Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Salted Peanut Brittle

Posted on 14 October 2013 by Linda Peek

This recipe will appeal to fans of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, those American sweets which combine chocolate with peanut butter. However, I do know a few other people who will say “yuck” when they see this post!

Half cream cheese and half ricotta results in a somewhat lighter texture, but you can use all cream cheese if you prefer. The addition of salted peanuts and salty biscuit crumbs in the crust make a nice contrast to the sweetness of the filling.

This dessert is very rich, so serve in small slices.

Base:
1½ cups salty biscuit crumbs, such as Jatz, Ritz or pretzels
1/3 cup melted butter
Filling:
1 kg cream cheese (or use half cream cheese and half ricotta)
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
3 large eggs
Topping:
1 cup cream
100g dark chocolate
Salted Peanut Brittle:
100g sugar
100g salted peanuts
To serve:
Thick pouring cream or whipped cream

Have cream cheese at room temperature. Preheat oven to 170ºC. Crush biscuits or pretzels in food processor till they are like breadcrumbs, tip into a bowl with the melted butter and mix well. Line base of a 22-24 cm (8-9″) spring-form pan with baking paper and grease the sides. Tip biscuit crumbs in and press evenly over the base with your hand or the base of a glass. Place in the fridge while you make the filling.

Place cream cheese (or cream cheese and ricotta) in food processor with sugar and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and mix, stopping to scrape down the sides. Scrape filling into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for between 45 mins and an hour or until just set. As soon as it feels set in the middle when you touch with your fingers it’s ready. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

For topping, heat cream in microwave or a saucepan till almost boiling. Add chocolate broken into squares and stir till melted. Leave until starting to thicken, then spread evenly over the cheesecake. When cheesecake is cold refrigerate overnight.

To make brittle, heat sugar in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until dark caramel colour. Don’t stir, but you can lift and swirl the pan from time to time, to ensure sugar melts evenly. Add peanuts, swirl to combine, then tip onto a baking pan lined with baking paper or foil.

Remove cheesecake from fridge 15 mins before serving. Run a knife dipped in boiling water around the sides of the cheesecake to loosen, then remove the sides of the pan. Dip knife into boiling water to cut cheesecake into slices. Wipe and dip each time. Break or cut peanut brittle into shards and use to decorate cheesecake. Some whipped or pouring cream goes well.

Serves 16-20 (small slices)

Note: in South America queso fresco can be substituted for the ricotta. You can use sour cream instead of cream and milk chocolate instead of dark in the topping.

Salmon in Pastry with Currants and Ginger

Posted on 19 September 2013 by Linda Peek

Once it’s been passed on a few times, the origins of a recipe are often lost. I haven’t made this recipe for quite some time, but I remember it was given to me by my dear friend Maggie about 15 years ago. We started primary school together, so we go back a long way!

My friend Karen recently gave me two cook books by British cook book writer and critic Simon Hopkinson, called Roast Chicken and Other Stories and Second Helpings of Roast Chicken. As I was reading the first volume, voilà, there was Maggie’s salmon. Hopkinson says it’s his version of “a most famous creation by George Perry-Smith, one of the great pioneers who changed the eating habits of an apathetic British public.” Perry-Smith was greatly influenced by Elizabeth David and made his name at The Hole in the Wall in Bath, which opened in the late 1950s.

You can either make this in individual parcels or one large one and cut it into slices, which is what I decided to do this time. Hopkinson likes to serve it with a hollandaise sauce, lightened with whipped cream, but concedes that the dish is very rich and just as nice served with a wedge of lemon. The combination of crisp pastry, salmon, ginger and currants is unusual, but delicious. A simple watercress salad and some buttered new potatoes are all that you need to complete the meal. The potatoes took longer to cook than I thought they would, which meant that the salmon got a bit over-cooked as you can see in the photo. Next time I will put the potatoes on earlier!

I served the reheated leftovers with my Cucumber Salad which went extremely well.

