Mixed Berry Cheesecake

My brother and his gf came over the other night for dinner so I made this mixed berry cheesecake for dessert.

This is a very light cheesecake. I used cream cheese and yoghurt to form the filling, topped with a low calorie jelly.


Mixed Berry Cheesecake

Base:
125g digestive biscuits, crushed into fine crumbs
60g butter, melted

Filling:
250g low fat cream cheese
250g low fat plain yoghurt
50g icing sugar
1 tbsp gelatin powder
40ml boiling water
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup mixed berries

Jelly:
1 packet Jelly crystal (raspberry or strawberry) flavour
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water

- Mix biscuit crumbs and melted butter together in a bowl. Transfer to an 18cm tin, with removable base. Use your fingers or a glass to spread and press the mixture firmly onto the base of the tin. Place in the fridge for 30 mins to chill.
- Place gelatin and boiling water in a bowl. Stir well to combine. Keep warm.
- Using an electric beater, beat cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla essence together until smooth & creamy.
- Add in yoghurt and beat until smooth. Add in gelatin and mix well.
- Pour the mixture onto the base. Add the mixed berries onto the cheese mixture. Chill for 3.5 hours.
- Dissolve the jelly crystals using the boiling water, then pour in cold water. When the cheese mixture has solidified, pour the jelly on top. Let the jelly set before removing the cake from the tin.

My One Pot Wonder - Chicken, Bok Choy & Mushroom Fragrant Rice

I had a severe attack of Monday-itis. Yes this is a day where you wished you could've just stayed home, sleep in and not have to do anything at all. I was still feeling it at 5:30pm! When I bumped into a friend of mine while I was leaving the office, she noticed right away that I was affected by good ole "Monday-itis". It certainly didn't help when, at 4:30pm, I had this guy standing next to me talking to his colleague who's sitting on my right in an ever so boring monotone voice for half an hour!! It could not have happened at the worst time - 4:30pm - when you're already sleepy and you are trying to keep yourself busy and entertained for another hour before you could leave work. That voice..that monotone voice…nearly made me fall asleep on my keyboard and hit the zzzzzzz key.

I was bored and tired. I needed some form of entertainment so I started thinking about what I could cook for dinner tonight. Being a little tired doesn't help when you are trying to be creative. So, stuff it, I just want to cook up a nice dinner, something that didn't involve alot of cooking or washing up. That's where my rice cooker came in and did its job tonight.

What better way to cook a meal than to dump everything in a pot and let it cook itself? So that's what I let my rice cooker do for me tonight. When you hear that "click" sound coming from the rice cooker. it's telling you that "Yes, your food is ready & I'm keeping it warm for you".

I'm calling this my one pot wonder - my Chicken, Bok Choy & Mushroom Fragrant Rice. It looks a little like risotto...Chinese style :)

Here how it was made.


Chicken, Bok Choy & Mushroom Fragrant Rice
(serves 2)

1 cup jasmine rice
375ml chicken stock
200g chicken (breast or thigh), chopped into bite sized pieces
6 mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch of bok choy, chopped into small pieces
1 tsp minced ginger
1 handful basil leaves, chopped roughly
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese wine
Salt & Pepper to taste

- Marinade the chicken pieces with oyster sauce, light soy, dark soy and Chinese wine for half an hour
- Rinse the jasmine rice in the rice cooker
- Fill the rice cooker with chicken stock
- Add in the marinated chicken pieces, ginger, mushrooms and bok choy in the rice cooker
- Cook until the rice cooker signals that that rice is ready
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Add in the roughly chopped basil leaves. Stir into the rice and cover the lid for 5 mins so that the basil infuses throughout the rice.
- Serve immediately.

Chocolate Chips & Sultana Oats Cookies

It's time to refill our cookie jar again!


I adapted this recipe from a fellow blogger Little Corner of Mine. I've always wanted to make these cookies but for some reason, everything else I wanted to make took over and jumped the queue. However since I had a bit of alone time tonight and all the ingredients were in my pantry, I finally decided to bake these to fill up my cookie jar. I should've made these a long time ago. They turned out so well.

These cookies are healthy and delicious. They're crumbly in texture, the sultanas become a little caramel-y when cooked and who doesn't love chocolate chips?



Chocolate Chips & Sultana Oats Cookies
(makes 30)

(A)
1 egg, beaten
125ml olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 1/8 cup of sugar

(B)
1 1/4 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup oats (not quick oats)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup sultanas

- Mix (A) in a bowl. Then add in (B). Mix well.
- Roll the mixture into balls and place on parchment paper. Slightly press down the cookies.
- Bake at 180C for 15 mins.
- When ready, let the cookies cool in the pan for 5 mins before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store these in an air-tight container.

Tetsuya's - The Restaurant

Today marked the end to a long awaited dining experience at Tetsuya's. I made this booking 4 months ago and the earliest booking back then was for lunch in February; if we wanted to go there for dinner, the earliest booking back then was July! So I guess you would understand why I was so excited about this day. We finally made it to Tetsuya's :)

Tetsuya's is renowned for its 10 course degustation menu. The food was brilliant. The whole experience was worth every penny. Expect to pay a minimum of $195 per head (drinks not included) but the hefty price does not just go towards the fresh ingredients that were used but it also goes towards the creativity and the preparation work that go into making every one of the dishes. Last year, the restaurant was awarded the highest rating (Three Chef's Hats) in Australia and was also named Restaurant of the Year. It received many other awards and accolades, one of which ranked it as the 5th top restaurant in the world in 2007.

