No-Bake Pistachio Cheesecake

What do you do with a 600 gram jar of pistachio cream from your local Italian bakery?  Why, you make a pistachio cheesecake, my dears.  I'd have to say pistachio gelati is my fave flavour, so I knew I'd enjoy this cheesecake too.  Or at least, Mr P. and the neighbours would :=)  I am not usually a cheesecake-eater, but I did partake of a small piece.  Not bad at all.

We had a busy weekend, so I made the base in the morning, went to visit a friend at lunchtime, then came back to make the filling.  Sunday was another busy day, with friends over for cheesecake, and making an omelette for our neighbour's dinner, and taking my afternoon walk and doing laundry and heading out bayside to have lunch with friends, and having a friend over in the morning for cheesecake too!!  Bed was a welcome sight at about 7pm!  

I based this on Nigella Lawson's recipe for Nutella Cheesecake from her cookbook Nigellissima.  I love Nigella's books and tv shows (except for that godawful interview-type show she did), and have been using her method of kitchen scissors for chopping herbs etc for many a year.  Her book Feast is one of my most-used.  Our niece was living with us for a few months some years back, and we had quite a few Nigella dvd sessions!  

the Divine Ms. A. about to indulge

Makes a heap of thin slices (Nigella says 8-12):

ingredients:

The Base:

160g./5.6 oz. pistachios, toasted and divided into 25g. + the rest! - you will be blitzing half of the rest (67.5g./2.4 oz.) in the food processor, and chopping the other half into chunky pieces for the top

250g./9 oz. digestive biscuits (or other plain biscuits)  see Notes

75g./2.6 oz. butter, softened (not melted)

30g./1 big oz. of pistachio paste

The Filling:

500g./18 oz. cream cheese, at room temp.

60g./2.2 oz. icing sugar

400g./14 oz. pistachio cream   see Notes  

50mL/1.7 oz. pure cream

100g./3.5 oz. white chocolate, melted

Method:

First toast your nuts!  I just tipped 'em into a small, cast-iron frying pan and tossed them around for a few minutes - don't let them burn!

Break up the biscuits into big pieces, and throw them into your food processor

Add the butter chunks and the 30g. of pistachio paste, and give it a good whizz till well-combined and clumping

Now add 25g./1 scant oz. of the chopped nuts and keep pulsing till you have a damp and sandy mixture

Grab a 22cm/8 inch or 23cm/9 inch springform tin, tip in the sandy mixture and press very firmly into the base and sides of the tin - you want it even and thin!

Into the fridge to chill while you make the filling

Blitz the cream cheese and icing sugar together till smooth and well-combined

The pistachio paste goes in next; give it a good whizz, then add the cream and melted white chocolate, with a quick blitz

Then stir in the blitzed nuts, and spoon this heavenly mixture over the chilled biscuit base

Top with the other half of the chopped nuts, and let it rest in the fridge for at least 4-6 hours - but overnight is so much better!

Take off the springform wall/ring/whatever you call it, and leave the cheesecake on the base, which will make for easier cutting!

Notes:

I used McVitie's Digestives as per Nigella's recipe, but you can use whatever plain biscuit you can get hold of

I bought an Italian spreadable pistachio cream from the Italian bakery, but I'm thinking you could use any nut cream/paste you fancy!  And the appropriate nuts of course

toast your nuts!

ingredients (for the base) gathered

press the sandy mixture into the base and sides till even and thin

whizz up the cream cheese et al.  (looks like pond sludge really - hehehe)

stir in the blitzed nuts

into the fridge it goes 

hoe in, my dears!

Dino the wee dinosaur (made by Dion from holyshititsdion) did his best to help!
 (check out Dion's Insta account: @holyshititsdion)

c. Sherry M.

Oat and Chocolate Biscuits

What to do with some naughty oats skulking in your pantry?  Why, check out some recipes from The Food Saver's A-Z cookbook, of course.  This cookbook by Alex Elliott-Howery and Jaimee Edwards was written to help with using up those things in our pantries and fridges that lie around like sunning seals on a rock waiting to be (re-)discovered.

    I had rolled oats and dark chocolate and wholemeal plain flour lurking around, so these biscuits were a goer.  I was getting in some practice for Anzac Day when I make dozens of oaty biscuits (minus the chocolate) for the Anzac Service.  

