RECIPE: TOBLERONE CHEESECAKE

I know I promised to put this up yesterday….sorry. Anyway, here it is and a very funny (not ha ha funny but bizarre funny) thing happen yesterday in conjunction with the cheesecake; well actually surrounding the cheesecake recipe. My friend TW and her beau dropped in yesterday and had some of the cheesecake and I mentioned in passing that the recipe was from a colleague of ours, ML and I had found it in some piles of papers that I was looking through. Mind you, the last time we saw this colleague was in 2003 and ironically, TW found a Christmas present that ML had given her (Kris Kringle) a few weeks ago, whilst going through her things too. What are the chances of that happening??! So I guess I should actually try and find where this mutual colleague is now. The last time we heard, she was in New Delhi. I think the cosmos was trying to tell us something here.

Back to THE cheesecake….it is a joint G and V effort – Mr G made the crust and I did the rest.

As I mentioned above, the recipe is from ML, who I used to work with when I was with the DoD.

I doubled the Toblerone amount (200 g) and used 250 g of Arnott’s Choc Ripple biscuits. You can also use Marie biscuits and add melted dark chocolate and butter to make the chocolate base. Below is the original recipe.

Base
1 cup crushed chocolate biscuits
1/3 cup melted butter – around 80 g

Filling
2 x 250 g blocks cream cheese (you may use 1 light and 1 normal cream cheese blocks)
½ cup cream
3 tsp gelatine dissolved in ½ cup hot water
¾ cup caster sugar
100 g Toblerone chocolate – melted

Method
Line a springform round cake tin with paper. Mix the butter and biscuits and press into the base on the cake tin and sides. Refrigerate.

Beat cream and cream cheese until smooth. Add in the gelatine, beat, followed by the sugar and melted chocolate. Beat until well combined and pour onto the prepared base. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

NATTER: SATURDAYS AND BG’S BATH

Poor BG. He welcomes Saturdays with mixed feelings; just like me. I have a love-hate relationship with Saturdays – love it coz I don’t have to go to the office, yay….hate it coz I gotta do the house work, booo.... I think BG feels the same too….loves it because the kids and I are at home but hates it coz he knows he gets a bath, come rain or shine on Saturdays. Mind you, he does not run away or anything but he does tuck his tail between his legs when I call him for his bath. I am surprised that he never goes and hides under the furniture or beds or somewhere. Maybe he thinks it is better to get it over and done with the inevitable. Here are pics of him having his bath. I honestly think his favourite part is the hair dryer bit.

Hint: If you have a small dog breed, the laundry sink is the ideal place to bathe your doggie.

RECIPE: BEEF AND CAPSICUM IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE

This recipe is adapted from Yan Kit So’s ‘Classic Chinese Cookbook’. The recipe only calls for capsicum but I added snow peas and carrot. I made double the recipe and I must say that this is one of the nicest black bean beef I have tasted. The recipe calls for some salt but I recommend not adding the salt until you have finished cooking and had a taste. I also substituted the potato flour in the recipe with tapioca flour. You could also use corn flour.

PS: I also made a Toblerone cheesecake today. I’ll post it on my blog tomorrow.

Ingredients
450 g beef (rump, skirt or fillet) trimmed and sliced thinly
1 tsp potato flour mixed with 1 to 2 tbsp water
5 tbsp peanut oil
1 large capsicum, deseeded and cut into large cubes
1 large carrot – cut lengthways and sliced thinly (optional)
Large handful of snow peas – tailed (optional)
Salt to taste
5 cloves garlic – minced
4 spring onions – cut into 4 cm lengths
3 tbsp fermented black beans – rinsed and mashed with ½ tsp sugar and 1 tsp oil
1 tbsp Shaohsing wine
Marinade
¼ tsp salt (I omitted this) *
¼ tsp sugar*
2 tsp thick soy sauce*
8 turns of a pepper mill*
2 tsp Shaohsing wine*
1 ½ tsp potato flour
Approximately 3 tbsp water
1 tsp peanut oil
1 tsp sesame oil

Method
Cut the beef across the gr4ain into thin rectangular slices and place in a large bowl.

Place * ingredients of the marinade onto the beef. Mix well. Sprinkle the flour onto the meat and 1 tbsp of the water, mixing the meat in one direction. Only add the extra water if the meat cannot be mixed when stirred in one direction. The marinated beef should not be wet. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 30 mins. After 30 mins, blend in the oils.

Heat wok until smoky; add 1 tbsp oil and then the capsicum to ‘blister’ it. After a min, add in the carrots if using; fry for 30 secs and add in the snow peas. Add in the spring onions just before lifting; which is around the 2 min mark. If using only capsicum, cook the capsicum for 2 mins and add the spring onions just before lifting.

Reheat the wok over high heat, add in the remainder of the oil and coat the wok evenly with the oil. Add in the garlic; when golden add in the bean paste and stir to mix. Add in the beef next and stir the meat in a scooping motion, ensuring that the meat is cooked evenly. After about 2 mins, add in the wine around the side and continue to toss and turn the meat until the sizzling dies down. Add in the potato/water mixture (thickening agent), stir well and add in the vegetables, mix and cook until the meat is done and the sauce has thickened. Serve immediately with rice or toss with blanched rice noodles.

RECIPE: WHOLE STEAMED FISH WITH CRISP FINISH

Chinese, fish and tofu are the flavours of the day. Unfortunately we had to fight the youngest child because of the fish (‘I Hate Fish’, was the retort…..but he can eat fish fingers; go figure!). So guess who went hungry then?! Anyway, the dog thought all his Christmases had come true today….he wasn’t complaining about the fish!

The rest of the family thought it was really yummy and it is easy to prepare too. Just make sure that the fish is fresh.

Ingredients
1 whole snapper or bream (about 1 kg) – scaled and cleaned. I used snapper today
½ tsp or more sea salt
½ tsp or more white pepper
3 cm ginger – finely sliced
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 spring onions
1 large stick celery
½ a small capsicum
2 large chillies (optional)
1/3 cup peanut oil

Method
Wash the fish and its cavity and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the fish (inside and out) with the salt and pepper and place the ginger in the cavity.

Combine the soy sauce and the sesame oil and lightly brush over the fish. Leave for at least 15 mins.

Cut the spring onions, celery, capsicum and chillies into 4 cm lengths and julienne thinly (like matchsticks).

Place a pair of chopsticks to form a cross at the base of a large wok (to act as a rack) and bring to boil about 7 cm of water in it.

Lightly score the fattest part of the fish about three times, transfer to a heat proof plate and place on top of the chop sticks. Steam for about 15 to 20 mins.

Five minutes before the end of the steaming time, warm a heatproof serving platter in the oven.

Turn off the heat under the makeshift steamer /wok and place all the julienne vegetables on it and leave covered in the wok for three mins. At the end of this time, transfer the fish and vegetables onto the warmed serving platter.

Quickly heat the oil in a small saucepan until smoking; then pour over the fish and vegetables. Be careful as it will splatter. Serve with rice and other dishes such as QUICK AND EASY STIR FRIED PAK CHOY and SILKEN TOFU WITH SOY, CHILLI AND SPRING ONIONS.