Cheesecake

It's unbelievable how many cheesecake recipes are out there. I won't claim this one is the best, but it sure is pretty darn good ;-) I got it from a colleague, who even translated it for me from Spanish.

Here's what you need:
250g ricotta
250g mascarpone
1 dl milk
120g sugar
170g butter
75g flour
1 egg
1/2 box Digestive biscuits, crumbled
4 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp grated lemon peel and/or seeds from a fresh vanilla pod (optional)


Beat together 120g butter, egg and sugar in a bowl until the mixture is smooth. Add milk, ricotta, mascarpone and flour and stir until there are no lumps left. Add grated lemon peel and/or fresh vanilla seeds if desired.
Grease a springform pan. Melt 50g butter in a pan and stir in the biscuit crumbs and brown sugar, until the mixture forms a ball and all butter has been absorbed. Flatten the ball in the springform pan for the cheesecake base.
Pour in the cheese mixture and bake for approx. 45 mins at 180C (a toothpick should come out clean when done).  Once cooled, spread strawberry jam or melted chocolate on top, or serve as is.

Try this:
- add cocoa powder to the cheese mixture for a chocolate cheesecake. You could also use chocolate biscuits for the base.
- use candy biscuits (such as Bastogne) for the base.

Lemon yoghurt cake

I had some left-over Greek yoghurt, so I googled a recipe for a yoghurt cake.
The texture of the cake was soft and velvety and my co-workers, who happily assume the role of guinea pigs for all my baking endeavors, gave it a big thumbs up.

Apparently, it's a recipe from "Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book", but I found it on a Dutch recipe site.

What you need (1 loaf):
300g sugar
50g softened butter
3 eggs
225g Greek yoghurt.
zest of 1 lemon
175g self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract

For the lemon glaze:
100g powdered sugar (icing sugar), sifted.
approx. 1 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice

Preperations:
Preheat the oven at 170ºC. Grease the baking tin or line it with baking parchment.
Wash the lemon to remove any wax, zest the lemon in a small bowl and set aside. Squeeze the lemon juice in another small bowl and set aside.
Take a large bowl and wipe the inside with a bit of lemon juice to make it completely grease-free.
Separate the eggs: put the egg whites in the grease-free bowl and the egg yolks in another large bowl.
Beat the egg whites until it forms soft peaks.

Add sugar, vanilla, salt and butter to the egg yolks and beat until it's a soft, fluffy mixture.
Stir in the yoghurt and lemon zest. With a wooden spoon, stir in the sifted flour and baking powder (be careful not to remove all air from the mixture). Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites.
Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 1 - 1 1/4 hrs until an inserted knife comes out clean.
Let the cake cool for a few minutes, take it out of the tin and leave it to cool completely on a wire rack.
Once the cake has cooled, make the glaze by stirring the lemon juice through the icing sugar. Pour the glaze over the cake and spread evenly over the surface. The glaze will harden in the fridge.

The cake should be stored in the fridge and can be kept for up to a week (but I doubt it will make it that long...)

Observations/alterations:
- I used caster sugar
- I used margarine i/o butter
- I used 1 sachet (8g) vanilla sugar i/o vanilla extract
- I have a fan oven so I lowered the baking temperature to 160ºC (next time, I may even lower it a bit more to 155ºC so the cake will rise more evenly).
- I didn't have a sieve at hand, so I didn't sift the flour - maybe that's why one side of the cake slightly collapsed??
- you could use grated orange peel and orange juice or grated lime peel and lime juice for a different flavour.

Tortilla (Spanish-style potato omelet)

What you need (4 servings):
350g potatoes, boiled and sliced
1 onion, in half rings
1 clove of garlic, pressed
4 large eggs
1 tbsp dried chives
Salt, peper and chili powder to taste
(olive) oil

Fry the potatoes in some oil until golden brown. In a separate pan, sauté the onion and garlic. Beat the eggs in a large bowl with some salt, pepper, chili powder and chives. Stir the potatoes as well as the onion mixture into the eggs. Add some oil to the frying pan and pour in the mixture, making sure the potatoes are evenly distributed. Cook on a low heat for 10-15 mins and turn when the top of the omelet is set. Cook for another few minutes. Let the omelet rest for 5-10 mins before cutting and serve with garlic bread and a salad.

Try this:
- Add diced bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, peas, grated cheese etc.
- Cut the omelet into small squares and serve as tapas with olives, meatballs etc.
- lunchbox idea: cut the potato into small cubes instead of slices. Pour the egg mixture into a muffin pan and cook the mini omelets in the oven for 30-35 mins at approx. 150C.

Creamy beef and fennel

What you need (2 servings):
- (olive) oil
- approx. 250g beef in strips
- 1 carrot, finely sliced
- 1 fennel bulb, cut in strips
- 1 onion, cut in half rings
- 1/2 clove of garlic, pressed
- approx. 100ml creme fraiche
- dried herbs de Provence
- salt, pepper

Stirfry the beef in some (olive) oil. Add the sliced carrot and cook a few minutes before adding the fennel, garlic and onion. Stir in the creme fraiche after about 6 mins. Cook for a few more minutes and season to taste with salt, pepper and herbs de Provence.
Serve with panfried potatoes.

[ adapted from an AH recipe]

Creamy fish

I'm not particularly fond of fish. Or cream cheese. Or green peppers. So I was a bit apprehensive when my mom made this one night when I came over for dinner. Surprisingly, it was really tasty and it's been one of my favorite dishes ever since.

What you need (2 servings):
- 1 onion, cut in half rings
- 1 green pepper, cut in strips
- 2 pieces of frozen fish, such as cod, tilapia or pangasius
- approx. 65g of cream cheese with herbs such as Boursin
- approx. 65ml cream
- salt, pepper


Preheat the oven at 200C. Put the pieces of fish in an oven dish and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the onion and green pepper on top. Mix the cream cheese with the cream and pour over the fish. Cook in the oven for approx. 30mins.
Serve with rice and a cucumber salad.

[adapted from an AH recipe]