, I pulsed in my food processor expecting the soup to be way too thick and needing the wine or some other liquid to thin it down a bit. To my surprise, the viscosity (thickness) was perfect! I remembered that the old recipe used sour cream instead of the yogurt I had just used. Sour cream tends to be thicker than yogurt explaining the difference. When I tried the soup I was very pleased. The only thing I added after the first taste was the clove. The soup actually didn’t need it, but I do think the hint of spice does enhance the dish. If I do find the old recipe, it is taking a back seat to this one!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pints fresh strawberries, stemmed and hulled
• 1 cup non-fat, plain yogurt
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

PREPARATION

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse for about a minute until very smooth. There should be no large pieces. Pour soup through a wire mesh sieve or sifter to remove seeds. Serve cold garnished with fresh mint.

I have only one word for this cobbler: WOW! You can see how few ingredients there are. As well, there are only three steps in making this dish. Can anything this simple be any good? Yes, it can. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that very often “simple” means good. The adage that “less is more” certainly holds true in this case!

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup butter
• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 cups milk
• 3½ cups blackberries

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Once oven temperature is reached melt butter in a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl stir together the flour, sugar and milk; batter will be slightly lumpy. Pour mixture on top of melted butter in baking pan. Do not mix butter and mixture together.
3. Drop blackberries into batter; if more crust is desired add less blackberries. Bake in preheated oven for one hour or until golden brown.

This week because of Christmas, I wanted to give everyone a complete Christmas dinner menu. I’ll try and help with some tips and some pre-cooking suggestions that will allow you to still get your shopping done! Since the entrée is fairly rich, the appetizer and salad are both light. You do not need to do both the soup and salad, one or the other is probably sufficient, but some folks like to go all out! In addition, since the beef is wrapped in pastry, which is a starch, you could delete the potato dish if you want, no one will notice. This menu is designed to serve 6 people and is set up for a seated dinner, however, you could certainly use this for a buffet dinner as well. Here it is:

CHRISTMAS DINNER PREP LIST
SHOPPING LIST

MENU ITEMS:

• James’ Pickled Shrimp Appetizer
• Curried Butternut Squash Soup
• Bibb Lettuce Salad-Bouchon
• Beef Wellington with Mushroom Duxelle and Béarnaise
• New Potatoes with Pancetta and Chive
• Asparagus with Grape Tomato and Feta
• White Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake

Wednesday Afternoon

1. Make pickling sauce for shrimp
2. Make cheesecake
3. While cheesecake is cooking, make soup
4. Make dressing for salad

Thursday

1. Cook shrimp (if using raw)
2. Blanch and shock (plunge in ice water) asparagus. Drain, bag, and refrigerate.
3. Make Mushroom Duxelle
4. Stuff tenderloin with Mushroom Duxelle. Wrap in plastic refrigerate.
5. Wash and dry Bibb lettuce leaves for salad
6. Chop all herbs for salad, chives for potatoes, parsley for soup and shrimp, bag and refrigerate
7. Mince shallots for asparagus, bag and refrigerate
8. Pre-cut cheesecake

Friday, Christmas Day

1. Put shrimp in marinade in morning, place on tray in afternoon
2. Cook Pancetta for potatoes anytime early in day and leave out
3. Cook potatoes early, leave in warmer or heat in oven just before serving
4. Make Béarnaise sauce – can be made two hours before dinner. DO NOT refrigerate. Leave out, room temperature
5. Build salads and have ready to go (if you have room in fridge or even in cold garage, covered)
6. Place soup on stove, low heat. Have sour cream and parsley out ready to go.
7. Wrap tenderloin in pastry and place in oven
8. Put shrimp out for the starving so they don’t faint
9. 15 minutes before dinner, heat asparagus and potatoes
10. Have fun!

