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Food

Spiced apple Cheese cake

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped
1/3 cup salted butter, melted

Cheesecake:

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 pkg cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sour cream

Topping:

6 apples
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp unsalted butter


2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Pinch salt
2 tbsp amber rum
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp cardamom powder

Preparation:

Grease and line side of 9-inch spring form pan with parchment paper;.
In bowl, stir together crumbs, walnuts and butter until moistened; press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake in 350°F oven until firm, about 10 minutes. Let cool on rack.

Cheesecake:
Into small bowl, sift sugar to remove any lumps. In stand mixer with paddle or in bowl with hand mixer, beat cream cheese with sugar at high speed for 5 minutes, scraping down bowl. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time; beat in vanilla and cinnamon. Beat in sour cream. Pour over crust.
Set pan in larger pan; pour in enough hot water to come 1 inch up side of pan. Bake in 325°F oven until set but centre still jiggles slightly, about 1hour
Transfer spring form pan to rack and remove foil; let cool. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.)

Topping:
Peel, core and thinly slice apples; toss with lemon juice. Set aside.
In large skillet, melt butter over medium heat; stir in sugar and cook until melted and golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add apples, cinnamon and cook, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk rum with cornstarch and cardamom powder; stir into apples and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. Serve with cheese cake.

Baked blueberry mango French toast

Ingredients
 
16 Slice light whole wheat bread
1 cup Blueberries, fresh, or frozen blueberries (thawed if frozen)
Large mango, chopped or 1 cup frozen mango slices (thawed if frozen)
2 1/2 cup Fat-free skim milk
Eggs
2 tbsp Sugar, granulated
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tbsp Powdered sugar
 
Preparation

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Arrange 8 slices of bread in bottom of a 9 X 13-inch baking dish, squishing slices together to make one layer; sprinkle blueberries and mango over top.
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg, granulated sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Pour half of milk mixture over fruit; top with remaining 8 slices of bread.
Pour remaining milk mixture over bread; using a spatula, press top layer of bread slices down to saturate with milk mixture.
Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes; uncover dish and bake until egg mixture is set and top is golden brown, about 10 minutes more.
Cool slightly before sifting powdered sugar over top. Slice into 8 pieces and serve. 

Ras Malai

Had to crunch time so, thought of this.....

This one is easy....Might not come out prefect the first time, but it tastes great......

Ingredients

15 oz 
Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
1 ¼ cup Sugar
One Pint (473ml) Fat Free 1/2 n 1/2
a pinch Saffron
¼ tsp Crushed cardamom seeds
½ tsp Rose water (optional)
3-4 tsp Blanched almonds
2 tbsp Crushed almonds.
2 tbsp Crushed pistachios

Preparation

In a heavy bottom vessel, thicken the half and half by simmering over low heat for few minutes.
Add 1 cup sugar, cardamom, rose water, saffron strands and crushed almonds to the half and half. Heat for a few minutes and allow them cool.
Mix ¼ cup of sugar with the Ricotta cheese by using a hand mixer. Spread on the oven safe dish, a muffin pan is best .Add about 2 spoons of cheese mixture in each cups. To spread evenly in the cups, level it with the spoon.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until it sets or until it turns light brown. You can also check with help of a tooth pick. Insert the tooth pick into the cheese- if the tooth pick doesn’t come out sticky with cheese it means its all set to take the tray out from the oven.
Remove from oven, cool at room temperature. Remove the dumplings with help of your hand and place in the dessert bowl.
Add the cooked balls to the 1/2 n 1/2 mixture and decorate with Pistachios and Almonds.
Let it stay immersed for about an hour. You can either serve it cold or warm.

Cook's Notes

All time favourite in my family and friends...

Lazy person's guide to picking great cheap wines

Good wines will have at least 13% alcohol

Marco Ferrara of Universal Motion passed along this simple tip that saved me years of worry when buying wines.

Look for wines that have at least 13% alcohol content.

Marco’s logic is that great wines take time to develop and so does the alcohol content. A mere 12% wine is young and probably not fully developed. A 13% alcohol wine is older and has a greater chance of being full bodied.

Picking a good to great wine has always seemed like too much work. You have to memorize French or Italian labels, perhaps a little Spanish. The vineyards change names. Who has the time?

When I was young and living in Montreal, Le Régie des alcools published a book of their wines every year or so. We made a study of all the ones we could afford rating them by our young palettes.
 
Since Marco gave me that tip years ago, I’ve used it as my guide and ignored the name on the label. Other than checking to see that the wine is dry, I’ve used that little trick to great success in finding low priced but good wines. Tip of the glass to Marco Ferrara.

Wine is said to be a healthy drink which is good reason to imbibe in moderation.

Click HERE to read more columns by Stephan Pate

Pomme de Terre Chicken

This is simple chicken and potato recipe made with rich ingredients, not compromising the taste. .

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds Boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tablespoon Extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups Diced scallions
1/2 teaspoon Salt
5 tablespoons All-purpose flour
1 14-ounce Can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup 1% milk
2 tablespoons Dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon Dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon Freshly ground pepper
2 large thin sliced potatoes
1 cup Grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup Reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 7-by-11-inch (2 quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Place chicken in a medium skillet or saucepan and add lightly salted water to cover. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and slice into bite-size pieces.
3. Heat oil in a large non stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallions and salt and cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Add flour; stir to coat. Add broth, milk, sherry, thyme and pepper and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Add potato; return to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in 1 /2 cup Parmesan, mayonnaise and mustard.
4. Spread half the potato mixture in the prepared baking dish. Top with the chicken, then the remaining potato mixture. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1 /2 cup Parmesan. Bake until bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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