Sip With Caution

Going to the portside of my previous sherry post I wanted a recipe other than one using meat. I have just always used port wine in primarily meat dishes either as a marinade or a sauce accompaniment and I wanted a totally different medium for the bold, sweet, spicy spirit. Well I sure think that I hit a bulls eye with this find....come on, its cheesecake how bad could it be? I will confess right from the beginning that I have not made this yet, so I cannot honestly tell you if it tastes good........come on, its cheese cake and its a cheesecake that contains port wine of course it's good!

This recipe only uses a third of a cup of port wine, so there will be plenty left in the bottle to sip while waiting for your cheesecake to be done. Try not to get carried away with the sipping or my next post will be titled; "Human Marinated in Port Wine".......we wouldn't want to start exciting the cannibal population!

Port Wine Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 tsp. sugar
1/2 c. melted butter

1) Mix crumbs, nuts, cinnamon and sugar with melted butter. Place and press into a 9x13 baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Cheesecake Mixture:

2 lbs. softened cream cheese
6 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. Port wine
1 tsp. vanilla

2) In large bowl, beat all ingredients until smooth; make sure there are no lumps. Pour over crust and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Remove and let cool for 15 minutes.

Topping:

1 1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

3) In a bowl mix together sour cream, sugar and vanilla and pour over cool cheese cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Let cool completely. Decorate with walnut halves and strawberries and serve.