The Gluti Girls...

Dinner Party part 2

Do having dinner parties scare you?  They didn't use to me.  I used to have so many short cuts for having people over.  I knew where to buy really good bread that tasted home made.  I knew how to make really good desserts that involved gluten.  If I was having a lot of people over and didn't have a lot of time to cook, I could go to Sam's Club and buy so much pre-made, decent quality food.  

I can't do that now.  Now when I have friends over, it all has to be home made.  That means planning and time.  It also means simple.  I poured over my cookbooks for days.  I wanted to make everything I saw, but when it came down it, I knew I had to choose some simple things.  I decided that most of my time would go into my salad and soup.  Everything else needed to be easy.  This is the menu I choose......

For starters:

Goat Cheese with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Rosemary

Soup and Salad:

Fresh Beet Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

Caramelized Onion and Roasted Shallot Cream Soup

Main Course:

Roasted Asparagus

Rosemary and Garlic Filet of Beef

The prep for this meal was really easy.  I made the bread the day before.  I could have easily prepared everything for the salad the day before but I didn't have the ingredients yet.  Same thing with the soup.  Actually, it was better the next day as leftovers!  When you are planning a party, think of foods that you can prep the day before to take some of the work load off of you the day of the party.  

Goat Cheese with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Rosemary (print recipe)

(From Southern Living Annual Recipes)

6 dried tomato halves

3 cloves garlic, pressed

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 French gf baguette, thinly sliced

olive oil

1 (11 oz log shaped) package goat cheese 

1. Cover tomato with boiling water; let stand 5 minutes.  Drain and chop.  Combine with garlic, oil, and rosemary; cover and chill up to 4 hours.

2.  Brush baguette rounds with additional olive oil.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes or until lightly toasted.

3.  Just before serving, place goat cheese on a serving plate, and top with tomato mixture.  Serve with baguette rounds, and garnish if desired.  

Yields 8 servings

Cooks notes:  I grilled my baguettes!  Love this recipe!  

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Fresh Beet Salad with Orange Vinaigrette (print recipe)

(From Pampered Chef Spin on Salads)

Beets

8 medium fresh beets, scrubbed and peeled

1 can (12 oz) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed, divided

1 cup water

1 tsp. orange zest

Dressing and Salad

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp snipped fresh basil leaves

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp coarsely ground pepper

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 large oranges, cut into segments

2 sweet onion slices, separated into rings

1 cup lightly packed frisee or endive

4 tbsp crumbled feta cheese

1. For beets, trim greens and root ends and peel. Cut into 1 inch wedges.  Place beets, 1 1/4 cup of the orange juice concentrate (reserve remaining for dressing), water and orange zest in saucepan and bring to boil.  Cover and reduce heat and simmer 35 to 40 minutes or until beets are tender.  Drain beets, cool slightly, then cover and refrigerate until ready to use in salad.  

2.  For dressing, combine remaining 1/4 cup orange juice concentrate, vinegar, basil, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Slowly add oil, whisking until well blended.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.  

3. For salad, for each serving, arrange onion rings on serving plate; top with beets, orange segments, frisee and cheese.  Drizzle with dressing.  Sprinkle with black pepper.  

Yields 4 servings

Cooks notes:  I could not find frisee at the grocery so I used a bed of mixed baby greens and layered the other ingredients on top of that.  

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Caramelized Onion and Roasted Shallot Cream Soup (print recipe)

(From The Bon Appetit Cookbook)

8 servings

16 large shallots, peeled

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 cup unsalted butter

3 1/2 pounds onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3/4 cup cream Sherry, divided

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon dried sage

2 cups low-salt chicken broth

1 cup beef broth

3 cups whipping cream

3 tablespoons minced fresh thyme

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Toss shallots with oil in bowl.  Arrange shallots on large rimmed baking sheet, spacing evenly.  Bake until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 30 minutes. 

They will look like this.  Yum.  

 

2. Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat.  Add onions and sugar; cook until onions are deep golden brown, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, about 50 minutes.  

3.  Add whole shallots, 1/2 cup Sherry, and dried herbs to onions.  Cook until almost all liquid evaporate, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.  Add both broths and simmer 25 minutes.  Add cream and simmer until soup thickens, about 10 minutes.  

