Showtunes and Cheesecake

Hello all my lovely summer bunnies!

This is a quick recipe post for the beautiful Emma over at http://emmaandjake.wordpress.com/. She asked me so very nicely for a recipe for a basic cheesecake recipe, and I realised that I hadn't actually put up the last one I mentioned. So here it is, for you cheesecake lovers.

I'm quite particular with my cheesecakes, not too sweet, nor too tall, and with a big thick crumbly base . I'm not a huge fan of really fruity cheesecakes either, I had a bad experience with some mango cheesecake once and it's left a bad impression upon me, so this is quite simple. Although the recipe for this one is just the base, I actually made one with caramel chocolate. I had some caramel smudge spread from Hotel Chocolat in my cupboard, as well as some marscapone cheese - not that I normally have these things in my house, it just happened to be at the same time! So I mixed those two bad boys together and made a two layer cheese cake. Thus named after the song I was singing along to whilst making it.

I Dreamed a Dreamy Cheesecake
Makes 25(ish) bites.

200g digestive biscuit
2 tblsp sugar
100g butter, melted

 2x Philadelphia Light (200g)
175g caster sugar
2 tblsp plain flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, + 1 yolk
4 tblsp sour cream/greek yoghurt

NB - There is a choice  here, if you like shallow bites use a wider tin, if you want a more classic round, tall one just choose perhaps a 11"-ish tin. Also it's useful if you line it and brush the sides with butter. If you're having a taller cheesecake, add an extra tub of 200g Philadelphia Light and an extra 75g of sugar.

- Preheat to 160C fan oven/190C oven/gas mark 5. Either blend the biscuits or hammer the crap out of the digestives until they're crumbs. Add the melted butter and sugar until well combined. Press it into the tin and bake for 5-10 minutes, keep an eye on it so it doesn't catch in bits. Then take it out and let it cool on the side. Turn up the oven to 190C fan oven/220C oven/gas mark 7.

- While you're waiting for the base to cool, you can make the filling! Beat the soft cheese until it's all creamy and yum, gradually add the sugar, then the flour and a pinch of salt. Add in the vanilla and lemon juice and mix it up well. Add in the eggs one by one, mixing in between until all are combined and lovely.

- Stir in the greek yoghurt/sour cream, pour into the prepared the tin and bake for ten minutes. Turn down the temperature to 90C fan oven/110 oven/1/4 gas mark and cook for a further 25 minutes. Turn the oven off completely to leave it to cool. If you like a drier, crumbed style of cheesecake, leave the oven door shut, if you like it creamier style cheesecake let it cool in the oven with the door open. Leave it for about two hours to cool completely. Don't worry, it might crack a little on top, but if you like it a little more rustic, or if you're covering the top with preserve it's not a big deal. Otherwise...sorry!

Should look a little like this little one here, minus the layer of caramel chocolate!

And that's it, it's pretty simple. If you want a topping, black cherry or blackcurrant preserve goes pretty nicely, just warm and pour over the top and leave to set overnight in the fridge (cover it up! It absorbs strong flavours like your wouldn't believe!)

I hope you like it as much as I do!

Peace

JR

A Mini Summer Time Barbecue

I have a wonderfully quick post for you today so I can go make the most of this beautiful sunshine!

Anyone reading this from the UK will know how beautiful-a week we've had weather wise, getting upwards of 22˚ C near me, which is crazy for any time of the year, never mind in March. So in true English style, me and my friends rushed to the shops to splurge out the items required for a barbecue, the standard burgers and sausages and buns and whatnot. You get the general drift. I was actually inspired to write about this yesterday, but seeing as today is even more wonderful and the fact that I'm actually having a barbecue, I thought I'd include a really tasty recipe for the wonder that is the Brit-barbecue. This truly modern idea of "Holy crap the sun is shining, GET THE BARBECUE!", is the inspiration for this post. It's sticky, smoky, a little bit spicy and really fast to make, so if you're having a barbecue today, try it out on anything, vegetables as a sweet glaze, as a sauce on top of hot dogs or burgers, it's quite versatile. And naming it "British" barbecue chicken is not in reference to the ingredients or particular style of Great Britain, but more the idea of how fast it is to make, so you can get your chicken before the sun goes behind a cloud.

