Angie's Recipes . Taste Of Home

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Red Currant Quark Cheesecake

Wednesday, August 07, 2013

This redcurrant cheesecake is really easy to make and has a great balance between sweet and tart. It's perfect for a light yet creamy dessert on a hot day when you don't want to turn your oven on. You can easily replace the red currants with raspberries or blueberries.
Quark is a very common fresh cheese in Germany. It is a mild creamy cheese without the sour taste of yogurt. It usually has much lower fat content than cream cheeses and has no salt added.

1 disc / 10-inch Chocolate chiffon cake
12 Sheet gelatin
200 g Red currants
500 g 0.2% German Magerquark cheese
200 g Sour cream
50 g Caster sugar
300 g Whipping cream

Place the chocolate chiffon cake layer in a springform pan lined with a piece of parchment paper.
Place 150 grams of red currants in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until berries are completely soft, about 10 minutes. Once cooked, strain through a fine sieve. Set aside to cool. Discard the pulp.
Soak sheets of gelatin in a bowl of cold water to soften, 5-10 minutes. Remove and gently squeeze to remove any excess water. Melt the softened sheets in a saucepan or microwave over very low heat, stirring just until melted completely.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the Magerquark, sour cream, red currant puree and sugar. Slowly stir in the melted gelatin until well combined. Fold in the rest of red currants. Cover and chill for 15 minutes until it begins to thicken.
Whip the cream until soft peaks form and fold into the Quark cheese mixture. Pour the mixture into the prepared chiffon cake layer. Cover with a plastic film and chill for 3-4 hours. Garnish with red currants.

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Broad Bean Salad with Feta and Almonds

Friday, August 02, 2013

Broad beans, also known as fava beans, are sweet, tender and delicious pod beans with a smooth creamy texture. This is a lovely summer salad which can be eaten on its own or as an accompaniment to any meaty main dishes.

Broad Bean Salad with Feta and Almonds

adapted from BBC Good Food

100 g Broad beans, podded weight
1 handful Cilantro or parsley, roughly chopped
1 Shallot, finely chopped
50 g Feta cheese, cubed
1 tbsp Lemon-scented olive oil
50 g Almonds, skin on
1 tbsp Lemon juice

Briefly cook the broad beans in simmering water, drain and refresh in cold water. Squeeze them out of their grey outer pods, if you want.
Put the cilantro in a bowl, add the shallot and feta. Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and toast the almonds, add a little salt to the pan, toss, then add the cilantro mix along with the beans. Dress with the lemon juice.

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Beetroot Salad with Pan Seared Prawns

Monday, July 29, 2013

This simple but elegant salad contains sweet, tender vacuum pack beetroot beets, which is a truly convenient and versatile ingredient and great for use in a wide range of dishes, cilantro, and pistachios, plus protein-rich pan-seared prawns. The sweet but tangy taste of white balsamic and a rich, buttery macadamia oil make a perfect compliment to those naturally sweet root vegetables.

2 Vacuum packed cooked beetroot
8 Giant prawns, deveined
1 handful Cilantro
1 tbsp Macadamia oil
1 tbsp Sunflower oil
White balsamic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp Pistachios, chopped

Using a mandoline, slice the beetroot into a bowl. Add the white balsamic, a tablespoon of macadamia oil, and season with a little salt and pepper. Mix together.
In a pan, heat the sunflower oil over high heat until hot. Add in prawns and cook until they have turned pink and cooked through, about 3 minutes.
Arrange the thinly sliced beetroot onto two serving plates. Place the cilantro in the center and top with pan-seared prawns. Scatter the chopped pistachios over. Drizzle with a little bit more macadamia oil if desired.

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Gluten Free Brown Rice Bread

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

This bread is a staple in our house whenever we go wheat-free. It is soft, moist and tastes almost just like a hearty dense sourdough bread. Don't leave out or replace the eggs with applesauce as they not only serve as the natural leaveners, also add moisture, flavour and protein to the bread. Mungbean starch is used as a thickening agent to replace the gluten. You can of course substitute it with tapioca or potato starch.