The restaurant is situated in the city on 529 Kent Street, in between Bathurst and Liverpool Street. It has a big gated entrance. The big gate is sensored and will automatically open when you approach. Stepping through the entrance, you are greeted by one waiter outside the door. When you step inside, you will be greeted by 4 other waiters. One of them will show you to your table. We were seated in one of the rooms with a big wine cellar and facing a Japanese pond. This particular dining room could and did fill around 12 tables of 2, 1 table of 6 and 1 table of 4. The tablecloths and plates are in white, and there is an big artistic ornament placed in the middle of the room. The service is attentive. After the waiter lays your dish down on the table, they will begin to tell you the name of the dish. Your plates will be cleared promptly when you are finished and glasses will always be filled with your choice of drinks. The dishes are perfectly timed so you will never feel like you're being rushed or you are waiting too long for the next dish to arrive.

The first thing they serve us was a choice between 2 types of warm toasted bread - white roll or brown organic sourdough. My husband and I both chose the sourdough. The bread was warm, freshly baked and crusty. It was perfect. Served with this was the most delicious black truffle salsa butter. I usually don't smother alot of butter on my rolls but this time..this time was different. The butter had the most luscious mushroom taste to it.

Warm Crusty Organic Sourdough Roll with Black Truffle Salsa Butter

Here are the courses, as they were served.

Cold Corn Soup with Saffron & Vanilla Ice Cream

Smoked Ocean Trout & Avruga Caviar

Leek & Crab Custard

Sashimi of Big Eye Tuna with Wasabi & Eschallot

Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Daikon & Fennel
Seasonal Green Salad
(Tetsuya's Signature Dish)

Ravioli of Queensland Spanner Crab with Tomato & Basil Vinaigrette

Fillet of Barramundi with Braised Baby Fennel

Twice Cooked De-Boned Spatchcock with Olive & Caper Jus

Seared Fillet of Veal with Wasabi Butter

Comte with Lentils

Marinated Peach with Vodka & Peach Sorbet
Summer Pudding
(accompanied by Mini Lemon Madelines & Unseeded Grape Skewers)

Banana Mousse & Caramel Ice Cream

Chocolate Terrine with Mascarpone & Cognac Anglaise

Coffee or Tea (Flat White shown here)
&
Petit Four
(Almond Shortbread, Coconut Covered Peanut Biscuit,
Chocolate Macaroon with Lemon Buttermilk filling, Green Tea Marshmallow)

We sat there for 3 hours, eating. It was of pure enjoyment. We slowly savoured each dish, analysing what was in each dish and if we could taste the ingredients that were made known to us through their names.

Our favourite courses were:
- Smoked Ocean Trout & Avruga Caviar
- Sashimi of Big Eye Tuna with Wasabi & Eschallot
- Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Daikon & Fennel
- Twice Cooked De-Boned Spatchcock with Olive & Caper Jus
- Marinated Peach with Vodka & Peach Sorbet, and Summer Pudding

Both Ocean Trout dishes were brilliant and we both raved on about the Summer Pudding. I think I might try and make this Summer Pudding in the next week or two. It will surely not taste as good but I'll give it a go. I surprised myself for liking this pudding more than the Chocolate Terrine given that I'm a die hard chocolate fan.

The whole experience was absolutely worth it. We were actually glad that we went there for lunch instead of dinner as we had enough time to digest the food for the rest of the day :) After Tetsuya's, we worked it off by playing a round of golf. What a great day.

I said to my husband that we should go to Tetsuya's for our wedding anniversary and make this a yearly thing. If that's the case, I might have to call up and make a booking soon for this coming December!

Tetsuya's Restaurant
529 KENT STREET
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Telephone: +612 9267 2900

Lunch: Saturday from 12 noon
Dinner: Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm

Ten course degustation menu is $195 (GST inclusive) per person
Accompanying wine course is an additional $90 (GST inclusive) per person

Spinach and Mushroom Crepes

I didn't go to work on Friday because my stomach was playing up and I had to go see the doctor that morning. When I stepped into the doctor's office at 9am that morning, I learnt that there were already 8 people waiting in line to see her and there would be a 2 hour wait! Oh man...I was tossing up between (1) giving up on seeing her & just go to work, or (2) to go home & hang around for 2 hours before paying her a visit again. I chose the second option - it's a quiet period at work anyway and I've been meaning to see her for the past week now (ever since my stomach played up just over a week ago) - I guess it was an easy decision to make.

I'm ok. She says I have a mild gastric condition and had to take this tablet for 2 weeks. My doc also said that I didn't need to cut any food out from my diet...maybe just alcohol and coffee...but I haven't had these 2 things in ages so all is ok. I'm happy. I can still eat what I want.