2 Tbs currants
2 Tbs stem ginger in syrup, drained, or glace ginger
110g butter, at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
A pinch of ground mace or nutmeg
375g puff pastry, bought or home-made
8-900g salmon fillet, skinned and boned
1 egg yolk, beaten

Pour boiling water over the currants and leave to swell for 5-10 minutes, then drain and pat dry on paper towels. Mix currants and finely chopped ginger into butter, then add mace or nutmeg and season to taste. Roll out pastry to a size which is slightly longer and wider than the salmon fillet. Lay the pastry on a lightly oiled baking tray. Spread the butter over the salmon fillet, then fold it over on itself lengthwise. Place on pastry, to one side. Fold over the pastry and seal all the way around. Press with the tines of a fork then trim off any excess to give a neat edge. Salmon can be prepared ahead to this stage and kept, loosely covered, in the fridge for up to several hours.

Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Brush salmon with egg yolk then bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown – you don’t want to overcook the salmon. Slice and serve with a wedge of lemon, lightly dressed watercress salad and boiled new potatoes, dressed with a knob of butter and some finely chopped parsley.

Serves 6

Deconstructed Ice Cream Sundae with Popcorn & Salted Caramel Sauce

Posted on 29 August 2013 by Linda Peek

The idea for serving an ice cream sundae with a crunchy cone stuck on top, like a hat, came from the fairly new and very popular Canberra bistro called Eightysix. The idea for making a 2 litre container of bought vanilla ice cream more exciting, by adding halva and other ingredients came from Maggie Beer. I put these two ideas together for a quick and delicious dessert. Matthew said he wasn’t very hungry and would “share” mine. But after a few mouthfuls I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave half, so I told him to get his own.

If you can’t find halva – a Middle Eastern sweet made from nuts and sugar which tastes a bit like nougat – you could chop up a couple of Crunchie bars. The fresh mint really makes a difference, helping to cut through all that sweetness. If preferred you can leave the salt out of the caramel sauce. For an even quicker version of this dessert, just use plain vanilla ice cream.

Ice Cream:
2 litres bought vanilla ice cream
125g halva, chopped
2-3 Tbs finely chopped fresh mint
½ cup lightly toasted nuts (pistachios, slivered almonds or pecans)
Salted Caramel Sauce:
½ cup sugar
½ cup cream
60g butter
½ tsp salt
To serve:
1 pkt waffle ice cream cones
1 pkt caramel popcorn

Remove ice cream from the freezer and after 15 minutes scrape it into a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix through. The ice cream needs to thaw just enough to allow you to mix them in but don’t let it soften too much. Put back into container and into the freezer. For the sauce, melt the sugar in a small heavy-based pan until melted and dark caramel colour. Add cream and butter and mix until smooth. Put aside and warm slightly to serve.

To serve, fill ice cream cones generously with ice cream then place upside down in serving dishes. Sprinkle a few popcorn around and drizzle with the warm caramel sauce.

Serves 6 or more

Greek-Style Lamb with Rocket Salad

Posted on 1 August 2013 by Linda Peek

This Greek-style roast lamb is very similar to a recipe I posted a couple of weeks ago. This one is accompanied by a rocket salad rather than roasted vegetables, making it a more summery dish. On one large platter it makes a good addition to a casual buffet.

1 shoulder of lamb, bone removed
2-3 tsp salt (to taste)
6 cloves garlic
1 Tbs peppercorns
6 sprigs of rosemary
2 Tbs dry oregano
2 Tbs olive oil
100 ml white wine vinegar or lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup red wine or sherry
To serve:
Rocket
Feta or goat’s cheese
Toasted pine nuts
Lemon and olive oil dressing
Pitta or Turkish bread

Preheat oven to 170°C. Trim excess fat from lamb. In food processor or using a mortar and pestle, make a paste with the salt, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, oregano and olive oil. Place lamb in a roasting pan and spread it on both sides with the herby paste, massaging it in. Add vinegar or lemon juice, water and wine or sherry to the bottom of the pan and cover with foil. Bake for an hour, then turn the meat over and baste with pan juices. Cover again with the foil and return to the oven for another hour or until the meat is very tender and almost falling apart. Remove foil, turn the meat over again and turn the oven up to 200°C. Cook for a further 20 minutes, or until browned on top.

