Pumpkin Cheesecake and how this blog should be renamed Hooray for One Off-Weekend per Month

I could write a survivalist novel about the past 6 months because that is in fact what I have done: survive. I have studied and passed Step 1 of the medical boards (I get PTSD just thinking about it), I have successfully completed back to back rotations in surgery and inpatient medicine; I have been sneezed on, splattered blood and other bodily fluids on, I have been sick after a patient gave me his sickness; I have been hospitalized; I have averaged 5 hours of sleep and 12 hours of work per day and I’ve had only 4 days off per month, I haven’t cooked a proper meal, baked a cupcake, read a book or ridden a bike in the past 6 months. And yet…I’ve survived and I’m OK. In fact, we all are as non of my med school friends has had a major breakdown yet.

And the lesson…if there is anything to be learned…is that life is hard and nothing worth having comes easy…and in adapting to hard times, it helps when we can deal with difficult situations with a sense of humor and while focusing on the positives…It also helps when you have enough money to order takeout everyday, enough clothes and underwear to avoid weekly laundry, good deodorant so you can go two days at a time without showering (unless you are in surgery, in which case you must shower twice a day at a minimum), a white coat that hides wrinkly blouses, a free taxi service that picks you up in the mornings and drops you off at work so you can get 30 extra minutes of sleep; an awesome husband who is taking a year off med school to do research and has more time that you do…and an off-weekend that comes along once in a while, just frequently enough to keep you sane and hopeful…I cherish all these things dearly and I am deeply grateful for them because they’ve helped me survive.

Anyways…I finished my medicine clerkship last Friday, which meant I had an entire off-weekend for myself so I got to bake a bit. I thought pumpkin cheesecake was appropriate for the season and to bring over to my in-laws for dinner this afternoon. Lets just say that a smooth top without a single crack made my day…and the Oreo chocolate crust was a hit…I’m happy to have found this recipe because it is worth keeping.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Recipe adapted from Food Network
Yields 10-12 servings
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INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs (one 16oz container of Oreo cookies, fillings scraped and discarded, crumbed in food processor)
2 3/4 cups sugar
salt
2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 15-ounce can pureed pumpkin
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoon brandy (optional but oh so good)
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups sweetened whipped cream

DIRECTIONS

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Brush a 10-inch springform pan with the softened 2 teaspoons of butter. Stir the remaining butter with the crumbs, 1/4 cup of the sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan, packing it tightly and evenly. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a rack, then wrap the outside of the springform pan with foil and place inside a roasting pan.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add the pumpkin and continue to beat for 4 minutes. Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups sugar and beat until just light, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt and the spices and beat until just combined. Pour into the cooled crust.

Gently place the roasting pan (with the springform pan inside) in the oven and pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes about halfway up the side of the springform pan. Bake until the outside of the cheesecake sets but the center is still loose, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the door sightly to let out some heat. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for 3 more hours, then remove from the roasting pan and cool completely. Run a knife around the edges, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

Bring the cheesecake to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Unlock and remove the springform ring. To finish, place a dollop of the whipped cream on each slice.

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Categories: Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Tags: cheesecake, pumpkin

By Dani Y.

— October 21, 2012 at 10:31 pm

On Motivation

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The last few weeks have been hard. There has been a lot of studying going on with not much time for real enjoyment and not much of a real Off-Weekend. I generally don’t need much motivation to study since most of the time I truly enjoy doing it, but I’m tired now and Friday cannot come soon enough. Sometimes I get a numb feeling…I know I should be excited to learn about the hormonal, societal and genetic problems that lead to the development of diabetes, a disease that seems to be plaguing society these days…and I know I must pay attention in order to learn how to best help my future patients…and yet, that numbing feeling comes once in a while after a few days of sleep deprivation, stress and information overload… and there is not much I can do about it.

Just like we need time to digest a good meal to absorb all the nutrients, so too is important that we digest learned information in order to absorb its meaning and facilitate later retrieval. Unfortunately, med school does not leave enough time for digestion so we all do our best to swallow in gulps and hope for the best!

I am lucky to have a wonderful and supportive husband who spoils me and cares for me and cooks wonderful meals for me when I can’t do much else. I am so grateful!

And so, while I agonize over the last bits of Endocrinology I need to know for Friday’s test, it helps when I take internet breaks one in a while and find words like these to inspire me again and make the numbness go away!

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Categories: Quotes.

Tags: quotes

By Dani Y.

— February 29, 2012 at 11:33 pm

Red Cabbage Salad with Apples and Apricot Preserves

If bright, colorful and nutritious salads are your thing, (which I couldn’t imagine why they wouldn’t be), then you will love this recipe. Fruits and veggies like cabbage, apples and carrots tend to last a long time in the fridge without going bad.

On the other hand, leafy greens, spinach and lettuce, which I love, tend to wilt really fast and I cannot stand to watch them go bad and end up in the trash because our busy life is not conducive to eating fresh salads everyday. So if you are trying to increase your salad intake but are concerned about fresh veggies going bad really fast and wasting your money, then you may want to consider alternative salad options that are equally healthy and delicious. For this very reason, cabbage is a winner in my book.