After seeing doc and taken the stomach tablet, I was itching to go out and do something :P I'm not one to stay at home - maybe ok for a few hours but I can't stay home for more than a few hours without feeling extremely bored. So what did I do? I went shopping! :P I've been thinking about buying another pair of Lee jeans ever since I tried on a pair and bought one a few days ago. Yes, I bought a pair of Lee jeans a few days ago and I don't know about you, but I find it hard to find jeans that fit well...so if I find a pair that suits me, I get totally obsessed about them and will want to buy ANOTHER pair of exactly the same jeans to add to my collection. Sound crazy but I know some of you girls out there know what I'm talking about. You would not believe this but when I was at the shop, the EXACT same shop, I found out they were on further discount!! So, get this...5 days ago, these jeans were selling at $70...now $50!! What a bargain! I snapped them up immediately and grabbed the last pair of size 7s. Yay!! last pair...I felt really lucky. I also managed to run a few overdue errands that day too. What a fruitful day :) It's good to do all of that knowing that everyone else is at work..hehehehe. By the time I finished what I needed to do, 2.5 hours had gone by and it was already 5:30pm. OH man...I was tired by the time I got home.

Boy, am I glad I made a hearty vegetable soup at lunchtime. This meant my hubby and I could have this as part of dinner and all I needed to make was something light to go with the soup. I bought some mushrooms today at the supermarket, and since we had buttermilk and avocado in the fridge, I decided to make us Spinach and Mushroom Crepes for dinner.


Here's the recipe.

Spinach and Mushroom Crepes
(makes 4 crepes)

Crepes
1/2 cup plain flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/8 tsp salt

Filling
1 bunch of spinach leaves, chopped
6 mushrooms, sliced
1 avocado, mashed
1 handful of Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

1 handful parsley, chopped
extra Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
black pepper

- Toss spinach in a pot, add water and cook for several minutes until leaves are wilted. Set aside.
- Add olive oil, garlic and mushrooms to the pot. Cook until the mushrooms are tender.
- Add the cooked spinach back to the pot.
- Add in the mashed avocado, Parmesan cheese and buttermilk. Stir well to combine all of the ingredients together. Turn the heat down so the ingredients are simmering in the pot. Season with salt and pepper.
- Turn the heat off when done and cover with lid.
- In a saucepan on medium heat, spoon in 1/4 cup crepe batter; swirl the batter around the pan to make thin crepes. Cook until brown on one side then flip over to the other side.
- Fill half a crepe with the spinach/mushroom/avocado mixture. Sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese in the crepe before folding the other side over. Add a little more sauce over the finished crepe and top it with chopped parsley and black pepper.

Valentine's Day

This year we didn't go out for dinner on Valentine's Day. Instead we opted for a seafood meal at home. Why? well...no point spending money on an expensive Valentine's dinner when we're going to one of the world's most famous restaurants Tetsuya's in 2 day's time! OMG, I can't wait. More about this in a later post.

Anyway, back to Valentine's Day. Hubby went to the Fish Market late in the afternoon and bought everything his wife ordered (hehe..) - 2 dozen oysters, 1 lobster and salmon & kingfish sashimi. I used some of the sashimi to make sushi rolls which included slices of avocado, cucumber and carrot. It was as lovely dinner - so light and refreshing. We've also moved our dining table to a different place that night so it didn't seem like it was an ordinary dinner at home. We haven't moved the table back to its original position since then. Looks good where it is now. I wonder why we didn't think about moving the dining table like this before.

Healthy Beef Sausage Rolls

Whoever invented puff pastry is a star. I love how puff pastry adds a whole new element to a dish. I defrosted around 250g of minced beef in the fridge and could have easily made a stir-fry with it for a fast and easy meal. However, another way of using a small amount of minced beef is to mix it up with your desired ingredients, wrap them up in puff pastry, then stick them in the oven for a deliciously baked roll or pie. When they're done, they smell sensational and there's nothing more deliciously tempting than something that comes directly from the oven and onto your plate. You'll want to dig in as soon as these are done.


Healthy Beef Sausage Rolls
(makes 4)

250g minced beef (premium quality; less fat)
1 carrot, grated
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp McCormick Season-All (all round seasoning for meat & vegetable)
black pepper (as little or as much as you like, depending on your taste)
1 egg, lightly beaten (for mince mixture)
1 egg, lightly beaten (to enclose and brush pastry)
2 pieces of low-fat puff pastry, thawed

- Combine mince, carrot, onion, parsley, egg and seasoning in a bowl. Use hands to combine.
- Cut a piece of puff pastry in half, then spoon the mince mixture onto the middle of the pastry half. Roll up and brush the last 2cm of the pastry with egg. Conceal and place on baking tray. Repeat for the remaining pastry.
- Brush the tops of the rolls with egg then pick the pastry top gently using a fork.
- Bake for 25-30mins or until golden.
- Serve with tomato sauce...BBQ sauce...sweet chilli sauce...mustard..whichever you prefer.

Oh, I put a thin slice of mozzarella on top of our sausage rolls just before taking them out of the oven coz I wanted a bit of cheese on ours to make it more interesting but that's just me. You don't have to do that. They're nice without the cheese on top too.