Liquor Department
1 bottle inexpensive dry white wine

Spices
1 box Kosher salt
Coarse black pepper
Whole black peppercorns
1 dried tarragon
Curry powder (if desired for soup)

Groceries
1 small bottle Tabasco
1 small jar capers
1 small jar Dijon mustard
1 bottle red wine vinegar
1 small bottle tarragon vinegar
1 bottle extra virgin olive oil
1 bottle canola oil
16 oz. chicken stock

Baking
1 small bag sugar
1 small bag flour
1 bottle vanilla extract
1 bag white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons espresso powder or instant coffee

Frozen
1 box of puff pastry

Meat and Seafood
3 lb. trimmed beef tenderloin roast
2 dozen large shrimp cooked or raw

Deli
6 pieces uncooked pancetta (can use bacon)
1 container feta cheese

Produce
1 whole butternut squash (about 2 lbs.)
1 lb. gala or fuji apples
1 lb. washed, button mushrooms
1 bulb fresh garlic
1 head Italian parsley
6 heads Bibb lettuce
3 lemons
1 small red onion
2 bags shallots
1 package fresh tarragon
2 packages fresh chives
14 or so medium red potatoes
1 bunch asparagus
1 small box grape tomatoes (½ lb.)

Dairy
1 dozen eggs
2 lbs. cream cheese
2 lbs. unsalted butter
½ pint heavy cream
1 small container sour cream

At Clary’s, I used this dish for catering jobs as an alternative to shrimp cocktail. People get tired of shrimp with cocktail sauce. This has lots of zing and is a light start to an evening FILLED with rich and wonderful food! The pickling sauce could be done several days ahead. The shrimp can be cooked the day before. Feel free to use frozen shrimp that is pre-cooked if you do not want to cook your own. If you do want to cook the shrimp, here is how you should do it:

Shrimp Boil

To 3 quarts water boiling water add:

• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons salt and pepper mix
• One whole lemon cut in half-squeeze juice, then drop in lemon halves
• 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons Tabasco or other hot sauce
• Ice water bath

DO NOT peel shrimp. You can use either EZ peel (veins removed) or unpeeled shrimp. Place shrimp in boiling, seasoned water for 2 minutes tops for a 21 to 25 count shrimp. Less for smaller. Most people overcook shrimp, a big no no in cooking! Immediately plunge cooked shrimp in ice water to stop the cooking. Peel and de-vein.

For the Pickled Shrimp:

• 2 dozen large shrimp cooked, peeled, and de-veined
• 1 cup of very thinly sliced red onion
• ¼ cup small capers
• Zest and juice of one lemon
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons minced, fresh garlic
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt and pepper mix
• 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

You can get the zest from a lemon by gently grating the sides of the lemon with a box grater, then chopping zest very fine. You do not want the white part (pith) which is very bitter. Strain the seeds from the lemon when juicing.

Mix everything together except shrimp and parsley in a bowl. 12 hours before dinner, add shrimp and refrigerate. Serve on a large platter with chopped parsley as garnish.

One of my favorite soups. If you REALLY want to do it right, go to a restaurant supply store, like Curtis restaurant supply in Tulsa, and ask for a Chinois, which is a very fine cone shaped strainer. This will give you the silkiest version of the soup. I LOVE the curry powder in the soup, but I realize some don’t care for curry. It is fine either way. The soup can be made up to 5 days in advance and kept refrigerated. When reheating, do so over low heat to avoid scorching. If you need to thin the soup, use some chicken stock.

Ingredients

• 1 whole butternut squash (about 2 lbs.)
• Olive oil
• 2 cups cold water with juice of ½ lemon
• 1 lb. gala or fuji apples
• ¼ cup minced shallots or onions
• 2 cups chicken stock or bouillon
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons curry powder (optional)
• Kosher salt and pepper
• Sour cream
• Chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 375°. Cut squash in half lengthwise. Brush inside of squash with olive oil and place inside side down on cookie sheet. Roast for about 1 hour until squash feels VERY soft when pressed from the outside. Set aside to cool.