4.  Add fresh thyme and parsley along with the remaining 1/4 cup of Sherry.  Salt and pepper to taste.  

Cooks notes:  For me, this soup was a tad to sweet and very rich.  When I make it again, I will not add the sugar to the onions and might not use as much Sherry if any (I'm not sure I like Sherry!).  Also, I think it would be just as good with half and half or for those dairy free to use hemp milk in place of the cream.  

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I have no real recipe for the asparagus and filet or pictures!  I just took fresh asparagus, tossed it in some olive oil, salt and pepper, laid it in a roasting pan (one layer) and roasted it at about 400 degrees for about 15- 20 min.  You want the asparagus to still be a nice bright green.  Don't let them get soggy.  Not good!  

For the filets, I marinated them in olive oil, fresh chopped rosemary, crushed garlic and black pepper in a zip lock bag.  I didn't measure any of that.  Just guess!  I grilled the filets on my indoor grill while the asparagus was roasting in the oven.  

We ate the meal in courses.  I love doing it that way.  We snacked on goat cheese while I put the salad together.  The onions for the soup was finishing while we ate the salad.  We talked and laughed.  Then we had soup.  Talked and laughed, drank some wine, then I cooked the main course.  It's just so relaxing to have a meal this way!  How many meals do you make, where you work for hours, or days (Thanksgiving, Christmas), you put all the food out at once, and in 30 minutes it's all over!  I like taking time better.  

And the wine.....like I said in my last post, Steve and I are not knowledgeable about wine.  We just know we like wine!  Maybe you too are a little nervous about picking out the right wine for a meal.  Do what we did.  Ask around your town and find a liquor store where there is someone who does know what's good.  Ask for their recommendations.  Tell them what you are serving.  I did just that.  I knew I needed a white wine for the salad and soup and a red wine for the main course.  The man at our local store recommended a Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio 2007.  I'm not a big fan of white wine, but this was really good.  He did not steer us wrong.  Now I am a big fan of red wine.  He told us about one he had tasted the week before and he thought it was so good that he would put it up against any expensive bottle of wine.  It was Ghost Pines Merlot 2005.  I love, loved it.  I would serve this again to company.  

I almost forgot dessert!  This dessert is an easy one to make on the spot.  My mom used to make it when we were kids on Christmas eve after coming home from my Grandmother's house.  It's a throwback to the 1970's

Cherry's Jubilee (print recipe)

2 15 oz cans of Bing cherries

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

1/4 cup brandy

Heat the cherries in a skillet.  Add the sugar and cinnamon.  Mix the water and cornstarch in a small cup, then add to the cherry mixture.  Cook until thick and bubbly.  Add the brandy but do not mix in.  Light it with a match and watch it flame!  Then mix well.  Kids love this!  

Check back in a couple days.  I will have a recipe for some gfcf cookies and a story about Mia, the cookies, and the doggie er.  Yes, she's ok now.  

Homemade Hamburger Helper or Goulash

For almost the last two weeks, I have been eating dairy free along with my other restrictions.  I am giving it a trial run, just to see if it makes any difference.  Unfortunately for me, I think I see a difference.  However, I don't know if I could live without dairy permanently.  I am a cheese addict.  I just don't think I can live without cheese.  I am literally taking it one day at a time like an addict.  This is far harder than giving up gluten.   

For now, I am doing without, just to see if it's worth staying away from.  It really presents a problem for me in the kitchen.  Most everything I want to cook involves cheese!  I have been making out menus so I don't get stuck racking my brain at night.  Tonight I did not have a plan though. 

 For some reason that made me think of convenience foods and Hamburger Helper.  I never was one to like hamburger helper, but when I was little my mom used to make a dinner she called Goulash.  Basically, homemade Hamburger Helper.   This is comfort food.  This is food you can come home from work and cook in one skillet.  It's not fancy, so kids love it!  So grab a skillet and get cooking!   

