Monday, March 26, 2018

Peanut Butter Stuffed Banana Muffins #MuffinMonday

Peanut butter stuffed banana muffins are baked with our favorite banana batter filled with a good teaspoon of peanut butter each, then dipped in a sweet peanut butter glaze. These guys are a special treat for breakfast, snack time or even dessert.

Food Lust People Love: Peanut butter stuffed banana muffins are baked with our favorite banana batter filled with a good teaspoon of peanut butter each, then dipped in a sweet peanut butter glaze. These guys are a special treat for breakfast, snack time or even dessert.

Whenever I have bananas that are past their best, I can’t bear to waste them. My go-to recipe when my girls were still at home was banana cake, a light and fluffy after-school snack they both enjoyed. (Want something approaching muffins? Bake the batter as cupcakes.) Nowadays I am more likely to mix up some muffins.

If bananas are your favorite, check out these other recipes you might enjoy:



For this month’s Muffin Monday, I decided to kick those banana muffins up a notch or two with the addition of peanut butter, but not mixed into the batter since that might overpower the banana flavor. Instead I froze 12 teaspoons of peanut butter and tucked them in the batter, where they became a lovely soft surprise.

Peanut Butter Stuffed Banana Muffins

Make these muffins with or without the peanut butter stuffing or the peanut butter glaze for a simpler treat, but if you’ve got just a little extra time, I recommend you make all three. The peanut butter can be popped in the freezer the night before, if you are baking these for breakfast.

Ingredients
For the muffin batter:
12 teaspoons peanut butter, frozen separately
3 ripe bananas
1/3 cup or 75g butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the glaze:
1 rounded tablespoon peanut butter
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup or 130g powdered sugar
pinch fine sea salt

Method
Cover a plate with cling film or waxed paper and scoop out 12 teaspoons of peanut butter onto the prepared plate. Put the plate in the freezer until ready to bake, but for at least 30 minutes. The peanut butter never gets completely hard, even if left overnight but it does firm up nicely.



When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by lining it with muffin papers. I also like to give the muffin papers a quick spray of nonstick cooking spray to help them release the muffins after baking.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, use a fork to mash your three very ripe bananas. Whisk in the butter, eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined.



Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and fold until just combined.



Scoop a little more than half of the batter into the 12 muffin cups. Remove the teaspoons of peanut butter from the freezer and poke one into each of the muffin cups.



Top with the remaining banana batter making sure to cover the peanut butter completely. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown in the preheated oven.

Meanwhile, make the peanut butter glaze by mixing all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.



Remove the muffins from the oven and set them aside until they are cool enough to handle, then remove them from the baking pan and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.




Once the peanut butter stuffed banana muffins are cool, dip the tops in the glaze.

Meanwhile, make the peanut butter glaze by mixing all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.
Set aside to dry. I had plenty of glaze so I actually dipped mine twice. Because more peanut butter is always a good thing.

Meanwhile, make the peanut butter glaze by mixing all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.


Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: Peanut butter stuffed banana muffins are baked with our favorite banana batter filled with a good teaspoon of peanut butter each, then dipped in a sweet peanut butter glaze. These guys are a special treat for breakfast, snack time or even dessert.

Check out all the other lovely muffins my Muffin Monday baking group is sharing today!

Muffin Monday
#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

Pin it!

Food Lust People Love: Peanut butter stuffed banana muffins are baked with our favorite banana batter filled with a good teaspoon of peanut butter each, then dipped in a sweet peanut butter glaze. These guys are a special treat for breakfast, snack time or even dessert.
 .

Friday, March 16, 2018

Creamy Crab and Scallop Chowder #FishFridayFoodies

My creamy crab and scallop chowder begins with frying bacon, as all the best recipes do. Pour in the whipping cream, add a whole pound of crabmeat AND a pound of bay scallops, for a deliciously rich mouthful in every spoon.

Food Lust People Love: My creamy crab and scallop chowder begins with frying bacon, as all the best recipes do. Pour in the whipping cream, add a whole pound of crabmeat AND a pound of bay scallops, for a deliciously rich mouthful in every spoon.


When our elder daughter graduated from university in 2013, she immediately started a job in New York City. She was paid hourly so if she didn’t work, she didn’t get paid. Which also means no vacation time. It’s a hard cruel world, right?

As summer turned to autumn, thoughts of the possibility of Christmas without her sent me to the internet where I looked for a house we could afford to rent for three weeks, somewhere in New England. We ended up in a little town called Tiverton in Rhode Island. When we arrived at the home, a typical northeastern winter had already set in with real snowfall that stuck still covering the trees and bushes and lawn.