Prepare a large serving dish or individual plates with a simple rocket salad, dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. When the lamb is ready break it into pieces using two forks or cut it into pieces and arrange over the salad. Sprinkle with feta or goat’s cheese and toasted pine nuts. If liked, drizzle with some of the juices from the roasting pan. Serve with warm pitta or Turkish bread.

Serves 8

Salted Caramel & Macadamia Cheesecake

Posted on 17 July 2013 by Linda Peek

Salted caramel desserts are very “in” at the moment. I first tasted this combination of flavours in Brittany, where you can buy a salted caramel spread in jars to eat on toast like Nutella. The Bretons also use it as one of the many fillings you can choose for crepes sold by street vendors in the region. I know it’s not good to eat too much, but Matthew and our two boys are very keen on anything salty and this includes salted caramel desserts.

Israeli-born chef Yotam Ottolenghi created this delicious caramel and macadamia cheesecake. All I have done is to add salt to the caramel sauce, cut down a bit on the biscuits in the crust and the sugar in the cheesecake filling.

Base:
About 130g plain sweet biscuits (I used 9 Digestives)
40g unsalted butter
Filling:
500g ricotta cheese, at room temperature
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
100g caster sugar
4 eggs
½ cup sour cream
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod or 2 tsp essence
Topping:
150g macadamia nuts
90g caster sugar
Sauce:
65g unsalted butter
160g caster sugar
100ml cream
½ to 1 tsp salt, to taste

Base: Preheat oven to 140ºC. Lightly grease a 20cm spring-form cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. Whiz biscuits to crumbs in food processor. Melt butter in microwave, add biscuit crumbs and mix. Tip into the cake tin and flatten with the bottom of a glass to create a level base.

Filling: In a bowl with electric beaters or in a food processor, mix all ingredients for filling until smooth. Scrape into cake tin and bake for 50 mins or until set in the middle. Cool then refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight, covered.

Topping: Preheat oven to 140ºC. Spread macadamias over a baking sheet and roast for about 15 mins or until light golden brown. Watch them carefully – mine got a bit too brown as you can see in the photo. Remove and set aside. Place sugar in a heavy-based saucepan and heat gently until it turns golden-brown. Do not stir, but you can lift and swirl from time to time. Add nuts and mix gently with a wooden spoon. Pour onto a tray lined with foil or non-stick baking paper and leave to set. Chop roughly with a large knife, leaving some of the nuts halved or whole.

Sauce: Melt butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add sugar and stir constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth, dark caramel. It may split, but that doesn’t matter. Add cream carefully – it will splutter – and stir to combine. Sieve to remove any gritty bits then cool.

To serve: Remove sides and base of cake tin and place cheesecake on a serving plate or board. If you want to present it whole, spoon the sauce in the middle, allowing it to spill over the sides a bit and scatter the nuts over the top. Alternatively arrange slices on individual plates, then decorate with the nuts and spoon over some of the sauce. Keeps for 3 days in the fridge.

Serves 10

Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Caramelised Onions & Apples

Posted on 11 July 2013 by Linda Peek

When we were growing up my sister Dee used to say she couldn’t eat pork which tasted “hairy”. I think I know what she meant. If you’re going to serve pork with the skin it has to be crunchy. There’s nothing attractive about soft pork fat and skin.

Pork belly has become quite trendy in the last few years and there are lots of recipes on Google for different ways to cook it. Some are quite complicated, involving lots of ingredients. This is one of my favourite recipes for pork belly. It combines just two flavours with the pork – onion and apple – plus a few herbs.

