Chilled Oreo Cheesecake

I had made this recipe more than once, and everytime it turns out beautifully with consistent taste. The texture of this cheesecake is smooth and light, and less stodgy than New York Cheesecake. Overall it isn't too sweet but from time to time you will be on cloud nine when you get a bite on the scattered Oreo, and on the Oreo crust that is good even if you eat it on its own.

The best thing that I found on this recipe is, it requires minimum cooking time but you will still get a masterpiece that amazes your peers as it doesn't involve any baking that usually takes hours to cool down before sending it into the refrigerator.

Chilled Oreo Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

220 g whole Oreo

120g melted butter

Filling:
100g sugar
8 egg yolks
500g cream cheese
22g gelatine powder dissolved with 100ml of hot water
300ml whipped cream
50g cooking chocolate
1 packet of Oreo sandwiches

Yield: A 9" cake that feeds 12 stomachs

Method:

For crust:
1. Blend the whole Oreo in a food processor until it assembles fine crumbs. If you don't have a food processor, simply place the cookies into a large clean plastic bag, seal it up and crush them by rolling a pin over the bag.
2. In a bowl, mix the Oreo crumbs with melted butter until all the crumbs take on a wet appearance.
3. Press the mixture into a 9" round springform tin. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 20 mins until the base is firm.

For filling:
1. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar lightly over a pot of simmering water. Make sure that the base of mixing bowl doesn't touch on the water. Whisk until the texture becomes thick and lighter in colour.
2. Beat cream cheese on low until smooth and creamy. Pour in the melted gelatine mixture and mix evenly with a spatula.
3. Pour the whisked egg yolk into the cream cheese mixture gradually and mix till evenly combined.
4. Fold in whipped cream.
5. Pour half of the cream cheese mixture onto the prepared base, lay oreo cookies on top of the filling and pour the remaining mixture on top.
6. Mix 2 tbsp of cream cheese mixture with melted chocolate and spoon it on top of the cheesecake. Use a skewer to swirl it into marble effect.
7. Chill in the refrigerator for more than 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Normally the price of a cake will skyrocket when it's tagged with a "cheese" word. Try this homemade cheesecake that doesn't need an oven, which you probably need to spend only half of the money that you spend on any store-bought cheesecake.

Char Siew Chicken with Fragrant Buttered Rice

Char Siew chicken served with chicken rice is such a common food pairing which you can find in almost any kopitiam in Penang. Eating them is such a pleasure that they blend so harmoniously on your tongue, with the perfect proportion of sweetness and saltiness. The recipe is too applicable as chicken wing marinates for BBQ (which will crown you the name Chicken Wing King/Queen I gurantee).

Char Siew Chicken with Chicken Buttered Rice

Ingredients:

Char Siew chicken:
2 fresh chicken breast fillet
30g chopped garlic
30g chopped ginger
50g sweet Taucheow
30ml honey
3tbsp oyster sauce
30g sugar
1/4 tbsp five spice powder

Fragrant Buttered Rice:
1 cup Thai fragrant rice
25g butter
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tsp crushed ginger
2 pcs pandan leaves
1.5 cup chicken stock
1/2 tsp salt

Yield: feeds 2 stomachs

Methods:

Char Siew Chicken:
1. Marinate the chicken with oyster sauce, sugar and five spice powder. Cover with cling wrap and keep in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours.

2. Saute chopped garlic and ginger in some oil till fragrant. Add sweet taucheow and honey. Mix well and simmer for 1 min.

3. Pour the gravy on the surface of the chicken (on a baking tray).

4. Roast in oven at 160°C for 20 to 30 mins until the meat is cooked in the caramelised sauce.

5. Serve with chicken buttered rice.

Chicken Buttered Rice:

1. Rinse and drain fragrant rice.

2. Saute garlic and ginger with butter in a pot.

3. Add chicken stock, pandan leaves and salt.

4. Pour the mixture onto the rice in a rice cooker and cook as usual.

5. Serve with Char Siew Chicken.

If you think that those those instant bottled Char Siew sauce makes no difference than this, I can only tell you that you are so wrong. Trust me, spend a little more time and I assure you that you will dream of yourself chopping Char Siew at your own Char Siew stall after you eat this dish.

Green Curry Chicken

This dish has a very delightful shade of green, the type of green that used to be my favourite colour when I was young. It's not hard to make green curry from scratch. But if you are really an eventful person that you wanna save the hassle as much as possible, you can always get the readied green curry paste at the supermarket. Bear in mind that green curry paste that made by hand has a really vibrant flavour that a commercial product can never hope to achieve.

Sexy shade of green

Green Curry Chicken

Ingredients:
500g any chicken parts of your preference
250g potatoes, halved
1 cup chicken stock
1½ cup coconut milk
3 kaffir lime leaves, lightly crushed

Green curry paste:
4 long green chillies, seeded and chopped
1 cup fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 stalk lemon grass, smashed
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp peanut oil

Garnishing:
Coriander leaves

Yield: feeds 4 stomachs

Method:
1. Place all the ingredients for green curry paste into a food processor and process until smooth. Paste is ready and set aside.

2. Heat a frying pan with a little oil over medium heat. Add green curry paste. Cook, stirring, for approximately 5 minutes or until the paste is fragrant.

3. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and cook, stirring to coat, for 2 minutes.

4. Add the chicken stock, coconut milk, potatoes, kaffir lime leaves and a pinch to salt to taste. Simmer for 25 minutes or until the chicken is tender and the curry is thick.

5. Garnish with some coriander leaves.

Green Curry Chicken

If you are able to scoop out some time to make your own green curry paste, it's well worth the small effort required. And you will be amazed how flavoursome this dish turns out with the effort you spent.

Lastly, I personally think that GREEN curry is really sexier than the ordinary red one. :)

Herbed Butter Rice

This is a very appropriate dish for potluck, as it goes well with almost anything. I made this as a carbohydrate dish in a BBQ party last Friday and received several favourable responses. It gives an exotic taste but the ingredients used are rather oriental. I simply used up some pandan leaves and kaffir lime leaves from my garden and voila!

Herbed Butter Rice

Ingredients:
2 cups long grain rice, washed and drained
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp oil
1 big yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups water
1 lemongrass, smashed
2 pandan leaves, shredded and knotted
½ cup raisins
5 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded

Seasoning:
1 tsp instant chicken bouillon granules
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp fish sauce
Generous dash of pepper
½ tsp salt to taste

Garnishing:
Chopped spring onion (I used chopped chives to give a more exotic flavour)

Yield: feeds 4 person

Method:
1. Heat up butter and oil in a wok.
2. Toss in garlic and onion and fry till they are soft.
3. Add in lemongrass and pandan leaves. Cook for about 1 min with constant stir.
4. Stir in rice and seasoning. Mix well to combine (ensure that the rice is cover with a layer of oil).
5. Dish the rice mixture into the electric rice cooker and add in water. Cook the rice as usual.
6. When rice is almost cooked and dry, add in the raisins and kaffir lime leaves. Stir well to mix.
7. Continue to cook the rice till it's fully cooked.
8. Sprinkle some chopped chives on top of rice before serving.

Elmo didn't get to taste this heavenly dish as it contains onion which can be harmful to dogs (due to the toxic ingredient thiosulphate). But he didn't seem to mind as I compensated him with a hard-boiled egg. *wink*