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2 Meanwhile, line a strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth and set it over a deep bowl.

3 Pour the milk mixture into the strainer and let drain for 15 minutes. Gather the cheesecloth around the curds and squeeze gently to extract any excess liquid.

Storage: Homemade ricotta is best served slightly warm, although it can be refrigerated for up to three days, if desired.

Makes 2 cups.

Special equipment recommended

• A fondue pot

1 Place the shredded cheese and cornstarch in a plastic freezer bag. Seal, shake to coat the cheese with flour or cornstarch. Set aside.

2 Rub the inside of a 4-quart pot with the cut garlic, then discard. Add the wine and lemon juice to the pot, and bring to a low simmer on medium heat. Bit by bit, slowly stir the cheese into the wine. Stir constantly in a zig-zag pattern to prevent the cheese from seizing and balling up. Cook just until the cheese is melted and creamy. Do not let boil. Once the mixture is smooth, stir in kirsch, mustard and nutmeg.

3 Transfer the cheese to a fondue serving pot, set over a low flame to keep warm. If your pot is thin-bottomed, a lit candle will probably do. If thick-bottomed, you can use a small Sterno.

4 Arrange various dipping foods around the fondue pot. (A lazy Suzan works great for this.)

To eat, spear dipping foods with fondue forks or small forks. Dip to coat with the cheese, and eat.

Serves 4.

2 Place the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and brown the butter. The butter will foam for a bit before calming down. When the butter turns to a light amber color watch for it to turn to a nutty brown (this can happen very quickly). Immediately take off heat. Add the chopped sage to the butter (it may cause some foaming). Pour over the potatoes.

3 Add the goat cheese chevre, and milk and mash the potatoes with a potato masher until smooth and all ingredients are well incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Serves 4.

*Use a sharp vegetable peeler to peel wide strips from a lemon. Probably the peel from just half of one lemon will do. Take a metal spoon and scoop out and discard any white pith that is under the peels you’ve removed. The pith is bitter. Then slice the peel into tiny slivers. If you do this part in advance, cover with plastic wrap so the strips do not dry out before you put them on the salmon.

2 Brush oil over both sides of bread. Arrange bread in single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake until bread is just crisp, about 5 minutes on each side. (You can prepare the toasts a couple hours in advance.)

3 Spread cheese mixture over toasts. Top with salmon, trimming to fit. Garnish with lemon peel strips. Arrange on platter and serve.

Makes about 40 pieces.

• 1 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 4 graham crackers)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg yolk

Filling

• 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cups (1 pound) brown sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 15-ounce cans pumpkin puree*
• 2 tablespoons bourbon or other whiskey

Pan

• 1 9-inch diameter, 3-inch tall springform pan

* You can make your own pumpkin pure by cutting a sugar pumpkin in half, scooping out the seeds, placing the pumpkin halves cut-side down in a roasting pan with a 1/4 inch of water in it, and cooking it in a 350F oven for an hour, until soft. Scoop out the flesh and pure it in a blender or food processor. Strain out excess water.

1 Pulse pecans, flour, sugar, and crumbs in a food processor. Add butter and egg yolk. Pulse until mixture is homogenous. Press into bottom of 9 springform pan and bake for 10 minutes at 375F. Remove from oven and let cool.

2 Drain or strain any liquid from pumpkin pure. Take pumpkin pure and place on several layers of paper towels. Cover with several layers of paper towels and use your hands to gently squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the pure. Not that you will probably go through a lot of paper towels (can use tea towels too). Two 15-ounce cans of pured pumpkin should yield a little more than 2 cups of pure, with the excess moisture removed. You want exactly 2 cups of the pure.

3 Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, grated nutmeg, and allspice in a medium bowl. With a wooden spoon (no need for a mixer for this step), mix in the salt, pumpkin pure, vanilla, and bourbon. Beat in the eggs.

4 In a large bowl, (helps to use a mixer for this step) combine the cream cheese and the brown sugar until fully creamed and smooth (no lumps). Gradually add the pumpkin mixture until fully incorporated. Bring a kettle of water to a boil.

5 Place crust-baked springform pan in the middle of two layers of large sheets of aluminum foil (to help prevent water-bath moisture from leaking into the pan). Fold the aluminum foil up the sides of the pan and trim. Place the aluminum wrapped pan in a large roasting pan (large enough so that there is room on all sides). Pour the pumpkin cream cheese mixture into the springform pan.

6 Place the roasting pan containing the springform pan in a 325F oven on the middle rack. Pour boiling water into the pan so that it comes halfway up the side of the springform pan. Cook for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off the oven heat and prop the oven door open. Let the cheesecake sit in the oven, cooling for another hour. Then remove from oven and let come to room temperature. Once it has cooled down, chill for several hours in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.

7 When ready to serve, gently remove the cake from the springform pan. To do this well, I recommend a tip by Dorie Greenspan in her book Baking: From My Home to Yours. To help ensure that the cake doesn’t stick to the springform side as you unlock it, first run a blunt knife around the cake and then warm the sides of the pan with a hair dryer. Then carefully unlock the springform and lift off the sides.

Serve cheesecake with caramel sauce, candied pecans, and whipped cream.

Makes 16 servings.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef (16-20%)
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese (get Pt. Reyes blue cheese if you can find it)
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp water
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 Put ground beef, mustard, garlic, onions, blue cheese, water, and egg into a large bowl. Use your hands to gently mix the ingredients together until just incorporated. Do not over-mix. Shape into patties, about 1/2 inch thick and larger than your bun. Chill until you are ready to cook.

2 Prepare charcoal or gas grill for cooking over high direct heat. Using tongs and a folded up paper towel dipped in vegetable oil, oil the grill grates. Make sure grill is hot and well oiled before laying down the patties. Season patties with salt and pepper. Place the patties on the clean, well-oiled grill grate. Grill the burgers for about 5 minutes per side. Do not press down on the burgers while cooking.

If you don’t have a grill, you can use a grill pan or a cast iron frying pan for the burgers.

Serve on hamburger buns with lettuce and mayonnaise.

Makes 4 burgers.