Category Archives: Recipe Shed

#RecipeShed – In search of the perfect New York Cheesecake

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Mark I

Mark I

A week or so before her birthday, my wife started hankering for a baked cheesecake.  Not just a cheesecake, had to be a baked one.  So I started thinking… Who knows about cheesecake? And pudding in general…

The go-to book…

And there it is.  Page 44.  The New York Cheesecake. Roughly speaking, it goes something like this…

Ingredients:

  • 175g digestive biscuits, crushed
  • 75g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing the tin
  • 1kg full-fat soft cheese
  • 275g caster sugar
  • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 40g plain flour, sifted
  • 300ml sour cream
  • finely grated rind of 1 lemon

Instructions:

  1. Grease a 23cm loose-bottomed/spring-form cake tin, blitz the biscuits in a food processor (or whack with a rolling pin, your call). Melt the butter, add the crumbs and mix well.  Press the mix evenly over the base of the tin.
  2. Place on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven (180°C for conventional, 160&degC for fan) for 10 minutes. Leave to cool on the baking sheet, keeping the oven on.
  3. To make the filling, beat the soft cheese and sugar together in a bowl, mix in the eggs. In a separate bowl, beat the flour into the sour cream and the lemon rind, then fold this mixture into the cheese/eggs using a large metal spoon.  Pour over the biscuit base in the tin.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Leave for 3-4 hours until completely cool
  4. Run a knife around the edge to separate cake from tin, transfer to serving plate. Devour.

The picture at the top of the page is the Mark I.  Followed the recipe to a T, even giving it another few minutes when it didn’t look completely set.  It was, well, alright. Pretty good for a first stab but not great.  Slightly grainy, not a lot, but definitely a tad overdone.  But it set the benchmark.

The Mark II

The Mark II

Not deterred, for the Mark I was delicious, I tried the recipe over the page – Cinnamon cheesecake, also baked.  Again, good, but not great. A solid 6/10, must do better.  So my wife and I hit the internet and did some research.  What’s the tips?  What’s the tricks…  This is what we found…

  • Don’t over-beat things.  I’d used the electric hand-blender for any mixing steps so I’d beaten in far, far too much air.
  • Especially don’t over-beat the eggs.
  • Ingredients should be at room temperature – eggs, cheese, sour cream, the lot.  Otherwise the cold forms lumps.
  • The cheesecake should wobble at the end of cooking – don’t bake until it’s completely set! (another Mark I mistake)
  • First hour’s cooling – switch off the oven and leave the door open.  Slow cooling is better and reduces (but can’t always eliminate) cracks.
  • Run the blade around the edge when it comes out of the oven, not at the end of cooling

Followed these tips and along came the Mark III…  9/10… Maybe 9.5/10. Even better the next day after it had chilled in the fridge overnight.

IMG_20130215_175340

The Mark III

The Mark IV is cooling now…

#RecipeShed – Bombay Potatoes

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This, I’m reliably informed, is a the Gujerati take on the dish.  It’s gorgeous but very yellow.  You do not want to eat this and then wipe your hands absent-mindedly on that nice white shirt.

Lamb and Orange, Bombay Potatoes

Note cunning re-use of picture!
Click it for the lamb and orange curry recipe!

Ingredients

  • 1lb whole new potatoes
  • salt
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • vegetable oil
  • 2 whole dried red chillies (sub for dried red peppers if cooking for the smalls)
  • 6 curry leaves (or more, if they’re only tiny)
  • 2 onions, finely chopped (what’s a Magimix for!)
  • 2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped (omit for the smalls).
  • Small handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 tsp asafoetida (get whichever kid is nearest to give this a good sniff.  The German name translates as “devil’s dung”)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
  • Lemon juice, to taste.

Instructions

0, Large saucepan on the hob, medium heat, kettle boiled and ready.  Lamb and orange curry should be at the “simmer for 45 minutes” stage.

1, Clean the new potatoes but do not peel.  A good scrub is all they should need

2, Dice the potatoes – 10mm chunks or thereabouts.  You want them to cook quickly.

3, Par-boil the potatoes along with a good amount of salt (no, more than that.  Bit more?  Yep) and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric.  Should take about 10 minutes.

4, Once the potatoes are done, drain them, stick the lid back on the pan and give it a good shake, just to knock the sharp edges off.  Dangerous things, sharp potatoes.

5, Heat the veg oil and fry the curry leaves and dried red chillies until the chillies are making it hard to breathe/nearly burnt.  Add the onions, green chillies, coriander and everything else apart from the potatoes and the lemon juice.  Cook until the onions are soft.

6, Fold in the potatoes, add a splash of water and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring to make sure the potatoes all get an even covering of the onion and spice mix.

7, Sprinkle over the lemon juice to serve.

All of this can comfortably be done while the Lamb and Orange curry is doing it’s 45-minute simmer.  I know, this is what we did last Friday.

#RecipeShed – Lamb and Orange Curry

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Interesting combination, this.  Definitely on the way away from your “traditional” curry, but superb.  And a great one to make for the kids since you add the heat right at the very end…

Lamb and Orange, Bombay Potatoes

Ingredients

  • 2 onions (finely chopped)
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 3 teaspoons grated ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (sub with Paprika if you’re serving this for the smalls)
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 kg minced lamb
  • 90g plain yoghurt
  • 250ml orange juice (juice of 2 big oranges)
  • 2 teaspoons orange zest (zest of 1 of the big oranges juiced)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 green chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 handful coriander leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1 handful mint, roughly chopped

Instructions

1, Heat oil in pan over medium heat, add onions, garlic and ginger, fry for about 5 minutes. Add cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne and garam masala, cook for another 5 minutes (this will stick, add a bit of boiling water to loosen it).

  • 2, Increase to high, add lamb mince and cook, stirring constantly to break up the meat. Add the yoghurt and let it combine. Add the OJ,zest and bay leaf.
  • 3, Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 45 minutes or so.
  • 4, Season to taste (it’ll need a lot of salt). Stir through the chilli, coriander and mint just before serving.

This is an ideal curry to serve with Bombay Potatoes – of which more in a few minutes…