    I only made a couple of dozen biscuits for Anzac Day this year, though in the past I've made many.  Did you know that Anzac biscuits are protected by law in Australia?  You can't change the ingredients, but if you do, you can't call 'em Anzac biscuits!  I think the fine is up to $50,000!!

  

crunchy and delicious - and chocolatey!

Makes 12 biscuits:

ingredients:

95g./3.5 oz. rolled oats (not instant)

75g./2.6 oz. plain flour (I used wholemeal and regular)

45g./1.6 oz. bits and bobs - i.e. added extras - like coconut, seeds, nuts, raisins -  I used 25g. coconut and 20g. sour dried cherries

75g./2.6 oz. caster sugar (or brown sugar if you like 'em chewy)

pinch of sea salt flakes

80g./2.75 oz. salted butter

1 Tbs honey or golden syrup or your fave syrup

1/2 tsp bi-carb soda (baking soda)

120g./4 big oz. hazelnut and raisin chocolate (I used Lindt) or chocolate of your choice, melted for 1 minute or so    see Notes

sea salt flakes on top (optional)

Method:

Turn on your oven to 170C/335F to warm up

Line your baking tray with baking paper

Grab a large mixing bowl, and tip in the oats, flour, your 45g. of bits and bobs, the sugar and salt - and give it all a really good mix with your whisk or big wooden spoon

Melt the butter and syrup in a small saucepan, then whisk in the bi-carb with a fork or small whisk

Pour the wet stuff into the dry stuff, and give it a good mix

Don't forget to add the melted chocolate, and stir in well!

Now roll the mixture into 12 balls, and place them on the baking tray

Flatten them (gently) with a fork or just press them in the middle with your fingers; I was wearing food gloves for the rolling and the squishing

Sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top of each if you wish, then

Bake them for about 12-15 minutes

Cool 'em on the tray for 5-10 minutes then on to a wire rack till completely cool

Store in an air-tight container for several days

Notes:

The original recipe does not use chocolate, but I figured chocolate makes everything better!  I suggest using milk chocolate rather than dark.  I made these on 2 separate occasions, once with dark chocolate, but they were better with the nutty, raisin-y milk chocolate

ingredients gathered

and one more thing!

stir your dry stuff together

melt the butter and syrup

stir in the bi-carb soda and watch it foam!

mix wet into dry

add the chocolate and stir in well

place on a lined tray and press down gently to flatten

Shaun the sheep(s) keeping an eye on the baked biscuits

nutty and crunchy and chocolatey

get ready to munch and crunch

c. Sherry M.

c. Sherry M.

Sunday Night Eggs

I am a big fan of eggs, unlike the hippie vegans I used to live with.  Mr. Tree (he was hitting 2 metres tall!) loved to tell me and anyone else who would listen that they were chicken abortions!  He lived on seaweed, tofu, potatoes, honey, peanut butter, soybeans and bread.  He was always hungry, let me tell you!  Frankly, I just think eggs are so delicious and useful.  Sorry to all the chooks out there.    

I do a bit of cooking for our neighbour, and I like to give her a 3-egg omelette each week.  I figure all that protein is fabulous for aged bones.  Mm, I guess I need to eat more eggs ...  

This recipe is from Belinda Jeffery's book In Belinda's Kitchen; it calls for chorizo with the eggs, but as Mr P. and I don't eat a lot of meat, I decided to go for mushrooms.  You gotta be careful with the 'shrooms these days; there have been several deaths here recently due to eating poisonous ones.  They were foraged, and deadly, and one woman is in jail accused of murdering her ex-in-laws!!

lots of flavour here

Serves 2 generously:

ingredients:

2 Tbs EV olive oil

2 medium red onions, diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 small red chilli, finely chopped

2 large red capsicums, chopped into small pieces

1 Tbs sun-dried tomato pesto or tomato paste

2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped

3/4 tsp sugar

1-2 Tbs red or white wine vinegar

200g./7 oz of mushrooms, diced small, or of chorizo, sliced thinly

3/4 tsp sea salt flakes

black pepper, to taste

2 Tbs green or black olives, sliced

4 large eggs (about 60g./2+ oz) 

basil or parsley, chopped, for garnish

Method:

Grab a medium frying pan, chuck in the oil and onion, and let it cook up for about 10 minutes over medium heat, giving it a stir now and then

In go the garlic and chilli, which you cook for a couple of minutes

Turn up the heat and throw in the capsicum/peppers, and stir for about 5 minutes

Whack in the pesto, tomatoes, sugar and vinegar; stir it in and cook for a few more minutes, with the occasional stir

Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan and let it cook away till the capsicum is tender (Belinda says 8-10 minutes)

Your diced mushies go in now, just for a few minutes till tender

Now stir in the salt, pepper and olives - add more vinegar if you wish

So grab a big spoon and make 4 egg-sized dents in the mixture, then break the eggs one by one into each of the dents

And cover the pan again, and let 'em cook gently away to your desired eggy-ness  (I like my yolks a bit runny, tho they ended up fairly set) - once again, Belinda says this will take about 8-10 minutes, though a bit less if you want 'em runny-ish

Throw on the chopped herbs, and serve with bread or as is!

Notes:

After squeezing out the seeds and juice from the tomatoes, I shove it all into a plastic bag, and into the freezer it goes for stews etc

Cook up the chorizo separately in a frying pan for 5 minutes if using, and place them into the veg. mixture at the end of cooking

squeeze out those seeds!

do some chopping

fry up the onion

and the capsicum

add the mushies

on go the eggs and the herbs

and down the hatch it goes (i.e. - ready to eat!)

(Joining in with Min from Write of the Middle blog for #WWWhimsy)

c. Sherry M.

In My Kitchen - May 2024

Did I miss a month or two somehow?  Did I fall asleep like Rip Van Winkle, and wake up 20 years down the track?  Yep, I must have.  'Cos it's May already.  We've had the Autumn equinox and Easter, and Mr P.'s birthday and Anzac Day ...  Which means Winter is nearly here.  I've had to bring out the dressing gown and the Oodie pyjama pants, and my infinity scarves will become de rigueur each day.  Yay!  I bloomin' love Winter :=)

May is going to be a very busy month for us, with lots of social events and various activities, so I'm girding my loins and taking a deep breath.  Mm, what a picture that conjures up ...  Now that I am officially the archivist for our local Historical Society, and I'm going to sign up as a transcriber for the National War Memorial, I have even more things to fit in.  Retirement is very busy, my friends!  

Hope everyone has a fabulous month.  And please join in for In My Kitchen - all welcome.  Come young, come old, and in between!  And wherever you're from; we want to see you here.

In My Kitchen:

I bought delicious dried apricots - no chemicals!

and some more Japanese goodies (I go thru so much Kewpie!)

a new Italian bakery has just opened up nearby so I bought this!

a few Tasmanian goodies for Mr P.'s birthday

and a few goodies from our trip away for Mr P.'s birthday

and another book; not a cookbook but an anthology of food writing

I made roast ghee potatoes for cookbook club

I bought this cute kitchen hand towel in Tenterfield

and I ordered this online from Tasmania - I love a spiral-bound book

Mr P. bought me a print from Elke Gill.  We love the Northern Rivers area!

My curveball for this month.  I have a couple of Elke's prints already, so when this one came up, Mr P. kindly bought it for me.  We were actually heading down there one weekend, so we picked it up from her personally.  She is so young and talented!

Be a part of our friendly IMK community by adding your post here too - everybody welcome!  We'd love to have you visit.  Tell us about your kitchen (and kitchen garden) happenings over the past month.  Dishes you've cooked, preserves you've made, herbs and veg. in your garden, kitchen gadgets, and goings-on.  And one curveball is welcome - whatever you fancy; no need to be kitchen-related.  

The link is open from the first of the month to midnight on the thirteenth of the month, every month.

Options for adding your post to IMK:

1. Add via the Add Link button at the bottom of this post.  Instructions can be found on the sidebar of this page, under the Add your IMK link OR:

2. Comment on this post, providing a link to your post so I can add it manually to the list below OR:

3. Email me: sherrym1au@gmail.com, with your link or any queries about the link process, or if you would like it to be added after the 13th ('cos I'm happy to add it for you later)

 c. Sherry M.   

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