1kg boneless pork belly with skin
salt, olive oil and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
2 large onions
2 large green apples
¼ cup water
1 Tbs sugar

If the butcher hasn’t already done so, score pork skin all over in parallel cuts just under a centimeter apart, cutting through the skin only. Preheat oven to 160°C. Peel onions, cut into eighths and place in a roasting pan in the middle, like a nest. Rub pork all over with a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Press herbs into the meat side. Place pork skin side up on the onions and bake for about 2 hrs. During this time do not baste. If after an hour or so you think the onions are starting to burn, take them out and put the pork back. You want them to be caramelised, but not overly so.

Meanwhile peel core and slice apples and place in a saucepan with water and sugar. Simmer for 10-15 mins until cooked. After 2 hrs, remove pork from oven and take it out of the pan. Tip off all the fat which can be kept and used for roasting potatoes. Turn oven up to 200°C. Mix onions with apples and place in the pan as before, like a nest, with pork on top. Bake for 30 mins or until skin is blistered and crunchy all over. Divide apples and onions between six plates. Cut pork into six neat squares or rectangles with a sharp heavy knife and place on top.

Serves 6

Dacquoise

Posted on 27 June 2013 by Linda Peek

This layered nutty meringue cake served with fruit originated in the town of Dax, in south west France. Dacquoise is sometimes filled with butter cream – made from icing sugar and butter – but I think unsweetened whipped cream makes a better contrast to the sweetness of the meringue.

150g blanched almonds or skinned hazelnuts
6 egg whites
300g caster sugar
pinch cream of tartar or salt
To finish:
600ml thick cream
2 Tbs icing sugar
150g dark chocolate, grated
About 2 cups fresh raspberries
To Serve:
Raspberry Coulis (optional)

Preheat oven to 150°C. Process almonds or hazelnuts in food processor until finely chopped. It’s best to do your own rather than buying ready-ground nuts. Line 3 baking sheets with foil or baking paper and draw a 20cm circle on each, no need to grease. Whip egg whites with electric beaters until soft peaks then add the cream of tartar or salt and a tablespoon of the sugar and continue to whisk for a minute. Gradually add remaining sugar until you have a thick, glossy meringue. Fold in the nuts, divide the mixture between the circles drawn on the baking sheets and spread into 3 even rounds. Bake for an hour, then remove from the oven and leave to cool. Can be made the day before.

Peel foil off meringues. Place one meringue on serving plate, flat side down. Whip cream until thick and use about a third to spread over meringue, sprinkle with grated chocolate and a few raspberries. Top with second meringue and cover with another third of the cream, some grated chocolate and a few raspberries. Place third meringue on top, flat side down. Sieve icing sugar over the top. Pipe remaining cream in rosettes around the edge, sprinkle with remaining grated chocolate and decorate with raspberries. Slice and serve with Raspberry Coulis, or just as it is.

Variations: make an apricot sauce instead: soak 100g dried apricots in water overnight, drain then place in a small pan, add a cup of water, juice of half a lemon and sugar to taste. Simmer 5-10 minutes or until tender, puree in food processor, then chill.

Note: meringue can be filled with cream up to 3 hours before serving.

Serves 10-12

Beef Massaman Curry in a Slow Cooker

Posted on 20 June 2013 by Linda Peek

Of all the posts on Café Cat, the most popular to date is the Beef Korma cooked in a Slow Cooker. When people search on Google for a beef curry cooked this way, my recipe comes up first.

A slow cooker is the perfect way to cook a curry or a stew. As the meat cooks slowly the liquid doesn’t evaporate the way it does in the oven, so it’s best to add about a quarter or half the amount you would normally use. You can always add more later if necessary.

I’ve adapted this Thai Massaman Beef Curry by Bill Granger for the Slow Cooker. It’s nice and spicy, without being overly hot. If you’re going to serve it with rice, we didn’t think the potatoes were really necessary, so leave them out if you prefer.