Homemade Hamburger Helper or Goulash (print recipe) 

1 pound ground beef 

1/2 onion, chopped fine 

1/2 green pepper, chopped fine 

1- 15 oz. can plain tomato sauce 

1 cup water 

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 

1 teaspoon dried parsley 

2 tablespoon sugar 

1 cup uncooked gluten free elbow pasta

 salt and pepper to taste 

Brown ground beef with onions and green pepper until cooked through.  Drain off the fat.  Add remaining ingredients, stir well, cover and cook on low heat till the pasta is done.  Don't forget to occasionally stir so the pasta won't burn on the bottom of the pan!  Serve with a salad or green vegetable.   

Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  I don't know why, but I kept thinking I had another week!  This will be my second Thanksgiving since becoming gluten free.  Last year, I cooked for my family.  This year, it's my brother and his wife's turn.  

I know there are a lot of you going to other people's home and you are really nervous about it.  What do you tell people when they ask what you can eat?  If you are like me, you hate for people to go out of their way.  And the reality is, that they have gluten filled kitchens.  That can be a concern.   

I told my brother, if he can make a gluten free turkey, that's all I need.  My mom, Kati and I are all gluten free.  I will bring a gluten free stuffing, green bean casserole and some dessert with me.  Martha Stewart has a recipe for a chocolate pumpkin pie that's looks like it's to die for!  I think that's what I'll make for dessert.   

For those of you making your first Thanksgiving gluten free, you may be wondering what to do for stuffing.  I use the same stuffing recipe I always used and just substitute out the bread with a gluten free bread.  I like Breads from Anna.  It reminds me of Home Pride bread.  That's what I used to buy when I was a gluten eater.  Now I use Anna's bread and make my grandmother's stuffing recipe.  Well, I shouldn't say recipe, because there's not really a recipe, but this is how she, my mom and I make it.....

Stuffing (print recipe)

1 loaf of gluten free bread  

1 large onion 

celery 

cream of mushroom soup (I used Progresso)

 chicken broth 

parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper 

Start toasting your bread in the toaster.  It helps if you have a large toaster oven.  Or you could put it in the oven to dry it out.  While you are toasting you can start cooking the onion and celery.  Chop one large onion and enough celery to equal the same amount as the onion.  Saute in a large stock pan with butter (the more, the better, it's a holiday!) until the onions are translusent.  Add spices.  We don't measure.  Sprinkle and smell.   Start small and built.  Taste.   

When all the bread is toasted and the onions cooked, cut the bread into cubes and place in the pan with the onions and celery.  Mix well.  Add the can of mushroom soup and mix well.  Then start adding the broth.  Add enough broth until all of the bread is moistened.  Taste.  Does it need more spices?  If it tastes like Thanksgiving you have added enough!  Place in an oblong casserole dish and bake at 350 for 30 min or so until the top is crusty.   

I love stuffing!  It always make me think of my grandmother.  There are a dozen ways I could make stuffing but it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving any other way.  I know all of you have a special way it's always been made at your house or by your grandmother.  I would start by using the same recipe you have always used, but just use a gluten free bread instead.  It might not taste exactly like the stuffing you are used to, but don't get discouraged.  Use it as a starting point.  You might have to change some things here or there.  But it gives you a place to start.   Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Lazy woman's dinner

I was tired tonight.  I went shopping with my mom.  I came home and looked at what was on my menu for tonight, and nothing looked good.  I was not in the mood to cook.  I have already eaten out my allotted time this week so that was not an option either. It was 52 degrees today and sunny.  Somehow my backyard grill was calling my name, but I didn't want to spend a bunch of time prepping something and then have all the clean up.  I just was not in the mood to cook at all. 

Then, I happened to think back to when Steve and I first got married.  This man is not allowed to cook in my kitchen.  He is a danger.  I'm serious.  He is only allowed to cook if someone is supervising him.   He is allowed to make coffee.  He is not allowed to touch any other appliances other than the popcorn maker for the safety of everyone who lives here.  He is allow to use the grill.  It's outdoors. 

He didn't know how to cook anything when we first got married unless it was on the grill.  He was a Boy Scout.  So he had lots of camp out recipes.  He taught me to make this dinner that they used to make on camp outs a lot.  I love it.  It's easy, quick, good and kids love it.  It's not fancy but there is nothing to measure and everyone can make their own.  We have no name for this recipe but call it Camp out dinner.  Tonight, it was a lazy woman's dinner! 