Red Cabbage Salad with Apples and Apricot Preserves

Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit by by Chefs Andrew Chase and Erwin Schrottner
Yields 8 servings
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INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons Apricot preserves, divided
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
1 large unpeeled apple, julienne (I used Fuji)
3 thinly sliced radishes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS

Puree the preserves, mustard, and vinegar in blender. With machine running, gradually add oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.
Toss cabbage, apple, carrots, radishes and cilantro in a large bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

COOKING NOTES:

Submerge the julienned apple under cold, slightly salted water to preserve the color and keep them from oxidizing. A little bit of lemon juice or vinegar in place of salt can work as well.

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Other yummy things you may like:

Strawberry, Apple and Blueberry Galettes

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Categories: Red Cabbage Salad with Apples and Apricot Preserves.

Tags: Apples, Apricot Preserves, Fuji, Red Cabbage, Red Cabbage Salad, side dish

By Dani Y.

— February 20, 2012 at 4:27 pm

Drive

I haven’t had a “favorite movie” to obsess over since “Garden State” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” came out a few years ago. I don’t give the tittle of “favorite movie” out lightly or often unless my mind has been blown. I don’t ever ask for DVDs for Christmas or birthdays, except for those of my “favorite movies”….Drive is one of those films.

I watched this film by Nicolas Winding Refn for the first time in November of last year and I instantly fell in love with it. Ryan Gosling plays a part-time stunt driver and garage mechanic who develops a close relationship with his neighbor Carey Mulligan, the wife of a convicted felon and mom to Benicio. Through a series of unfortunate events taking place after Mulligan’s husband is released from prison, Gosling is forced to defend Mulligan and her son from some serious criminals who are attempting to wipe off any evidence of a job gone wrong.

I have watched quite a few Gosling films in the past but he was born to play Driver. The subtleties of his body language and charisma make up for his quiet nature and reassure you that he is the good guy despite his increasingly bloody scorpion jacket. Mulligan is also brilliant in playing the sweet, innocent and vulnerable young mother which creates a startling contacts to all the horror and brutality in this film.

The cinematography is visually stunning in its simplicity and surrealism in both imagery and violence. With 80′s undertones not just with the electro/synth pop soundtrack and the purple and orange hues but also with the font used in the opening credits I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the inspiration for this film came straight out of Prince’s Purple Rain album.

I think you can tell from the other two movies I mentioned above (if you have watched them) that I really like quiet films, the ones where dialogue is not overpowering or superfluous and where there is much left to my imagination to figure out and my mind must do some mental exercises to fill in the gaps. Drive is a quiet movie, so much so that we never find out the main character’s name and we are left calling him Driver. That in itself may require some patience from the viewer. I also realize that the escalating violence can be off-putting to some people (even I had to look away a few times, yes I’m a wuss!), but please, do not let that dissuade you from watching this film. There is so much more in this movie that unites these characters beyond the violence as it is made to accentuate the beauty rather than the horror.

John got me the DVD a few weeks ago and last week I had a few friends over for “dinner and movie” and they thoroughly enjoyed it. Also the soundtrack is pretty awesome…you may want to check out songs like “Nightcall” by Kavinsky, “A Real Hero” by College feat. Electric Youth and “Under your Spell” by Desire.

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Categories: Drive 2011, Movies.

Tags: 2011, Drive, movies, Review

By Dani Y.

— February 19, 2012 at 11:16 pm

Roasted Sweet Potato Soup

Busy day! I haven’t put together a poster board since I was in high school…there was a lot of cutting and printing and gluing and trimming involved…and if I wasn’t such a perfectionist it probably would have taken me half the time, although in the end I was pretty happy with the product.

John and I will be presenting this Friday about our volunteer work at the UNC student-run free clinic (SHAC) with Latino patients. Many other medical students will be presenting their volunteer projects as well and at the end of the day we will officially become Eugene S. Mayer Honor Society for Community Service inductees. So exciting!

This roasted sweet potato soup was the perfect dinner for a busy night. So creamy and delicious, and the best use for my three old and wrinkly sweet potatoes that were sitting in the back of the fridge for over two weeks. If there is something about my cooking that I feel proud and happy about, it is the fact that I try my hardest to never let a vegetable go bad, a fruit untouched and a leftover go to waste (maybe all those years of food rationing in Cuba have something to do with it, or maybe i have been affected by the hungry African kids infomercials, who knows).

Roasted Sweet Potato Soup

Original Recipe
Makes 4 servings
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INGREDIENTS

3 medium size Sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups warm chicken broth
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
chopped cilantro and thinly sliced radishes for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven at 400 degrees F. In a large roasting pan covered in with aluminum foil (for ease of cleaning and scrubbing afterwards) add the sweet potatoes, onion and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper and mix well. Bake for 30 minutes or until the potatoes have softened.
Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes. Transfer to a blender along with a cup of warm chicken broth and blend until smooth.
Transfer the contents of the blender to a large pan over medium heat and add the rest of the chicken broth, the spices and the vinegar. Stir.
Allow the soup to simmer for 10 minutes uncovered. Season well with salt and pepper to taste and serve warm garnished with chopped cilantro and thinly sliced radishes.

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