British Barbecue Chicken Skewers
Enough for 6 people as a main or 15+ as extras to a barbecue

6 chicken breasts, chopped into medium chunks 
2 tblsp black treacle
2 tblsp tomato puree
2 tblsp Heinz tomato sauce
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
A glug of Olive Oil
1 tsp (ish) of lemon juice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

- This is really simple. 
- Put all of the ingredients except the chicken and mix together well. Taste to see if it's to your liking, if it's too sweet, add more lemon juice, not garlic-ey enough? Add more. Easy.
- Put the chicken in and stir until  lightly coated with the sauce.
- Thread onto skewers and cook on the barbecue until sticky and yum.
- I'm going to say about 5 minutes each side for the chicken on an open barbecue, but please take care when you're cooking because dependent on the size of your chicken and barbecue heat, it could take longer.

They should look something like this...apart from the crispy bits. I can tell you that I most certainly did not get distracted drinking cider in the sunshine whilst waiting for these to cook...

And that's it. Perfect for the flash-in-the-pan style barbecues we have over here in the UK! I have this normally as a meal during the week in Summer, usually with spiced sweet potato wedges and salad. It all goes together rather nicely and is a pleasant alternative to plain salads in the Summer time.

I trust that you're all enjoying the mini-Summer we have at the moment, or if you're in a hot country, just enjoying the sunshine anyway. I hope I've inspired you to get those coals smouldering and get the cider/beer/Fanta on ice.

Peace

JR

Orange Cake and Inadequate Pasta

Apologies for the short absence, I take no shame in the fact that I have been absorbed in the Hunger Games trilogy. I do, however, take a teensy bit of shame in that I've done little else in the past week except sit in my pyjamas and read on my days off.

In order to keep my humble little blog up to date and keep those of you who enjoy reading occupied, I've torn myself away so I can update you on the culinary happenings in my life. It was my best friend's birthday not too long ago, and in a true friend fashion I bequeathed unto her a sick-ass cake. A little ruggedly iced (not my best quality), but a tasty cake nonetheless.

Yes, they are amazing dark chocolate orange segments, woohoo!

For the feature today I'm going to include something a little less sweet, as I'm not feeling particularly sugary today. I actually made this dish a few weeks ago now, I just never ended up writing about it. In short, I was in a huff because I tried to make pasta and it didn't go exactly to plan, so I was sad/annoyed (yes, I am a child getting huffy over something going wrong). Partially because I was feeling confident that I could make anything that day, and partially because I was sure I could handle only two ingredients. It wasn't entirely a disaster, it looked like pasta, it tasted like pasta, and it acted like pasta when it was cooked but the texture just wasn't quite right. I ended up cooking my ravioli for a whole ten minutes longer then it should have been cooked for, and it was still a little al dente. It could have been to do with the fact that it was my first time making pasta, but it was an absolute pain in the arse to knead, even after 15 minutes, it was still like kneading cold clay. 

The cold, steely appearance of a useless pasta maker. Ominous, teasing and space-taking.

It could have been that instead of a pasta maker (after I found it was mostly broken) I had to go traditional and use a rolling pin and it might have seized the dough or something. Not that I'm blaming my equipment or anything...I really hope I don't have a spatula uprising on my hands after this. I have no idea what went wrong until I have gotten out of my mood and tried it again. But alas, the filling and the sauce was divine, and the pasta tasted pretty amazing. The filling consisted of a mix of chorizo, red onions, garlic, oregano, paprika, gran padano cheese and olive oil, all gently fried together and stuffed into ravioli squares. And the sauce was essentially the same, minus the chorizo, just to give a bit extra taste and tomato-ey...ness. Yum! If you want to recreate it, you can alter all of the ingredients to how much you like them, and mix it with regular pasta. If you like it super-garlic-ey, add more garlic, if you aren't so much of a fan, add only a little. It's really, very simple and a lovely quick afternoon snack, if you're using shop bought pasta of course.

Until I am absolutely satisfied with my pasta recipe though, I am going to hang fire with sharing it. I don't want to go around sharing inadequate recipes now, do I?


So in true Jessica style, after mentioning that I wasn't in a sugary mood, I've instantaneously decided I want to make some gingernut biscuits. How very typical! I will update of course very soon - probably later this evening or tomorrow - on how they went. I'm quite excited to get my apron on and have Jason Mraz on in my sunny kitchen!

Peace

JR