Peel, seed, and dice apples and place in lemon water (for you foodies, water with lemon, vinegar, or other acid is called acidulated water) to keep them from turning brown. Store apples cold in lemon water until needed. Drain apples and place in a saucepan with shallots. Cook apples and shallots, covered, over medium low heat until shallots are soft. Add chicken stock, cream, and curry powder if desired.

With a large spoon, remove seeds from squash and scoop pulp from skin. In a food processor or food mill, process squash until very smooth. Add squash to cream mixture. Add more stock if necessary to reach desired thickness. I like the soup thick, but pourable. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper and slowly bring to a boil. Remove from heat and strain through a very fine strainer or through a food mill. A cake sifter will work for this or you can puree in food processor. Straining will give you the silkiest product, however. Place soup in bowls and garnish with a small dollop of sour cream and chopped parsley. Serve hot.

This salad is a variation of one that my favorite chef, Thomas Keller, serves at one his restaurants, Bouchon. I have made some personal adjustments, but the basic concept is the same. The lettuce can be washed, and herbs chopped, a day ahead and stored in a Ziplock bag. The dressing can be made up to 3 or 4 days ahead.

Ingredients

• 6 heads bibb lettuce
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 3 tablespoons minced shallots
• ¼ cup Italian parsley leaves
• ¼ cup tarragon leaves
• ¼ cup minced chives
• ½ cup vinaigrette
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For the vinaigrette:

• ¼ cup dijon mustard
• ½ cup red wine vinegar
• 1½ cups canola oil

Combine the mustard and vinegar in a blender and blend at medium speed for about 15 seconds. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in ½ cup of the oil. Don’t be tempted to add all the oil to the blender or the vinaigrette will become too thick. It should be very creamy.

Transfer the vinaigrette to a small bowl and, whisking constantly, slowly stream in the remaining 1 cup oil. (The dressing can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Should the vinaigrette separate, use a blender or immersion blender to re-emulsify it.)

Preparation

Carefully cut out the core from each head of lettuce and separate the leaves, but keep each head of lettuce together; discard any tough outer leaves. Because each head of lettuce will be reassembled, the easiest way to work is with one head at a time. First, place the leaves in a bowl of cold water to refresh them and remove any dirt, then lift out and spin-dry in a salad spinner.

Place the leaves from a single head of lettuce in a bowl. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, a few grinds of pepper, 1½ teaspoons of the shallots and chives, and 1 tablespoon each of the parsley, tarragon, and chervil. Then toss gently with 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Repeat with the remaining heads.

For each serving, arrange the outer lettuce leaves as a base on the plate and rebuild each head of lettuce, ending with the smallest, most tender leaves.

There is not a more classic French beef dish in my mind. The Béarnaise sauce really puts this over the top. For a “towering” presentation place 4 or 6 potato halves flat-side down in center of plate. Place a 2-inch thick slice of the Beef Wellington on top of potatoes. Place about 4 asparagus spears with feta on top of beef. Spoon Béarnaise sauce around plate.

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 lb. trimmed beef tenderloin roast
• 2 T. olive oil
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 1 or 2 sheets puff pastry, 12″ X 12″
• 2 eggs mixed with ¼ cup water (egg wash)

The tenderloin roast must be partially cooked if you want to eat it between medium rare and medium which is the preferred doneness for tenderloin. Preheat oven to 400°. Brush meat with olive oil and season with salt and pepper on all sides. Place on baking sheet and place in oven for 12 minutes. Remove and let cool completely. If you like the meat cooked longer, increase this precooking time about 5 minutes per degree of doneness desired. For well done, precook roast 15 to 20 minutes.