Just a few days before Christmas, on our daughter’s birthday in fact, we decided we needed some clam chowder to warm us up from the inside out. We found delicious bowls in nearby Newport and I’ve been a chowder fan ever since.

Creamy Crab and Scallop Chowder

This recipe is adapted from the Nantucket Chowder recipe from an issue of Bon Appétit magazine, December 1995 and it's my favorite! See if you don't agree.

Ingredients to serve 6
8 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, plus extra for garnish, if desired
4 1/4 cups or 1L seafood or fish stock
1/2 cup or 120ml dry white wine
2 medium potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup or 180ml whipping cream
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 lb or 450g bay scallops, thawed if frozen
1 lb or 450g handpicked cooked crabmeat
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Traditional chowder accompaniment: oyster crackers – Buy some or make your own with this simple recipe: Easy homemade oyster crackers

Method
Fry the bacon pieces in a large Dutch oven, over a medium heat. Once the bacon is crispy, remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon and put it on some folded paper towels to drain.


Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings from the pot. You can discard what you remove but I suggest you put it in a clean jar in the refrigerator where it will keep for several weeks. Use it whenever you want to add a little flavor to a dish, like roasted vegetables or pan-fried chicken.

Add the onions and thyme to the pot and sauté them over a medium heat, until they soften, stirring occasionally. This just takes a few minutes.


Pour the stock and white wine into the pot, along with the potato cubes. Bring the stock to a boil and then lower the heat till it’s just above a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.


While the potatoes cook, take a few minutes to look through your crabmeat to make sure all the little bits of shell have been removed. Even the best, most conscientious pickers can miss some.


Remove the thyme sprigs from the pot and discard. Ladle about half of the chowder into a blender and pulse till smooth. Or you can use a hand blender in a tall measuring vessel, like I do.


Pour the smooth mixture back into the pot and cook for another 10-15 minutes, until it thickens slightly.

Whisk the cornstarch into the cold cream until it is completely dissolved. Add the cream to the chowder pot, stirring quickly.


 Sprinkle in half of the bacon and return to a gentle simmer.

Add the bay scallops and crabmeat to the chowder. Heat through and season the chowder to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.


Ladle the chowder into bowls. Sprinkle the remaining bacon, garnish with fresh thyme leaves, if desired, and serve immediately. If you have some oyster crackers, put those out too and folks can help themselves.

Food Lust People Love: My creamy crab and scallop chowder begins with frying bacon, as all the best recipes do. Pour in the whipping cream, add a whole pound of crabmeat AND a pound of bay scallops, for a deliciously rich mouthful in every spoon.


Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month’s Fish Friday Foodies host, P from The Saucy Southerner. Check out all the lovely crab recipes we are sharing today.



Pin it!

Food Lust People Love: My creamy crab and scallop chowder begins with frying bacon, as all the best recipes do. Pour in the whipping cream, add a whole pound of crabmeat AND a pound of bay scallops, for a deliciously rich mouthful in every spoon.

 .

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Cherry Brownie Bundtlets #BundtBakers

These chewy cherry brownie bundtlets are as delicious as they are pretty, with a rich brown crumb, ribbons of cherry jam inside and little dollops of cherry jam on top. Best of all, they are super easy to make.

Food Lust People Love: These chewy cherry brownie bundtlets are as delicious as they are pretty, with a rich brown crumb, ribbons of cherry jam inside and little dollops of cherry jam on top. Best of all, they are super easy to make.


A few months ago I shared a fabulous recipe for marmalade glazed baked chicken from my friend Jamie Schler’s beautiful book, Orange Appeal* and I mentioned a few of her other recipes I had tried. One of those was chocolate orange marmalade brownies. Baked in a small pan, they are sticky and chocolatey with a welcome bite of bitter orange.

It occurred to me that Jamie’s recipe is wonderful in another way. It is readily adaptable to whatever other flavors of jam or marmalade you might have on hand, assuming they work well with chocolate, of course. I decided to put that theory to the test for this month’s Bundt Bakers theme of cherries.

Since cherry jam is sweeter than orange marmalade, I adjusted the amount of sugar necessary accordingly. And because I am lazy, I also threw it all together in the mixing bowl instead of creaming the butter and sugar, etc.

Cherry Brownie Bundlets

Cherries and chocolate are a classic combination. When you bring these treats to the table, I promise they’ll get an Oooooh! and a collective swoon from all the chocolate and cherry lovers. This recipe is adapted from the chocolate orange brownies in Orange Appeal by Jamie Schler.