Camp out dinner or Lazy woman's dinner 

You will need: 

Ground beef or other meat 

Chopped vegetables like onions, carrots, potatoes etc. 

sauce (Worcestershire, bbq, hot sauce, ketchup) 

Pre-heat your grill or oven.  You can do this in an oven if you don't have a grill.  I would heat the oven at about 400 degrees.  I use my grill.  My grill has three burners.  I turn all 3 burners on to pre-heat.  Then when I am ready to cook I leave the two outside burners on and turn the middle one off. Get out a long sheet of heavy duty foil.  About 1 1/2 feet long for each person eating.   You will be making individual foil packets for each person.  In the middle of the foil on each packet lay one serving of meat.  On top of the meat add your vegetables. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic.  Shake on some sauce.  It's that easy!  

Here I started with ground beef.  I added one carrot, a half a potato, half an onion, and a sprinkle of cabbage.  I seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder.   Then I added Worcestershire sauce, and Franks hot sauce.  Then I threw on some ketchup.  

When my kids were little, they loved to make this.  I would cut up the vegetables and they could make their own the way they wanted.  This can be done with any meat and any veggies.  You could make chicken with peanut sauce and veggies or salmon with soy sauce and veggies.  You can use frozen veggies, fresh or leftovers.  It's endless really! Fold up the foil neatly around it to make a little packet.  Cut a second piece of foil.  Lay the wrapped  packet seam side down on the new piece of foil and wrap it up again.

   

Double wrapping helps with leaking.  It will still leak a little but not as bad as if you wrapped it once.  If you are doing this in the oven, I would put the packets into a baking dish just in case they do leak.

I grill the packets using indirect heat.  That simply means I lay it on the middle burner that I've turned off.  My grill gets to about 500 degrees this way.  I cooked them 20 minutes on each side.  I would cook them for an hour is I did it in the oven.  

Clean up is very difficult don't ya know!  

I'm going to leave you with a little shot of spring.  This pussy willow in our back yard is in full bloom.  Spring is here at last!

   

Happy first day of spring!

Menu Monday for the week of February 18 - 27

 

I think we are on our way to getting well at out house. Cross my fingers. The weather is crazy here. One day it's cold and we have snow. The next day it's warm and raining. I am counting the days till spring. No wonder everyone has been sick. 

I've been on a cleaning frenzy. Something about everyone being sick makes me want to clean. Get the dust out of the house. It's a good time of year for cleaning out closets, washing ceiling fans, dusting the cob webs out of the corners and all the other stuff that's put off all year. I like to do these things this time of year anyway. By the time spring gets here, my house will be all cleaned and I will be ready to get out in the yard and enjoy spring. I don't like being couped up. I am an outdoors person. Once it turns warm you won't find me in the house much. So my house really gets neglected during the summer. I have to make up for all of that during the winter. 

I'm trying to keep my menu fairly simple this week because of all the cleaning going on. One night, we are going out with friends to Bonefish Grill. Our local Bonefish has a wonderful manager who really cares about gluten free eaters and has gone out of his way to educate his staff. They have a really great gluten free menu that even includes dessert.

  Karen at Gluten Free Sox is the host this week for menu swap. She has moved her blog to wordpress and it looks great! Karen is definitely not thinking about spring cleaning, but spring training! You know spring is really on it's way when spring training starts. The ingredient of the week is butternut squash. I love baked squash. It's just so simple. Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds. Lay the halves on a baking sheet. Fill the halves with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake at about 350 till tender. It's like dessert. You can do this with acorn squash as well. Or you can cut it in chunks, wack it in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper and roast it. Yum. Either way is yummy sqaushie goodness. 

Here are my menus for the week: 

Cheater Vegetable Beef Soup with Biscuits (recipe below) 

Baked Chicken, Roasted squash, green salad 

Eat out at Bonefish Grill 

Chicken Fajitas with Crunchy lime Cabbage and Avocados

My brothers fish (recipe will come later in the week), rice, Asian spinach salad 

Cheater Vegetable Beef Soup

I call this cheater soup because I use pre-cooked roast beef. Most of the time, I use my own beef and cook the soup base from scratch. But you know there are days you just don't have the time. This is so easy to get it in the pot, then you can walk away and do other things. I use pre-cooked Hormel beef. It is sold in two sizes. It tastes just like my own I make in the crock pot anyway. No one will know the difference. It makes a hot, hearty soup and even if it's sort of cheating, it's way better than canned! 