1 tsp crushed dried chilli
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tsp cumin seeds
Seeds removed from 5 cardamom pods
1 red onion, cut in half
6 cloves garlic
1 stalk lemongrass (white part only)
2 Tbs coriander roots
1 Tbs Tamarind paste
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1.2kg stewing beef (blade, shin, chuck) cut into 3-4cm pieces
400ml can coconut milk
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs fish sauce
¼ cup water
400g small potatoes, scrubbed and halved (optional)
To serve:
1 Tbs lime or lemon juice
Fresh coriander sprigs
2 Tbs roasted peanuts, chopped
Steamed rice

In a mortar and pestle pound the chilli, ginger, cumin, cardamom and 1 tsp salt until finely ground. In a food processor whiz the red onion, garlic, lemongrass, coriander root, tamarind paste and 1 Tbs of the oil, until finely chopped, then mix in the chilli-spice mix.

Heat remaining 1 Tbs oil in a large frying pan and brown the meat in 2 or 3 batches, for about 2 minutes each side, then place in slow cooker. Add the curry paste to the frying pan and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add to slow cooker with the coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, potatoes (if using) and water. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until beef is tender. Stir every couple of hours, adding a little more water if necessary.

To serve: Add lime or lemon juice, check seasoning and serve garnished with the coriander and peanuts, with steamed rice on the side.

Note: If preferred curry can be cooked in a heavy casserole with a lid in the oven where it will take about 3 hours at 160°C. In this case increase the water to ¾ cup and add the potatoes, uncooked, about halfway through cooking time. For low-carb version omit the potatoes.

Serves 4-6

Ginger Crème Brulée with Quince Compote

Posted on 10 June 2013 by Linda Peek

There’s a new restaurant in Braddon called Eighty Six which everyone is raving about. I haven’t been yet but my son James has already been twice (it’s only been open about a month!) and says the food is delicious. He especially enjoyed the Ginger Crème Brulée with Quince Chutney, so as quinces are in season I decided to have a go at making it, based on his detailed description! It was delicious.

I’m looking forward to going to Eighty Six to try the original and see how it compares. Using raw sugar on top is a tip from Heston Blumenthal — he says it caramelises more quickly than refined white sugar. But if you don’t have any just use white sugar.

When coring the quinces, core generously to make sure you remove all the fibrous bits in that area. Serve any leftover compote with labneh.

Quince Compote:
6 quinces, peeled cored and cut into 1 cm cubes
⅓ cup honey
½ cup orange juice
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
5 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
Crème Brulée:
600ml thick cream
6 egg yolks
3 Tbs caster sugar
1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla essence
2 Tbs grated or finely chopped fresh ginger
To serve:
Raw sugar

Compote: Preheat oven to 150°C. Place the star anise, cinnamon and cloves in a small piece of muslin or a handkerchief and tie into a bundle. Place in a heavy iron casserole dish with remaining ingredients. Stir then cover and bake for one and a half to two hours, or until quince is tender, reddish in colour and juices are thickened. Stir regularly and add a dash more juice if it’s getting too dry. When compote is ready it should be like a thick compote, jam or chutney but the pieces of fruit will still be whole. Discard the spices in the bag. Cool then store in the fridge where it will keep for up to a week. It can also be frozen to use when quince are no longer in season.

Crème Brulée: Preheat oven to 140°C. Place 8 small ramekins in a roasting pan or dish and boil the kettle. Place a heaped teaspoon of compote in the bottom of each ramekin and spread it out. Heat cream, vanilla (pod and seeds scraped off or essence) and ginger until boiling point. Meanwhile beat egg yolks and sugar until light and airy. Mix a little of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture, then pour it all back into the cream and stir quickly to combine. Turn off heat and leave to macerate for 5 minutes. Pour through a sieve into a jug, then fill ramekins almost to the top. You may have enough to fill 9 depending on the size of your dishes.

