Oreo cheesecake

Base

140 g Digestive biscuit

110 g Oreo biscuit

50 g Sugar

90 g Soft butter

A little Cinnamon

Orange zest from half orange

Crush the biscuits finely and then add the butter, sugar, cinnamon and orange zests and process until well combined. Press the mixture on the bottom of a greased pan to evenly cover the base. Place in the fridge while making the filling.

Cake mix

370 g Cream cheese

150 g Sugar

2-3 pcs Eggs (2 large or 3 small)

80 g White chocolate

A little Orange zest

½ tsp Vanilla essence

A little fresh Vanilla

170 g Oreo biscuit

To make the filling, use electric beaters to beat the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla essence in a medium bowl until the mixture is light and creamy. Now add the melted chocolate and the crumbled oreo biscuits. Alternatively you can put whole biscuit in the cake, as seen on my other photo.

Pour mixture into the prepared baking pan and bake in a water bath at 130 c for 2 hours. Gently baking is key to a perfect cheesecake.

A good way to check if the cake is done, is to take the cake’s core temperature. The ideal temperature is between 70 to 72 degrees C. Once the cheesecake has been removed from the oven, it needs to chill thoroughly, ideally overnight.

Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients for 6-8:

Mix 3 cups oatmeal with 2 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, 1/3 cup brown sugar and cinnamon to taste. Then mix 3 eggs (or 4 egg whites) with 1/2 cup plain yoghurt, 1 cup milk and a little vanilla. Mix dry and wet mix and add a handful of raisins, dry cranberries (or chopped dates…) and chopped pecans (or any other nut of course) 

Pour into lightly buttered (or spray for a lower fat version) baking dish and bake for 25 minutes

Banana Carrot Bread

Ingredients 

1) mix: 1.5 cups flour with 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon ( i always use MUCH more cinnamon)

2) mix 1/3 cup oil with 1 cup brown sugar, 3-4 ripe bananas and 2 eggs

3) add the wet mix to the dry mix and then add 3 pcs grated carrots and 1/2 cup chopped nuts (and raisins or similar…)

fill into the pan and sprinkle with more chopped nuts and bake at 175 C for 40 mins

Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

1 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons asian fish sauce

1-2 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons of calamansi or lemon juice

Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

2 stalks lemon grass for stuffing

2 pcs spring onions, for stuffing

How To

Marinate the whole chicken in fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, calamansi juice and black pepper.

Let stand marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 hours.

Stuff the chicken cavity with lemon grass and the spring onion

Cook chicken on rotisserie grill or in oven until golden brown

If in regular oven, start with 190 C for 10-15 mins, then reduce to 170 C and cook until done.

Baste with liquid during roasting. Check that juices run clear by lifting and tilting the chicken and look at the juices running from the cavity. If they are clear, the chicken is cooked.

Let the chicken rest a few minutes before cutting.

I thought I should share this tasty sauce recipe with you:

Squid Ink Pasta with prawns, chili and herbs

Ingredients for 4

Cooked squid ink pasta

½ cup chopped parsley

½ cup chopped spring onions

½ cup chopped mint

½ cup chopped basil

a few anchovy fillets

1 cup olive oil

For the Prawns:

¼ cup chopped garlic

1 tablespoon chopped chili (or more or less)

juice of ½ lemon

salt, freshly ground black pepper

How To

Blend most of the herbs with anchovies and the capers with the olive oil.

Just keep a little parsley and some chopped spring onions to garnish the dish at the end.

Saute the prawns with a little garlic in olive oil until almost cooked.

Then add the sauce and toss the pasta in it. Season it with salt and pepper.

Serve, sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper, the parsley and the spring onions

Citrus Soy Marinated Beef

For the sauce, in a small bowl, mix ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce with 3 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 or 2 chopped spring onions and 2 cm finely grated ginger. Check the taste of the sauce, if it’s too salty, add a bit more juice.

Take 500 g good beef tenderloin and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. (or a good flank steak)

Sear it in a little oil in a hot pan from all sides for a few minutes from each side, keeping it rare on the inside. Depending on the size of the meat, you have to roast it in the oven for a few minutes now.

