Baked Cheese Jalapeño

RULE NO. 1: You need to be audacious to eat jalapeños. If you haven't trained yourself to bear hot spice, bid adieu now.

Have you got what it takes to be a jalapeño eater? :-D You never know if biting into one is going to harvest that phenomenal flavor and kick (that is the basis for so many Southwestern foods) or if that one little bite will pack such a fierce punch that you'll be running around the room mouth agape and begging for something to cool it all down.

Cheesy Vegetable Sandwich

One of the reasons why I get to experiment a lot with food is because I am not responsible for ensuring that everybody at home is fed on time. That's Ma's job. So, I don't mind spending an hour or 2 for every recipe. But I can fathom how some don't like to spend more time in the kitchen than what's absolutely necessary. "There isn't enough time for making dinner, and you want me to make your fancy cakes?" - said a dear relative of mine to me. :-D That's when I realized the lack of simple and quick recipes on my blog. This sandwich, is my answer to all you people who have no time for themselves. Of course, it involves cheese, mayo or béchamel sauce. That's how it becomes tasty! ;-) Feel free to skip any ingredient while you make it.

How to make Khoya (or Mawa) at home

I am one of those stubbornly self sufficient people when it comes to cooking. I love making everything from scratch. So, when I needed mawa to make Mawa Cake, instead of saving 2 hours of my life and buying it from the shop, I decided to make it on my own. Making it is so damn easy and involves almost zero labor!

Visit www.foodomania.com for the recipe & step by step pictures.
Link to this recipe - http://foodomania.com/khoya-home-homemade-mawa/

Cheese: Fun Facts

Are you a cheese-o-holic? :) Here are some interesting facts about this popular dairy product that might surprise you...

• Archaeological surveys show that cheese was being made from the milk of cows and goats in Mesopotamia before 6000 B.C.  
• The world's largest consumers of cheese include Greece (63 pounds per person each year), France (54 pounds), Iceland (53 pounds), Germany (48 pounds), Italy (44 pounds), the Netherlands (40 pounds), the United States (31 pounds), Australia (27 pounds), and Canada (26 pounds)
• The United States produces more than 25 percent of the world's supply of cheese, approximately 9 billion pounds per year.
• Pizza Hut uses about 300 million pounds of cheese per year!!!
• Someone who sells cheese professionally at a cheese shop or specialty food store is called a cheese monge
• Because of their ability to produce large volumes of milk, butterfat, and protein, black-and-white (or sometimes red-and-white) Holsteins are the most popular dairy cows in the United States, making up 90 percent of the total herd. 

 

• According to the British Cheese Board, Britain has approximately 700 distinct local cheeses. It is thought that France and Italy have perhaps 400 each. The varying flavors, colors, and textures of cheese come from many factors, including the type of milk used, the type of bacteria or acids used to separate the milk, the length of aging, and the addition of other flavorings or mold.

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Source: bahighlife. tlc

Pizza Pinwheels

With every new dish you learn something new. And what did I learn this time? Always buy your YEAST fresh. Since I didn't have an oven for the past 4 months, I didn't use yeast at all. And today when I used it- well, it deceived me. The dough didn't rise at all! I knew there wasn't any problem with my yeast-proofing. (let me take a moment to boast here and say, I'm a pro when it comes to yeast :-D) But I didn't realize that the dry yeast that I bought in January this year wouldn't work its magic. But I went ahead and baked it anyway. Since the dough didn't rise, I could only make 4 pinwheels instead of the estimated 8. Next time, I'm gonna try it with fresh yeast.
Of course, I could have used assorted vegetables for the filling, but since my mood was deflated by yeast, I only used tomato ketchup, cheese, garlic & onions. The final dish looked and tasted really great. All my fears were put to a rest. :-)

 

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake (No-Bake, Eggless)

I am a huge fan of the TV show - FRIENDS (well, who isn't?!) While watching an episode (The One with All the Cheesecake) I came across Cheesecake for the very first time. And so beautiful it looked that I was on a mission to taste a piece of Cheesecake. And when I did taste it, it was horrible! I thought, "If Rachel & Chandler love it so much, it can't be horrible!". :P And thus began my quest to make a good cheesecake! And I can proudly say that I ate an amazing cheesecake, not from Café Basilico Bistro & Deli or Barista but at HOME!!! ☻

Here is my very own Cheesecake -

It smelled so good that I cut into it early. Hence it didn't set fully! Darn! :-D Well, it tasted heavenly though! I sprinkled some chocolate vermicelli on top and had it. Oooooo Yummm! ☺ This cheesecake is very very dear to me!! I made every single thing including the Crust & the cream cheese from scratch. And even though it doesn't look so good, it will always be my favorite cheesecake in the world!

Ingredients - (makes 6-8 slices)

For the crust -

Chocolate Biscuits. (I used 100 grams Hide n Seek)

Butter - 1 tablespoon, melted

For the Filling -

Cream Cheese - 150 ml (either store bought or made at home or an alternative)

Heavy cream - 50-80 ml

5-7 chocolate cream biscuits (example: Oreo, Bourbon Biscuits, Delta Cream etc)

Vanilla Extract / Essence - 1 teaspoon

Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup (adjust according to taste later)

Agar Agar // Gelatine - 1 teaspoon (chopped, if flaky)

Boiling Water - 1 tablespoon

Method -

Crust/base -

1. Crush biscuits in food processor or with the end of a rolling pin.

2. Add melted butter and stir to combine. Add enough butter to ensure that when you pick up some biscuit crumbs, they should be able to hold together (in pic 2 below)

   

3. Press into base of 24cm springform cake tin. I didn't have it so I used a very low bottomed plate.

4. Refrigerate for minimum 30 minutes.

Filling -

1. Sprinkle gelatine/agar agar over boiling water and whisk with a fork until it is completely dissolved. Allow to cool slightly.

 

Want to know more about cooking with gelatine / agar-agar? Click HERE.

2. In a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese & vanilla essence.

3. Add the castor/confectioner/powdered sugar.

4. With a manual or electric whisk, beat the mixture until completely smooth.

  

5. Then, add the heavy cream.

6. Again beat the mixture until smooth & looks fluffy.

7. If you want, add melted white chocolate in this step & mix well. I skipped. Just added a little bit of milk chocolate that I had.

8. Stir in the gelatine / agar agar liquid into the mixture & beat well for 1 minute. 

9. Finally, break the cream biscuits into small pieces & stir into the mixture.

To combine -

1. Take the crust out of the refrigerator.

2. Pour the entire filling onto the crust & using a flat knife or a spatula, spread it evenly on the entire plate.

3. Refrigerate overnight. Its ready!! ☺

Serve with drizzled melted chocolate, chocolate shavings, sprinkles etc! ☺

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Also, I'm celebrating the milestone of 50 foodie friends / followers via Google Connect with this cake!

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As you can see in the picture, I didn't cut the pieces perfectly. Also, I took it out within 5 hours. If I would have given it a couple more hours, it would have been perfect. So remember to refrigerate it for 6-8 hours at least.