Add boiling water to come about a third of the way up the sides of the ramekins then bake for 20 mins, or until set but still be a bit wobbly. Ovens vary. Remove from oven, remove ramekins immediately from water bath and cool. Refrigerate, covered for several hours or overnight.

To serve: Spread 2 teaspoons of raw sugar over each custard. Using a cook’s blow torch, caramelize the sugar until it melts and turns golden brown. Some restaurants in France serve them straight after torching the tops, so you have the contrast of warm and crunchy with cold. If you like your brulées very cold put them back in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving. After 45 minutes the crunchy top will start to go soggy so don’t leave them too long.

Serves 8

Lamb Pies with Mushrooms and Herb Butter

Posted on 27 May 2013 by Linda Peek

One of my favourite places to lunch with friends is at the Palette Cafe, located in the Beaver Galleries in Deakin. They are not open in the evening and are closed on Mondays.

In the warmer months my favourite dish was the avocado and smoked salmon salad served on a spicy gazpacho-style tomato sauce. It’s so good, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ordered it! One of my friends always has the brains with crispy bacon, which she says are to die for. I have been there umpteen times and never had a bad meal. We went there for Mother’s Day brunch and it was excellent. Anyone who can make scrambled or poached eggs which are as good as the ones you make yourself wins my vote. Hats off chef, Meaghan Pidd.

I recently ate one of Meaghan’s delicious lamb pies, served on a bed of sauteed mushrooms, so I decided to make something similar. Eight pies might be too many but you could do as I did – bake four and freeze the rest, then just make half the mushroom mixture. While meat pies are not for those trying to cut down on cholesterol, on a cold winter’s day they just hit the spot!

About 7 sheets of ready-rolled bought puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Filling for Pies:
1 Tbs olive oil
25g butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 kg lean lamb e.g. leg, shoulder (weight after trimming)
1 cup white wine
1 Tbs brandy
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried thyme or 1 Tbs fresh, chopped
½ a chicken stock cube
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 heaped tsp cornflour mixed with 2 Tbs water
Mushrooms:
500g button mushrooms
50g butter
¼ cup sherry
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Herb Butter:
¼ cup parsley sprigs
1 small clove garlic, crushed
125g butter at room temperature
Pinch of salt if using unsalted butter

Heat oil and butter in a large heavy-based pan and add the onion and garlic. Cook gently, stirring often, until soft but not browned. Cut the meat into 2cm cubes and add to the pan. Turn up the heat and cook, stirring continuously, until the meat starts to brown. Add the brandy and continue to stir as it evaporates. Add remaining ingredients apart from cornflour mixture. Simmer until meat is tender. This will depend on the meat, but shouldn’t take long. If there’s not enough liquid, add a dash of water. When meat is tender add cornflour mixture, stirring until the sauce thickens. Cool, then refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Cut sixteen circles of pastry about 15cm in diameter using a saucer or bowl to cut around. You may only get one per sheet of pastry, then you will need to gather the trimmings, re-roll and cut the rest. Divide meat filling amongst 8 of the circles, leaving 2cm around the edge. The gravy will have thickened, so it can all be used. Dampen edges of pastry circles, place another circle on top. The tops will seem too small, but if you go round squeezing the edges together they will stretch to fit. You will end up with 8 flying saucer shaped pies. Invert them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. They can be refrigerated at this stage for up to 24 hours, covered, or frozen for up to a month.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Thaw pies if frozen. Brush with beaten egg. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve on a bed of mushrooms with a slice of herb butter on the side.

Mushrooms: wipe mushrooms and cut into quarters, or eighths if they are larger. Heat butter in a non-stick frying pan and cook mushrooms, stirring, until slightly softened. Add sherry and mustard. Cook for a minute or two to evaporate some of the liquid, then season to taste.

Herb Butter: place herbs in food processor and chop very finely. Add butter, garlic and salt and process to mix well. Scrape out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Use the plastic to form butter into a small log about 2cm in diameter, wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. It will keep for two weeks in the fridge.

Serves 8