1 onion, chopped 

2 -14 oz can of petite chopped canned tomatoes 

4 cups beef broth 

1- 17 oz. package of pre-cooked Hormel slow simmered Roast Beef, chopped into bite size pieces 

4 or 5 potatoes cut into cubes 

4 or 5 large carrots, slices 

1- 14 oz. canned green beans 

1- 14 oz. canned corn 

2 cloves crushed garlic 

2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley 

1/3 cup red wine 

salt and pepper to taste 

Saute the onions in olive oil. Add tomatoes, broth and chopped beef along with the broth/gravy from the beef. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer till potatoes and carrots are tender. 

There's time to make biscuits! My beautiful gluten free daughter has given me the order to find a good gluten free biscuit recipe. I have begun experimenting. This is the first one I've tried. It's by Bette Hagman. I have a really big gripe when it comes to gluten free cookbooks. It seems like everyone makes their cookbooks with a personal mix. You have to have their mix put together to replicate their recipe. If I find a particular recipe that I am going to make over and over again, I can see making up a mix to have on hand. But when using cookbooks with a recipe I just want to try once to see if I like it, I don't want an entire bag of mix made. I wish each recipe would just have the flours written that I need for that particular recipe with an addendum on how to make a mix for that recipe if I like it. Just my own pet peeve. 

This recipe was a mix of it's own. You make a lot of it and then it's ready to use whenever you are ready to make biscuits. We liked it, but I don't think it's "the one". So we will keep experimenting. It has a good flavor and was tender, but I thought it was a little dry. I was supposed to come up with the "perfect" biscuit before the little gluti one's 18th birthday. She is jonesing for some biscuits and gravy for her birthday breakfast. It will almost be her one year glutiversary too. She found out just after her birthday last year. She needs some comfort food for sure. 

Bette Hagman's Mary G's Biscuit Mix from More from the Gluten-Free Gourmet 

 

(Edited- I had the recipe for these biscuits on here, but maybe that is not legal to do? I have removed the recipe. If you want it you will have to find a copy of the cook book :) My bad.) (Edited again- My buddy Ginger was just teasing me about posting the recipe and I thought maybe I really wasn't suppose to do that.  I really wasn't sure so I took it down, but she assures me that is ok. I'm a goof ball and I know.  Hello, my name is Melanie and I'm a goof gall.) 

4 tablespoons sugar 

2 cups rice flour 

1 1/3 cups potato starch 

8 teaspoon baking powder 

2 teaspoons baking soda 

2 teaspoons salt 

3/4 cup shortening 

Mix together all the dry ingredients and cut in the shortening until the mixture is crumbly.   Divide this into 4 parts. To make biscuits, add 1 egg and 1/3 cup buttermilk to a quarter of the mixture.  Mix gently.  Roll out on floured board and cut into biscuit shapes or drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet.  Bake 12 to 15 min at 400 degrees. The quest continues. Recipes or helpful hints in the art of biscuit making will be greatly appreciated!

Menu Monday for the week of January 27, 2008

 

It's time to bite the bullet. I have been caving on our New Years healthy eating plan. Gosh, it's everyone making those darn crescent rolls! I need a better plan. I am starting the South Beach diet. Honestly, I don't know if I can do phase one. So I may end up with something between phase one and phase two. I don't have that much weight to loose anyway so going without phase one is not that big a deal. 

I've been using some of the recipes all along so why not just be on the whole diet. I found a really great blog with tons of South Beach resources here. So many of the recipes are already gluten free, but there are some here and there that would have to be converted. The one thing I will not be doing from the South Beach diet is using artificial sweeteners. I don't like them and would just prefer to do without. I also won't use fat free replacements for foods. There are just too many chemicals and fake ingredients in them. I would rather eat as pure a food as possible. 

Natalie at Gluten Free Mommy is the host for Menu Swap this week.  The ingredient of the week is vanilla.  She has a lot of interesting facts about vanilla.  My favorite vanilla is bourbon vanilla from Trader Joe's.  There is no bourbon in the vanilla.  It's just a particular type of vanilla and it's really wonderful! 

