Goat Cheese Cake, Salmon & Shrimp Pasties, Apple-Potato Soup, Mushroom Ragoût

Goat Cheese Cake
Here's another punctuation conundrum for you.  Is it Goat...Cheesecake?  Or  Goat-Cheese...Cake?  This one is rich and decadent, and when topped with a Mango-Berry mixture was dessert for Mother's Day dinner.

Crust:
8 oz finely ground Gingersnap Cookies
1/4 cup melted Butter
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

Filling:
1/4 cup Sugar
8 oz  Creamy (soft) Goat Cheese at room temp
1-1/2 cup Icelandic Yogurt
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp AP Flour (or non-gluten flour)

Topping:
1-1/2 cup Mango pieces & juice
1 cup fresh Blackberries

Grind the gingersnaps into powder, then stir in the brown sugar and melted butter.  Cut a disk of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of an 8" springform pan.  Press the gingersnap mixture into the bottom of the pan, evenly.  Chill. while making the filling.

In bowl beat together the sugar, goat cheese, yogurt and flavors.  Lastly, blend in the flour.
Spread mixture evenly on the crust and place in fridge for 6-8 hours.

Combine the fruits and reserve.

Before unmolding, run a thin knife around the edge of the crust, then loosen the side of the springform and remove it. 

Top with  fruit mixture... take photos... slice & serve.

Salmon & Shrimp Pasties
The Cornish Pasty is the ancestor of a whole range of "pocket pies" -- meat and veg baked in a folded-over crust.   For Mother's Day this year I made these Salmon & Shrimp Pasties based the on the dough recipe from a Great British Bakeoff challenge.

Dough:
16 oz AP Flour
4 oz Shortening (Criscotm... lard
1 oz Butter
6 oz cold Water
1 Egg, beaten for brushing completed pasties

In a bowl pinch the fat and flour together with your fingers, to make the 'coarse meal' of a biscuit dough.  Knead firmly until dough is smooth and glossy, not grainy.  Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

Filling:
1/2 lb Salmon, skinned and chopped
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled
1 Swede (rutabaga) diced
1/2 Onion, diced
1 Potato, diced
3/4 cup frozen Peas

Par-cook the components slightly before mixing together in a large bowl.

Assembly:
Divide chilled dough into 4 equal pieces.  Roll into balls.  Roll out each pastry, one by one,  into 9"-10" circle.

Spoon the filling mixture one half of the pastry circle.  Egg wash the edge of half the circle to make a good seal.  Roll and crimp the edge to seal the edge.  With a knife cut two slits in the top of each half moon. 

Bake for 45 minutes until GB&D.

Apple Potato Soup
See, I bought this giant jar of applesauce to make last week's Apple Bread... What do you do with mass-quantities of leftover applesauce when you don't normally have any, let alone use it for anything???  This:

2  cups Old Fashioned Applesauce
2 cups shredded Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 cup shredded White Onion
2 sticks Celery, diced fine
2 Tbsp gluten-free Vegetable Base
3 cups Water
Herbs and Spices to taste:  garlic, fresh ginger, thyme, cumin, sweet or hot paprika, salt, pepper

To finish: 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

Cook the ingredients for 20-30 minutes, to break everything down and meld the flavors.  Puree the result, in batches.  Return to the soup pot, add the herbs and spices and simmer another 20-30 minutes.  Add the vinegar, stir and serve with crusty bread.

Mushroom Ragoût
A ragoût is a kind of stew -- usually  cut into smaller pieces than  the average stew, and usually French recipes -- hence the circumflex on the û.  Mushroom ragoût  is a classic French recipe with a million variations.  This is mine.  Serves two or more plated over Russet potato 'planks'  with a green veg on the side.

12 oz. Mushrooms, chopped but not diced -- any combination of kinds
1/3-1/2 cup Sweet Onion, shredded and drained
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 cup White Wine
3/4 cup Porcini Broth (3 grams porcini powder in 3/4 cup water)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh Thyme
1 Tbsp ground Sage
1/2 tsp Truffle Salt

Saute the onion and mushrooms in a knob of butter, about 10 minutes, and add the garlic at the end.  Add the wine, broth, herbs and spices and simmer to reduce the liquid by roughly half. 

Or, if you want more 'gravy', simmer of a couple minutes to marry the flavors and then add a bit of flour or cornstarch-water as a thickener.