Ingredients
For the bundtlets:
2 ounces (60g) dark chocolate
1 ounce (30g) cherry flavored 70% dark chocolate (Lindt Excellence Cherry Intense)
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon or 105g all-purpose flour
3/4 cup or 150g light brown sugar
1/2 cup or 113g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur
3 heaping tablespoons good quality cherry jam

For topping:
6 teaspoons cherry jam

N.B. Allergy alert: The Lindt Cherry Intense chocolate bar has little nibs of almond. I was not aware when I bought it since almond is not mentioned in the name, but it is there in the description and ingredients list.

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 12-cup bundtlet pan by greasing it liberally with melted butter. I use a pastry brush for this job.

Put your chocolates, broken into pieces, into a microwaveable bowl and melt them with a few short zaps of 10-15 seconds at a time, stirring in between as they start to melt. Set the melted chocolate aside.



In the bowl of your stand mixer or another mixing bowl if you are using electric beaters, add all of the other ingredients except the cherry jam. Beat on medium for 1-2 minutes, scraping the bowl down with a rubber spatula halfway through.



Pour in the melted chocolate and beat briefly until combined, scraping the bowl down in between.



Put the cherry jam in the batter in big dollops. Use your spatula to fold it in so that there are still big bits of jam visible.



Use a spoon or scoop to divide the batter into the prepared bundtlet pan.



Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cherry brownie bundtlets have risen nicely and are a little darker brown around the edges.



Remove them from the oven and leave to cool for just a couple of minutes before turning them out of the pan. If the baked jam is sticking to your pan, use a small spoon to loosen the bundtlets before turning them out.

Use the bottom of a chopstick or a similar tool to push the middle of the bundtlets down to make a hole.



Once the bundtlets are cool, spoon about 1/2 a teaspoon of cherry jam into the center of each.

Food Lust People Love: These chewy cherry brownie bundtlets are as delicious as they are pretty, with a rich brown crumb, ribbons of cherry jam inside and little dollops of cherry jam on top. Best of all, they are super easy to make.


Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: These chewy cherry brownie bundtlets are as delicious as they are pretty, with a rich brown crumb, ribbons of cherry jam inside and little dollops of cherry jam on top. Best of all, they are super easy to make.


Many thanks to this month’s host Sneha of Sneha’s Recipe for the delightful theme. Check out all the other cherrylicious Bundts we have for you today.

BundtBakers

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.


*Amazon affiliate link: If you buy the book Orange Appeal after following this link, I earn a few pennies at no extra cost to you. Just go read the reviews then decide. It's a wonderful book.

Pin it!

Food Lust People Love: These chewy cherry brownie bundtlets are as delicious as they are pretty, with a rich brown crumb, ribbons of cherry jam inside and little dollops of cherry jam on top. Best of all, they are super easy to make.
 .

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Easy Homemade Oyster Crackers #BreadBakers

Easy homemade oyster crackers are puffs of buttery, slightly salty dough, rolled thin and baked to crisp perfection. Float them in your favorite chowder!



Had it not been for this month’s Bread Bakers challenge, I don’t think it would ever have occurred to me to make my own crackers. Crackers are thin and crispy and light. And they come in a box.

But after just a little research, I found out that people all over the world are making homemade crackers! There are recipes for saltines, wheat thins, ritz crackers, water crackers and even homemade cheesy goldfish. I so wanted to make those but I couldn’t find a tiny fish cutter. Is it still a cheesy goldfish cracker if it’s round? No, nah, nope.

The decision was made when I ran across a recipe for homemade oyster crackers on Serious Eats because crab and scallop chowder was already on my menu. And everybody knows that a good seafood chowder needs some light and crunchy oyster crackers floating on the top. Maybe someone in Dubai sells them but I haven't found them yet.

Easy Homemade Oyster Crackers

No oysters were harmed in the making of these crackers. The story goes that these delightful little round crackers were first eaten with oyster stew so that is how they got their name. If you don’t feel like fiddling with a round cutter, by all means use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to make small squares instead.

Ingredients
1 1/8 cup or 140g all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons or 28g cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 in or 1/2cm cubes
1/3 cup or 80ml cold water, plus additional as needed

Method
Whisk your flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder together in a medium bowl.  Or sift them together into the bowl.

Add the bits of butter into the flour and use a pastry cutter or two knives to work the butter into the flour until it resembles slightly damp sand.



Add the cold water a little at a time and use a fork to mix it through the flour until it begins to stick together like a soft dough. You may not need it all or you may need just a little bit more. This is just like making pie crust, but with way less fat.



Knead the dough for a few turns on a lightly floured surface and then roll it into a ball. Cover it with the mixing bowl and leave it to rest for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, adjust your oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 375°F or 190°C. Line two baking pans with baking parchment or silicone liners.

Once the dough has rested, cut it into two equal pieces and wrap the second one in cling film. Set aside.

