Super Game -- Super Treats Part I

Here at Potluck Paradise headquarters we’re getting the jump on our second annual self-declared “February is National Potluck Month” with some tasty snacks for “the big game.” We have a special dish in honor of each of the two contenders – They are so good, they’re downright Super! Bowls will be filled with them.

Giant’s Lean-Mean Lemon Cheesecake is a no-bake, low-fat treat that will give even the Patriots their just desserts. Scroll down for the recipe.

For the Patriot fans, we’ll have historic New England Corn Cakes topped with Cranberry-Sauced Beef and Tangy Apple Slaw. It packs a giant of a taste in a small mouthful. More than enough to wave the flag about. Look for our next posting in a couple of days!

We have even more delicious eating and great ideas planned for the rest of our National Potluck Month celebration. If ever a month defined potluck, February is it. Days are quiet. Company is gone. Holidays are over, spring is coming, but not soon enough. The weather is capricious. Up here in Minnesota we’re yearning for some real snow, if only for a few days.

February is a time to make the most of what you have. To share good times with friends, family, and co-workers and to find your own bit of Paradise in a fun-filled Potluck, if only for an hour or two.

We'll be celebrating four potlucks this month. Watch for posts with recipes and ideas. But here's a hint of the themes: We'll start with some more thoughts on The Big Game played on February 5 -- the super Sunday. The middle of the month is Valentine's Day and we'll party while keeping our hearts healthy. Game Night will look at a couple of great new card games that were in our Christmas stockings and some treats to go with them. Finally, we'll round out the month with a look back at 1968, celebrating the groovy exhibit at the Minnesota History Museum. Follow us all month at http://potluckparadise.blogspot.com/

So here’s the first recipe to start the month --

Giant’s Lean-Mean Lemon Cheesecake

Recipe makes 18 muffin-sized cheesecakes (1/3 cup size) or 36 mini-muffin size
Line muffin pans with paper cupcake liners.

To Make the Crust
Melt in a microwave for about 30 seconds, repeat for 5 second intervals if needed:
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
Add: 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Stir with fork until well blended and then put 2 tablespoons (1 tablespoon for the mini-muffins) of mixture in the paper muffin cups and press firmly with a flat-bottom glass or the back of a spoon. Set aside.

To Make the Lemonade filling.

1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn starch
12-ounce frozen concentrated lemonade, thawed
grated rind of 2 large lemons
3 8-ounce packages non-fat cream cheese (24 ounces total)

Mix the sugar and corn starch in a 1 to 2 quart saucepan. Gradually stir in the lemonade concentrate. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture turns clear and is very, very thick. Stir in the lemon rind and set aside to cool. Plop cooled lemonade mixture into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Beat until smooth with electric mixer. Add cream cheese and beat until blended. Spoon mixture onto crust and place in refrigerator to firm. Ready to eat in about 1 hour. Keeps covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Before serving garnish with whipped cream, a dab of chocolate sauce and a pecan, a cherry, or any other topping you like.

Just Desserts for the Big Game Potluck

As the Big Game heads into the dramatic fourth quarter, we here at Potluck Paradise headquarters have a couple of tasty desserts, sturdy enough to stand up to any last minute excitement and delicious enough to sooth any low-score jitters.

Our Green Bay Guiltless Cheesecake is non-fat, and no-bake. Easy to have the fixings on hand for cheesecake when you don't want to wait. The Steelers' Pound Cake combines chocolate and orange batters for a wonderful marbled flavor combination. The cake keeps well for several days and as it does not have butter or shortening, is lower in fat than most pound cake recipes.

Here's our homage to the Steelers' Defensive Line -- a POUND cake in classic Black and Gold.

Steelers Chocolate and Orange Pound Cake
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 6-ounce can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup cooking oil, such as Wesson
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ginger

2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, and baking powder. Mix thoroughly. Measure the orange juice concentrate and add water, if needed, to make 3/4 cup. Stir the juice, oil, and eggs into flour mixture. Mix until combined and then beat at low speed with an electric mixer for three minutes. Put half the batter into another bowl. Stir ginger into the first mixture. Put melted chocolate and cinnamon into the second mixture. Spray 8- by 4-inch loaf pans with non-stick spray and divide the orange batter between them. Drop spoonfuls of the chocolate batter into the orange mixture and swirl with a knife to “marble” the batters. Bake until a skewer comes out clean – for pyrex loaf pans 45 to 55 minutes. For Other Baking Pans: Metal or dark pans may bake faster. You could make this in an angle food cake tube pan. Baking time would be longer. To assure ease of removing baked cake from loaf pans, line them with heavy-duty aluminum foil or parchment paper and spray that with the non-stick spray. I would not recommend baking this in a Bundt pan.

Green Bay Packers fought their way into the Super Bowl. They have nothing to be ashamed of, nor should anyone who eats this no-bake, non-fat delicious treat.

Guilt-less, No-Bake Lemon (or Orange) Cheesecake

Make the Lemonade or Orange filling.
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn starch
1 12-ounce can frozen concentrated lemonade (or orange juice), thawed
grated rind of 2 large lemons
3 8-ounce packages non-fat cream cheese (24 ounces total)

Mix the sugar and corn starch in a 1 to 2 quart saucepan. Gradually stir in the lemonade concentrate. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture turns clear and is very, very thick. Stir in the lemon rind and set aside to cool. Plop cooled lemonade mixture into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Beat until smooth with electric mixer. Add cream cheese and beat until blended.
To make cheesecakes: Spoon mixture onto crust (recipe below) and place in refrigerator to firm. Ready to eat in about 1 hour. Keeps covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Before serving garnish with whipped cream or sweetened sour cream (2 teaspoons sugar mixed with 1/4 cup light sour cream for each 6 cheesecakes)

Crust
Melt in a microwave for about 30 seconds, repeat for 5 second intervals if needed:
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Stir until chocolate is melted and blended with the butter.
Add: 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Line a muffin pan with paper cupcake liners. Stir with fork until well blended and then put 2 tablespoons of mixture in the paper muffin cups and press firmly with a flat-bottom glass or the back of a spoon. Set aside.

Recipe makes 18 muffin-sized cheesecakes (1/3 cup size).

The thickened filling mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or longer, Measure out 1/3 cup to mix with one 8-ounce container of cream cheese to make 6 cheesecakes at a time. Refrigerated crust mixture keeps for weeks, too. Warm slightly before pressing into cupcake papers.