This weeks menu, with the exception of one of the days, will be South Beach diet friendly. The one that is not South Beach friendly was from over the weekend. We had company and I made cheesecake. I have to include it because the whole meal would be a great super bowl party supper. I know a lot of you are planning for that. 

Weekend company meal- (See recipes below) 

Taco soup, veggies and dip, cheesecake 

Monday- Chicken Parmesan, Broccoli, Salad 

Tuesday- Flank steak, mashed cauliflower, green beans with almonds 

Wednesday- Fish with Caesar glaze, roasted veggies, salad 

Thursday- Indian Chicken, roasted sweet potatoes (I know it's phase two food), salad 

Friday- Balsamic salmon, roasted veggies, slaw 

I did not get a picture of my taco soup. I had company. They were friends of my husband's from when he was young. I did not know any of them and would have felt rather silly whipping out my camera and taking pictures of my food! But trust me, this is yummy soup. It's great to make for company because everyone likes it and it so quick and easy to make for a large or small group of people. I served it last year on super bowl Sunday when the Colts won. This year we will be eating something different and cheering for a different Manning. 

Taco Soup 

2 pounds ground beef (or you could use turkey) 

1 medium onion, chopped 

1 can 28 oz. tomatoes (I use crushed tomatoes) 

1 can 15 oz. tomato sauce 

1 cup water 

1 can 15 oz. pinto beans, drained and rinsed 

1 can 14 oz. corn, drained 

1 package of gluten free taco seasoning (I used Old El paso) 

In your favorite soup pot, cook ground beef and onions. Drain off fat. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for at least an hour on low heat. Serve with your favorite toppings. We use cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions, fresh chopped cilantro and corn chips. One recipe will easily feed six people. I doubled the recipe and fed eleven people and still have plenty of leftovers. 

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I think this cheesecake is one of the best I've made. I found the recipe in The Bon Appetit Cookbook. I have found I love to make cheesecake for dessert because it's so easy to make gluten free. I have some helpful hints in making cheesecake.

• Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature
• When you are ready to bake your cheesecake, place a pan of water in the oven on the rack just under your cake. The steam from the water will help keep it from cracking while baking.
• If you want nice edges on your cheesecake when you cut it, use a sharp, wet knife. Wash it off with each cut but don't dry it.
• Cheesecake is best eaten at 2:00 in the afternoon with a huge cup of coffee or at about midnight when everyone is sleeping :)
• Leftover cheesecake freezes really well. There is a piece in the freezer right now with my mom's name on it. Won't she be happy!

 

Triple Cherry Cheesecake 

Topping 

3/4 cup dried tart cherries 

1 1-pound bag frozen pitted Bing cherries, thawed, drained, juice reserved 

1/2 cup cherry jam 

2 tablespoon brandy 

1 tablespoon cornstarch 

Crust 

1/3 cup whole almonds 

2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs (I used Jo-sef brand gluten free. You could use any gluten free cookie.) 1/4 cup sugar 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted 

Filling 

3 8-oz. packaged of Philadelphia brand cream cheese, room temperature 

1 1/3 cup sugar 

4 large eggs, room temperature 

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

1/4 teaspoon almond extract 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

For topping: Combine dried cherries and reserved juice from thawed cherries in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Cover and let steep 20 minutes. Mix cherry jam, brandy, and cornstarch in small bowl to blend. Stir into dried cherry mixture. Add thawed cherries. Stir over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens, about 1 minute. Cool slightly, then refrigerate until cold. 

For crust: Finely grind almonds in processor. Add cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter; process until clumps form. Press into bottom of a 9 inch diameter springform pan with 2 3/4 inch sides. Refrigerate 30 minutes. 

For Filling: Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Blend cream cheese and next 5 ingredients in mixer or processor just until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl several times. Pour filling over crust. Bake until edges of cheesecake are puffed and center is just set, about 50 minutes. Run knife around pan sides to loosen. Refrigerate cake uncovered overnight. Serve with cherry topping spooned over top. I won't tell anyone if you sneak some at midnight!