For the Duxelle:

• 2 T. butter
• 1 lb. washed, button mushrooms
• 2 T. minced shallot or white onion
• ½ cup dry white wine
• Salt and pepper

Place mushrooms in food processor and process until very fine. This can be done with a knife, but will require a lot of chopping! Heat a medium sauté pan and add butter. Add processed mushrooms and shallots and cook over medium high heat for about 5 minutes. Add wine and continue cooking until mixture is very thick and most of the moisture is cooked out (about 30 minutes). It’s important to stir constantly during this process. When done, set aside and cool completely. Turn meat over so that the underside is facing up and make a slit along the length of the tenderloin about 2 to 3 inches deep. Stuff mushroom mixture into tenderloin slit and squeeze meat back together.

Lightly flour a table or large cutting board and lay out pastry. With a rolling pin, roll the pastry square out about 2 inches on all sides. You should now have a square piece of pastry that is about 14″ X 14″. Brush pastry with eggs wash. Place tenderloin, stuffed side down, on pastry right along the edge that is facing you. Roll beef until the pastry sides meet. Pinch seam with your fingers. Brush top with egg wash. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 375° for about 15 minutes.

For Béarnaise:

• 1 T. dried tarragon
• 1 T. minced shallot
• 1 cup tarragon vinegar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 and ½ cup clarified butter*

In small pan reduce vinegar with tarragon and shallot until almost dry. Over slowly simmering water in metal bowl, beat egg yolks with electric mixer or whisk for at least 10 minutes. Eggs should be lighter in color and somewhat thickened and frothy. Add tarragon mixture. Slowly drizzle in butter, beating constantly. Sauce will thicken. It may get too thick. If it does, just add a little hot water until the desired thickness is reached. Season with salt and pepper mix.

*Melt 1 lb. plus 1 stick butter in small sauce pan, then with a ladle, skim off the clear oil from top and reserve. Discard solids in bottom of pan.

This can be done ahead of time, except the chives, and heated right before serving.

Ingredients

• 6 pieces uncooked pancetta
• 14 medium red potatoes, quartered lengthwise
• A couple dozen fresh chives, chopped finely
• Salt and pepper mix

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 450° F.
2. Cook pancetta on sided cookie sheet, turning once, 15 minutes, or until crisp. Remove from sheet pan and reserve any fat left on pan. Chop pancetta and set aside.
3. Add potatoes to cookie sheet and toss to coat with bacon fat. Season with salt and pepper mix.
4. Cook, turning potatoes once 45 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown. Remove to serving dish and crumble reserved pancetta and chives on top.

Ingredients

• 2 qts. boiling water
• 2 quarts ice water in large bowl
• 12 stalks asparagus
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 4 T. olive oil
• 1 T. minced shallots
• Salt and pepper mix
• ½ cup feta cheese

Cut ends off asparagus and place in boiling water. Cook for about 90 seconds. Immediately plunge in ice water. Drain well. In a large bowl, toss asparagus spears and tomatoes with olive oil, shallots, and about 2 teaspoons salt and pepper mix. Place in Pyrex or baking dish. This can be done up to 3 days in advance. 15 minutes before serving, place mixture in a 350° oven for 10 to 15 minutes until warmed through. Place on serving tray, sprinkle with feta cheese and serve.

For the Crust:

• ½ lb. butter-softened
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ t. salt
• Flour as needed

Mix butter, sugar, and salt in countertop mixer or with an electric mixer. Add flour until pea-sized balls are formed.

Place in a 10-inch spring form pan and with your hands, press the crust into bottom and up the sides of the pan. Work it until the thickness is fairly consistent on sides and bottom. This can be done in a cake pan, though can make it harder to get out!

For the Batter:

• 2 lbs. of cream cheese, completely softened.
• 4 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate bar
• 2 tablespoons espresso powder or instant coffee

Mix cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and eggs in mixer until smooth. Add white chocolate and coffee and blend well. Pour into crust and bake in a water bath at 200° for about 4 hours. To make a water bath simply place cheesecake into a broiling pan or cookie sheet with sides. Place in oven, then pour about 3 cups hot water into pan. Bake as usual. The water bath and slow cooking ensure that your cheesecake will not crack.