Use a thermometer if you are not sure, 55 C for rare beef, around 60 C for medium.

When done, remove the beef from the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes before marinating it with the sauce. Let it marinate for at least 20 minutes then slice it thinly, keeping all the sauce on the plate. Serve it as an appetizer together with other salads.

Honey Rosemary Braised Lamb Shoulder

Ingredients for 4

2 kg lamb shoulder, boneless, poked with 2 rosemary sprigs and a few garlic cloves

rosemary leaves from another 2-3 springs

a few more garlic cloves

3-4 onions

3-4 carrots

some vegetable oil

1 ltr lamb stock (made from the bones) see the note

salt and black pepper

more or less half cup honey

soft polenta or mashed potatoes or so

How To 

Season the lamb with salt and pepper

Roll the lamb shoulder and secure with a string to make a tight roll

Heat the oil in a large pot big enough to hold the rolled lamb shoulder

Brown the lamb from all sides for a few minutes in that oil

Remove the lamb and add the diced vegetables

Let them brown too for a while, then add the lamb back to the pot

Now pour the lamb stock on and add the honey and more rosemary leaves

Bring to a quick boil and cover the pot with it’s lid

Simmer the lamb in an oven for 3-4 hours. You could simmer it on the stove top too, over very slow heat.

Then remove the lamb and any fat that’s swimming on top of your sauce now.

I strained the sauce, reduced it until it thickened a bit and adjusted the seasoning with a bit more honey and salt. 

Remove the string and cut the lamb into nice round slices

Serve over the hot polenta and drizzle with plenty of sauce

NOTE: To make the lamb stock, roast the bones with some large diced onions, carrots, celery, garlic in the oven to a nice brown color. Add a spoon of tomato puree and then put them in a large pot and cover with cold water. Add some herbs like rosemary, parsley, thyme and simmer for 2-3 hours. Remove any fat from surface as you go along. Then strain that and you have a brown basic lamb stock. If you don’t have lamb stock, you can use chicken stock. Well, it will work even with water somehow, as the lamb and vegetables will give you a very good flavored sauce already. You will have to reduce the sauce a bit more at the end. 

This is the basic, easy version. Experiment with your favorite flavors, from chili to ginger to cumin…to give this dish your personal touch

Vegetable Rice Paper Rolls

Ingredients for 4

12 pcs round rice papers (the smaller ones looks cute, but the bigger ones are easier to handle)

½  small head iceberg lettuce, shredded

100 g rice vermicelli, cooked in water

1 cup bean sprouts

2 pcs carrots, cut into fine sticks

2 pcs cucumbers, cut into fine sticks

1 cup finely shredded red cabbage

½ cup fresh coriander leaves

½  cup fresh mint leaves

NOTE: quantities are really not important here, you can use more or less of everything as you  like it. but keep the herbs or at least one of them, mint and or coriander

Sauce:

1 small cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped

1 fresh Thai bird chili, chopped (optional)

1/4 cup fish sauce

a little hot water

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/4 cup sugar

Mix the fish sauce with lime juice and add just enough hot water until the sauce is not too salty anymore. It should still taste between lime sour and slightly salty. I usually put more lime juice and almost no water. Then add the other ingredients.

How to

Prepare a flat bowl with hot water and all the vegetables and noodles.

You will need also a cheesecloth or similar to layout the wet rice paper

Work with only 1 or 2 rice paper sheets at a time, dip the sheets in the hot water and turn it to wet completely, about 10 seconds. Remove them as soon they are pliable and wet throughout.  Lay the sheet down on the cheesecloth and stretch the sheet slightly to remove any wrinkles.

Put 2 sheets together, slightly overlapping, to form a longer roll.

Now start filling the ingredients in a row on the lower part of the rolls. Lay the vegetables and rice noodles next to each other, then you will get a similar picture once you cut them up.

You should roll them in long cylinders of about 4-5 cm thickness. Try to roll them tightly, so they won’t fall apart later.

That’s it really. Slice them 2-3 cm wide and serve with some fresh coriander leaves and the sauce next to it