420 g Organic brown rice, ground into flour
70 g Mungbean starch
1/2 tbsp Baking powder
3/4 tsp Baking soda
3/4 tsp Salt
480 ml Buttermilk
3 Large eggs
1 tbsp Honey
1-2 tbsp Flaxseed, optional

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a 9x4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine together the brown rice flour, mungbean starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix in the buttermilk, eggs, and honey. Stir with a wooden spoon until well combined and lump free.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with flaxseed if desired. Bake for about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and cool the bread in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

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Agar Agar Raspberry Snack

Friday, July 19, 2013

These healthy and delicious snacks are made mainly from seasonal fruits, and agar agar which has the advantage of being calorie-free. There is no artificial food colouring or sugar, just lightly sweetened with a tablespoon of maple syrup.
Agar agar powder has a more powerful gelling agent compared to gelatin. So if you plan to use gelatin to make fruit snacks, you will need more amount of gelatin. And unlike gelatin, agar agar powder needs to be heated for 2 minutes with fruit mixture to get dissolved.

120 ml Freshly squeezed lemon juice
400 g Frozen raspberries
1 tbsp Maple syrup
2 tsp Agar agar powder

Pour the lemon juice and raspberries into a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until raspberries have softened.
Stir in maple syrup and stir until combined. Use a stick blender to puree the mixture. Strain the raspberry seeds out if desired.
Stir in agar agar powder until completely dissolved. Heat the mixture to a rolling boil and continue to cook the mixture for 2 minutes. Pour into a baking dish or into silicone moulds. Place it in the fridge for about 30 minutes until firm. Remove and cut into bars. Garnish with coconut shreds and serve.

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High Protein Banana Rye Bread with Applesauce and Peanuts

Monday, July 15, 2013

A very moist and delicious banana bread prepared with wholegrain rye flour, grapeseed flour and spiced with cinnamon. The add-in of roasted peanuts is optional. By replacing oil/butter with applesauce and whole eggs with egg white and vanilla whey protein, you can enjoy this old time favourite with less fat, and extra portion of protein.

105 g Wholegrain rye, ground into flour
20 g Grapeseed flour
40 g Vanilla whey powder
11/4 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Cinnamon powder
2 Egg whites
60 ml Soya milk
2 Medium ripe bananas, mashed
120 g Applesauce, lightly sweetened
40 g Peanuts, salted and roasted (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a 8x4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
Whisk together the wholegrain rye flour, grapeseed flour, vanilla whey powder, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.
Add in egg whites, soya milk, mashed bananas and applesauce. Beat with a whisk until well combined and smooth. Fold in roasted peanuts.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the middle of hot oven for about 40 minutes. Leave the cake to cool in pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

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Gluten Free Chocolate Tofu Tartlets with Cherry Compote

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

You are going to love these healthy and delicious tarlets made with a gluten-free buckwheat pastry shell filled chocolate-tofu mixture instead of usual eggs and dairy, then served with a luscious cherry compote. The chocolate tofu filling can also be used for other desserts and sweet treats. It is simple to make at home, and you can add other flavours for different twists on the basic recipe.

Buckwheat Crust	Chocolate Tofu Filling	Cherry Compote
200 g Buckwheat flour 50 g Sunflower seeds, finely ground 1 tbsp Psyllium husks 1/3 tsp Sea salt 110 g Cold butter, cut into smaller pieces 2 tbsp Iced cold water	330 g Silken tofu 2 tbsp Honey 1 tsp Vanilla extract 200 g 70% Dark chocolate, cut into smaller chunks	180 ml Cherry juice 1 tsp Cinnamon powder 30 g Sugar 250 g Pitted fresh (or frozen, thawed) cherries 2 tsp Cornstarch

Preheat oven to 200C/ 400F. Have ready four 10-cm tartlet pans or a 24-cm tart pan with removable bottom.
Combine the buckwheat flour, finely ground sunflower seeds, psyllium husks, and salt in a large bowl. Rub in the cold butter with your fingers. Then, add in water, still mixing with your fingers, until the mixture forms a ball.
Wrap dough with the waxed paper and chill for at least one hour or until firm before rolling. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut it into 4 pieces. Press the dough evenly into the prepared pans and prick the bottoms with a fork. Line each tartlet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the tart shells for 10-12 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Remove the pie weights or beans and return to the oven to bake for 5 minutes more, or until the crust is golden brown. Let the shells cool completely before filling and serving.
In a blender, mix the silken tofu with vanilla and honey until smooth. Place chocolate chunks in a saucepan on low heat and melt just until smooth. Pour melted chocolate into the blender and continue blending until the mixture is completely smooth. Divide the filling into the prepared tartlet shells and chill at least 2 hours until firm.
Mix the cornstarch and 1 tbsp cherry juice in a small bowl, set aside. Add the rest of cherry juice, cinnamon powder, sugar and cherries in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until cherries are softened and start to release juices, about 10 minutes. Once the compote has cooked, add the cornstarch mixture a bit at a time while stirring. Let the mixture simmer for a minute. Pour into a bowl and let cool before using.