Mini Cheesecakes

 

INGREDIENTS:

Base:
250 gram digestive biscuits (granita)
70 gram melted butter

Filling:

250 gram Philadelphia cream cheese
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup cream
50gram melted white chocolate
1 punnet of raspberries

Topping:

1 punnet of strawberries washed
1/4 cup caster sugar

 

METHOD:

1- Crush the biscuits in a food processor until fine. Combine the melted butter and biscuits crumbs and press into 8 small martini glass and hill in the fridge.

2- In a saucepan add the washed and hulled strawberries with the sugar and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. set aside to cool.

3- Beat the Philadelphia cream cheese with the caster sugar until smooth in consistency. Add the lemon juice cream and white chocolate and beat for another 2-3 minutes.

3- Decorate the raspberries on top of the base and add the cream cheese on top.

4- Refrigerate for 3 hours and decorate the top of the cheesecake with the strawberry sauce before serving. (make sure it is completely cooled)

 

This summer we have been going out a lot and on our holiday we went into a lovely looking cafe. My husband ordered a raspberry something (I dont even know what it was called) maybe a tart maybe a flan. The poor thing he was enjoying it too when we noticed there was a very long piece of hair. This happens when he enjoys something. He couldn't eat it, so I promised I would make a better one. Well I thought I could but the thing was I didn't even have a name of what it was. I was left with an image and that was all. So I decided I would find something similar but to no avail. I cheated and took parts from different recipes and the end result.

Cafe

My one

 

 

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup plain flour

90 gram butter cubed

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons iced water

¼ cup caster sugar

Filling:

165 gram butter softened

3 eggs

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 ¼ cups almond meal

2 tablesoons flour

Raspberry filling:

½ cup caster sugar

2 rhubarb roots finely chopped

A punnet of raspberries (same amount frozen is also fine)

Method:

1-      Grease a 24 cm tart tin.

2-      Add the butter and sugar in a mixer and mix until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks one at a time and the water bringing together a dough. Wrap the dough in glad wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3-      In a small saucepan add the rhubarb and sugar, cook on low heat until sugar has dissolved. Add the raspberries cooking for another 10 minutes and set aside to cool.

4-      Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

5-      Once the pastry is ready, roll it out the size of the base of the tin, trimming off any excess. Once in the tin prick with a fork randomly, and cook in the oven for 10 minutes.

6-      For the filling: Mix the butter and sugar in a mixer for 30 seconds. Add the eggs one at a time making sure you beat after each addition. Fold in the almond meal and flour. Spread the filling on top of the base.

7-      Carefully spread the raspberry filling on top. You may like to put swirls if that is the look you like.

8-      Bake the tart for 50 minutes. Once it has cooled in the tin refrigerate for two hours and serve. You may decorate with additional raspberries and mint leaves.

Please do share if you have a recipe to the picture at the cafe

Pea & Mint Fettuccine

Today I was at a friends baby shower and by the time I got home I didn't really feel like cooking at all. My husband was flipping through the Coles magazine (March 2013 issue) when he showed me this recipe. Very very easy to make yet very very tasty and most ingredients would be in the kitchen. So here it goes for those that come home from a long days work or you just cant be bothered days.

Ingredients:

1 Packet fettucine dry or fresh

1 1/2 cup frozen peas

1 bunch mint leaves

3/4 cup grated parmesan

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

2 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

1. Cook fettuccine in a large pan of boiling salted water according to packet directions. Drain reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Rturn pasta to pan.

2- Meanwhile, place peas in a bowl and cover woth boiling water. Stand for 2 minute. Drain and place ina food processor with mint, parmesan and pine nuts. rocess until finely chopped. Add oil and process until combined.

3. Stor pea mixure through hot fettuccine along with enough reserved cooking liquid to coat the pasta. Serve topped with extra parmesan.

(I added a clove of garlic into the pea mixture)

MOUSSE BAKING KIT

This morning was going to be a lazy one. I thought I’d stay in bed a little longer as I couldn’t hear the screeching of two kids. I was casually going through my emails on my phone when I received an email stating I was selected to trial a very first Mousse Cake baking kit.

What it didn’t say was what brand it was. I thought it was important so being cheeky I thought they might have an image that would give it away. They of course were a step ahead of me, just an image of a piece of cake. By the time I got out of bed the doorbell rang and what do I see?  A package and inside my baking kit J

They want us to provide valuable feedback on a product made by a leading brand that just hasn’t hit the shelves yet. In fact, it is the feedback I give along with others that will influence the final development of the product.

