Baked Orange Cheesecake

This a simple baked cheesecake recipe I devised last night. Its based on the traditional New York cheesecakes with a citrus flavour. I love using marscapone but it is hard to find in New Zealand so riccota will also work. If you want to make the base more interesting you can add some rolled oats and coconut but for a cake like this i prefer it to be simple.

If you are feeling extra indulgent then you can make an orange caramel sauce to go on top!

Crust:

1 packet of wine biscuits

3 Tbsp margarine

Filling:

2 eggs separated

1 250g punnet of marscapone or riccota cheese

1/2 c sugar

1 orange zested and juiced

1tsp vanilla

Crush the biscuits in a food processor, add margarine and mix util it starts to form like a dough. Press the mixture into a pie dish to form a bottom and crush that is about a cm thick. Bake in a 180 degree oven for about 12 mins. Leave the oven on but take out the crust.

To prepare the filling, beat the egg whites until the peaks are stiff. Combine the yolks, cheese, vanilla, sugar, zest and half the juice. fold the egg whites into this mixture and ppou into the prepared crust.

Bake in the oven for about half an hour or until the filling looks solid. it will brown a little and when you shake the dish little it shouldn't wobble.

I try to leave a couple of slices of orange on the top as garnish- an optional caramel sauce can be made as a topping.

Combine 1/3 c of sugar with 2 tbs of water and bring to the boil. allow to boil for 5 mins or so or until the mixture gains an amber colour. add the rest of the orange juice and let simmer for a few more mins. You can do the drop test by dropping one drop in a saucer of cold water to check that it is ready. it the drop solidifies somewhat then the caramel is done.

Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. When the cake is out of the oven, arrange the orange pieces and drizzle the caramel sauce on top.

Can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days- but I doubt it will last that long!

(Subject enjoying said cake)

Cannelloni!

Pretty proud of this one. Went up to Kowai after the quake and just took what we had in the cupboard and managed to make a pretty decent dinner out of it!

CARROT AND COURGETTE CANNELLONI

A twist on a popular Italian dish- not as rich and full of more veges! Quick and easy to make and delicious! The feta adds a surprisingly creamy element to it.

3 carrots

3 courgettes

6 cloves of garlic

half a packet of feta

1 bottle of passata or 2 cans of diced tomatoes

2 capsicums (any colour)

1 chilli

1 packet of canneloni tubes

Grate the carrots and corguettes, dice the garlic and saute the mixture until the veges are soft. They will release a lot of liquids, thats fine just save it and add it to the sauce.Remove mixture from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Crumble and add the feta to the mixture and let cool.

Thinly slice the capsicum and the chilli- if you don't like spicy food then remove the seeds but i keep them in. In the same frying pan fry up the peppers an hilli until almost soft. Add the tomatoes and let simmer while you stuff the tubes.

By now the mixture should have cooled enough for you to handle it. I use my fingers but a piping bag if you have one is also an option. Stuff the tubes evenly with the filling mixture and assemble in a shallow baking dish in rows (you may have a bit left over- its ok to make a second row above. when all the tubes are full, pour the sauce over everything ensuring that all the tubes are covered so they will cook. Sprinkle cheese on top and if you are feeling adventurous you can put blobs of cream cheese on top of that!

Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for roughly 30 mins or until the pasta is soft when you poke a knife through it.

Leave for 10 mins before serving to allow it all to consolidate so it is easier to serve!

Apologies I did not have my camera on me when making this so no pictures but I will make it again soon and will be sure to add the images then!

Good to be back

Came back to Melbourne to escape the Christchurch chaos of the earthquake. Its nice to be somewhere where everyone isn't always on edge but at the same time I feel for my friends who are still in town and having to face the repercussions (like Fionn being made redundant this morning via text message (brutal!!)).

Uni looks like its going to be off for a few weeks still so I'm going to try and enjoy myself here while I can.

Currently staying in Joff's apartment in the QV right in the centre of the CBD. Lovely view of the public library from here which I plan to visit today- really reret not going there more when I lived here.

Last night Shak picked me up from the airport and we went to go on an adventure with his friend Marc but that turned out to be a bit of a failure with no one else being awake.

His mum made me a delicious salad which I plan to review on foodblog later on. It had candied pecans and pumpkin and goats feta and beetroot and this amazing mustard dressing. SO GOOOOD. Big ups to Mrs Shachter for making me a takeaway dinner!

After dropping my stuff at Joffs we went to find something to do and just as we left QV ran into a couple of french exchange students who were looking for a bar. We tagged along and ended up at Cookie which isn't a very good bar but IS open until 3am on a Tuesday. After one cider I realised that with the time difference it was about 3.30 am an I was pooped after a long day of flying in crappy budget airlines. The French guys were a little annoying too. We were talking about music festivals and one guy was telling us about how he saw Muse and Lenny Kravitz at this big French festival and that was our queue to wrap things up and go home.

After a night sleeping on a cramped couch trying not to wake up Fran who has made the other couch her temporary home I'm feeling not a lively but definitely ken to get out there (which I will do as soon as this is posted)

Now I plan to wander around town, hit my favourite cafes etc today and get that out of the way so I don't have to spend too much time in the CBD. Will try post on here most days with what adventures I get up to.