No-bake Mango cheesecake

I had my first piece of cheesecake at Cheesecake factory; and with the first piece, it stole my heart. Never having a sweet tooth for creamy cakes, the instant liking and craving for the creamy cheesecakes came as a surprise. My favorite is the classic vanilla cheesecake, with a strawberry coulis. However, I like tasting different cheesecake flavors. Therefore, this time I ventured to combine the flavor of my favorite fruit mango with the creamy goodness of cheesecake. The best thing is when I can enjoy a homemade cheesecake in the flavor of my choice and yet do not have to go through all the hassle of baking etc. This chilled no-bake mango cheesecake was delicious in its creaminess, and the drizzle of mango pulp on the top took the yumminess of the cake a notch higher!

You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

(Makes 6 slices)

Crust:

1.5cup sweet biscuit crumbs

4tbsp butter (cold)

1tbsp water

Filling:

200g cream cheese

250g ricotta cheese

1.5cup mango pulp

4tbsp sugar (or to taste)

1pack powdered gelatin (or gelatin for 250ml liquid)

Mango pulp for garnish

METHOD:

1.      Mix the biscuit crumbs with the butter. The butter should melt while rubbing to form a uniform mixture. Add 1tbsp water. Mix a couple of minutes more.

2.      Line an 8-inch springform baking pan with baking paper. Press the crust onto the pan base in a uniform layer and 2cm up the sides

3.      Add the cream cheese and ricotta cheese in a mixing jar and whisk into a creamy uniform mixture.

4.      Soak the gelatin in 4tbsp warm water for 10 minutes (or prepare the gelatin according to the direction on the packet). Slightly warm the mango pulp and mix the soaked gelatin with it.

5.      Slowly pour the mango pulp in the cream and whisk well into a creamy blend.

6.      Pour the filling over the crust. Keep it in the fridge for a couple of hours until the cheesecake is set and chilled.

7.      De-mold the cheesecake. Cut into pieces. Serve garnished with mango pulp.

Salmon with poached pears

I am Bengali so of course I love fish. And salmon is one of my favorite fishes available here in Europe. It is tasty, oily, succulent.. Its oil reminds me somewhat about Bengal’s favorite Hilsha, though both of them are much different in all other respects.  Therefore, whenever I get a nice piece of salmon from the fish market, I cannot just wait to go home and have it. This time I decided to keep it simple. I would just fry it with a crispy skin. To counter balance the oily taste, I decided to serve it with poached pears. The pears would be poached in milk without much addition of extra sweetener. The subtle sweetness of the pear was what I was looking to bring out. Clove is one of my favorite spices and I decided to incorporate its flavor subtly in both the poached pears and salmon. The final result was a delicious combinations of subtle flavors.

You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE 

 

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 2)

1 pear

2 pieces of salmon (~200g each)

200ml milk

50ml water

2tbsp honey

10 cloves

Salt

Olive oil

METHOD:

1.       Peel, core and quarter the pear.

2.       Put the milk, water, honey and half the cloves in a pot. Heat until honey dissolves and the liquid is warm.

3.       Put the pears in and reduce the heat. Poach the pears for 15-25 minutes depending on the type of pear. Take care that the pears do not turn mushy. Let it cool in the liquid itself.

4.       In the meantime, season the salmon pieces with salt.

5.       Heat a greased pan. Add the rest of the cloves.

6.       Put fish in the pan skin side down and hold it down for a minute.

7.       When almost the whole fish is cooked (changed color), flip over and cook the other side for a minute.

8.       Serve each salmon piece with two pear pieces (without the poaching liquid).