Tag Archives: masterchef

Raspberry cheesecake

09 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in Desserts

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After seeing a simple but perfect cheesecake being made on Australia Masterchef, Alexis and I decided to give it a go. Now it’s not the cheapest cake to make but it is delicious and from time to time really worth making it. Mine was a little different to the Masterchef one, they used ground almonds in the base, I didn’t and I added rasberries to the mixture.

What you will need:

For the base
1 cup of plain flour
1/4 cup of sugar
90g chilled chopped butter

For the filling
330g cream cheese
500g ricotta
4 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 tbsp grated lemon rind
1 lemon’s juice
1 1/2 tbsp of cornflour
1 1/2 tbsp water
As many raspberries as you fancy (I used about 2 handfuls and sliced in two).

You will also need a deep circular cake tin (one with a removable bottom and clasp is best)

Pre-heat your oven to 150C. In a bowl add in all the ingredients for your base and knead them all together with your fingers, you know it’s ready when the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Butter your cake tin and add the base mixture to the bottom of the tin. With a spoon flatten the mixture so it becomes hard and homogenous. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.

Whilst your base is in the oven prepare your mixture. In a small bowl mix the cornflour and water and then add all the ingrdients together in a large bowl except for the raspberries. Whisk all ingredients together. Take your base out of the oven and pour in your mixture. Then add in your raspberries.

Put your cheesecake in the oven for an hour, then turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven for an extra hour. It’s not over yet – you’ll need to leave it in the fridge for about 2 hours. Though I was in a rush so I put the cheeseake in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Unclasp the cheesecake and either leave it on the tin base or move it onto a plate. I had some raspberries left so I made a quick coulis by adding a bit of sugar and the raspberries in a pan on a low heat until they melted together.

Enjoy
Mel

Sweet and Sour Chicken

02 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in Chicken, Simple meals

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I’m hooked on Masterchef Australia at the moment and this sweet and sour was inspired by their sweet and sour pork. What’s great with sweet and sour sauce is that you can use any meat, prawns or just have it with vegetables and your meal will be ready in 15 minutes! I love sweet and sour takeaway but never knew exactly what was used to make it. What surprised me is  how simple it is and that it’s made with ingredients that can be found in any kitchen, that’s ketchup and vinegar! Now the quantities I’m going to tell you to use are a guideline as it really all comes down to taste and also how much sweet and sour sauce you want.

What you need:

Two chicken breasts – cut in small pieces
3 tbsp of ketchup
2 tbsp vinegar (any type is fine)
A small tin of pineapple (if you have fresh pineapple all the better)
Chilli flakes (if you like the heat)
1 large pepper (the colour of your choice) – cut in small chunks
Half an onion – sliced
1 clove of garlic – chopped
40g of finely sliced ginger

Rice or noodles

In a frying pan or wok fry your onions on a medium heat until they look soft and add in you chicken until it starts browning, then add in your pepper, pineapple (keep the juice to one side), garlic, ginger and chilli. Stir all the ingredients together and then add in your ketchup, pineapple juice and vinegar. Cook all the ingredients for about 5 minutes. Taste and add in more vinegar or ketchup depending on taste.

I used rice noodles which are super easy to make as all you need to do is place them in a bowl and pour over some boiling water and they are ready within seconds.

Serve up your sweet and sour chicken on top of your noodles or rice and there you have it -dinner in 15 minutes!

Enjoy 🙂

If you use fresh pineapple then you can caramelise it with a bit of sugar and also add in a bit of pineapple juice.

P.S I’ve just made Masterchef’s cheesecake but with a twist – it’s in the fridge so fingers crossed!

Mel