A few simple steps and we had the cake in the oven baking. I love involving my kids in the kitchen so they were my little helpers today.

Well the end result:

It was a fantastic moist cake with a delicious chocolate mousse. The mousse is what the highlight of the cake was. The only thing is you need to buy fresh cream.

So do you think you would buy fresh cream for a baking kit? With that taste I sure would. This trial actually taught me not to judge so quickly. One of the questions from the review were: Which baking mix brand does it fit with? I chose Green's from the list of White Wings, Betty Crocker, Donna Hay, Adriano Zumbo Coles Brand, Green's and Woolworths Select. There are certain things I would never consider buying in a 'no name brand' but others that I don't really care about. Any no name brands that you swear by? Let's see what it actually was. I will be sharing once I find out myself. 

If you would also like to be part of this trialling team go to: www.brandpower.com.au

They have uncensored rating and reviews, product and recipe watch.

Please don’t forget to put my email address:

ser_yem@hotail.com in the person who referred you section.

Red Lentil Kofte Vegetarian

Lentil Kofte's are another bite size wonder. They are very popular in the Turkish cuisine. I remember helping my mum make these when we would have guests coming over to our place. They are best served by wrapping them in lettuce and squeezing some lemon on top.

Ingredients: 

1 cup red lentils
2 cups burghul
1 litre water
2 onions grated
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons pepper paste
1 tablespoon tomato paste
5-6 green onions finely chopped
Handful of parsley finely chopped
Salt
Pinch of black and red pepper
Hot dried chilly flakes.

Method:

• Wash the red lentils in a pot and add one litre of water and cook until the lentils are all cooked.
• Add the burghul to the pot mix it a few times put the lid on and let it rest for 20 minutes. At this stage the burghul will cook with the boiled water left from cooking the lentils.
• In the meantime add oil in another pot and fry the grated onions. Once fried add the tomato and pepper paste, salt, black and red pepper and chilli flakes. Fry for another 5 minutes and add1/4 cup boiled water to the pot.
• Add the prepared paste into the burghul and lentil mixture . Mix for about ten minutes so that all of paste is absorbed by the lentil mixture.
• Put aside and let it cool for another 10 minutes then add the parsley and green onions keep mixing and once cool enough shape them in the form you like.
• These koftes are best served with lemon and lettuce
• 
  

NOTE: This is a dish that you usually have a little spicy but you can add more or less depending on how you like it

Menemen

Menemen is the perfect summer dish. I remember my mother would make this for breakfast where as my husband's side would strictly have it for dinner. I think it only differs depending on what part of Turkey you are from. I even remember my mum making it with minced meat where as my husband's side says it should be strictly without meat and plenty of onion and pepper sweet and hot mixed.

Ingredients:
5 soft juicy tomatoes peeled and diced
1-2 eggs (depending on your liking)
6 sweet and hot peppers chopped roughly
2 onions diced
2 teaspoon oil
salt

Method:
1- Heat oil and saute the onions and peppers on low heat.
2- Add the diced tomatoes and salt. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. If you find that your tomatoes don't have the real red color you may cheat and add 1/2 a teaspoon of tomato paste. The tomatoes should be cooked until the liquid has reduced.
3- Create pockets with a wooden spoon and crack in the eggs cooking to your liking.

This is best served with un sliced Vienna bread where you break the bread off dip it in and enjoy!

Kofte Stacks In The Oven

This is pretty much kofte just served slightly differently. I layered potato, eggplant, kofte, tomato and sweet peppers. Kids loved it therefore was a winner at out place. I particularly like meatball dished as they are very easy to make and when working I prepare for the next day ready to be put in the oven. It makes my life so much easier.

Ingredients: 
3 potatoes peeled and sliced thinly
2 eggplants peeled in stripes and sliced thinly
2 tomatoes sliced thinly
5-6 sweet peppers cut into 4 cm pieces
1/2 cup tomato paste mixed with 2 cups water

Kofte:
1/2 a kilo minced meat
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 teaspoon red paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 onion grated
1/2 cup bread crumbs or stale bread
1 egg
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried mint
salt
toothpicks

Method: 
1- Mix all the ingredients for the kofte making sure you knead it like you would knead dough for at least five minutes. Make round balls not too thick, the thickness should be half inch thick.
2- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
3- Place a potato followed by eggplant, kofte, tomato and pepper and make sure you have a toothpick going through the centre. This way serving will be easy and the ingredients will stay in that position
4- Drizzle the tomato paste mixed with water over and cover with aluminium foil. Bake covered for one hour and uncovered for 20 minutes.

 You can serve this with rice (pilav) and plain yogurt.