Lightly flour your rolling pin and work surface and roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/8th inch or 3mm. This is about the same thickness as two US quarters stacked on one another or a single UK one pound coin, if you have either of those handy to compare.

Use a large decorating tip (I used a Wilton 124) or a small fondant cutter to cut the dough into small circles. Transfer to your prepared baking sheet. You can put them fairly close together because they don't really puff out from the sides.



You can also use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into small squares instead of using a decorating tip, although putting a Q-tip through the tip does make it very easy to poke the dough out should it get stuck.

Form a ball out of the leftover dough and roll it out and cut shapes again. Repeat the process with the other half of the dough until all the little oyster crackers have been cut out.

Bake the crackers one pan at a time on that middle shelf, until the crackers are golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

This makes about 2 1/2 cups or 175g of easy homemade oyster crackers.

Enjoy as a crunchy snack or float some in your favorite chowder or soup.



Check out all the other creative crackers we have for you this month! Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime for this great theme.


BreadBakers
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin it!

 .

Monday, March 12, 2018

Spicy Beef Curry Calzones #BakingBloggers

Spicy Beef Curry Calzones feature a thick rich beef curry inside and a soft naan bread outside. They are like eating your curry by scooping it up with naan, but in a less messy, more portable way.

Food Lust People Love: Spicy Beef Curry Calzones feature a thick rich beef curry inside and a soft naan bread outside. They are like eating your curry by scooping it up with naan, but in a less messy, more portable way.


This month our theme for Baking Bloggers is, you might have guessed, calzones. If I can be honest, I was sorely tempted to call these guys Spicy Beef Curry Naan-zones. But I was afraid no one would know what I meant.

Sure, I could have made a calzone with a more traditional Italian filling, as some of my fellow bloggers have done - and they all sound delicious! Make sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to see the list. But everything you see on this blog is made in my kitchen and consumed by my family or friends. (And occasionally the folks at my husband’s office.) And I really, really felt like eating curry!

Spicy Beef Curry Calzones or Naan-zones

Nothing fancy about the spicy beef curry, except the addition of carrots and peas because I love the pops of color in the deep red sauce. (And we should all eat more peas.) The outer bread itself is made by adapting my favorite naan bread recipe so this is a traditional combo, just put together in a non-traditional way, probably offending both Italian and Indian mamas. I'm sorry (not sorry) they are so good!

Ingredients - for 8 calzones
For the beef curry:
4 oz or 120ml all butter ghee or sub a light oil like canola
1 lb or 450g tender beef, cut in 1 in or 2cm cubes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3 cardamom pods
1 short stick cinnamon (3 in or 8cm) or 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 medium onion, peeled and minced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 14oz /400g can chopped tomatoes
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut in pea sized cubes
1 medium potato, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup or 60g frozen peas, thawed
salt
pinch sugar

For the naan dough:
1  (.25 ounce or 7g) package active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups or 415ml warm water
1/8 cup or 25g sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 - 5 cups or 560-625g flour
1/4 cup or 60g butter or ghee, melted

Method
Heat a lidded frying pan over a medium heat and add the ghee or oil. Fry the meat cubes in batched until lightly browned on all sides, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, cover and set aside.


Add the spices and fry for 1 minute making sure you just toast them. Don't let them burn! Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook over a low heat until soft.


Return the beef to the pan, add the can of tomatoes and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer, covered, for about 1 hour, or until the meat is tender.


Add the potato and carrot about halfway through the cooking time. Right at the end, add the peas. Season with salt and sugar to taste when done.  Set aside to cool. Once cool, fish through the curry and remove the cinnamon stick, if using, and cardamom pods. No one wants to bite into them in the middle of a lovely calzone.



Meanwhile, get on with making the naan dough.

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water with one teaspoon of the sugar. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. (If it doesn't foam up, your yeast is dead. Buy some more and start again.)



Stir in the rest of the sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. You may not use all of the flour.



Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise.



Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume. Punch down dough. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll them into balls, and place on a floured tray or plate.



Sprinkle lightly with flour. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Near the end of the second rising, preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C and line your baking pans with baking parchment or silicone liners.

Roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle about 8 1/2 in or 22cm across. Dampen the edges of the circle with water using your clean hands or a pastry brush. Put about 1/2 cup or 125g of cooled spicy beef curry on one side of the circle.



Gently lift the other side up and over, pressing the air out as you stick the edges of the two halves together.

Starting on one side of the semi circle, crimp the edges to seal the calzones. Continue until all of the calzones have been filled and formed.



Transfer the calzones to your baking trays, leaving enough room between them so that they can rise while baking. (I was overly cautious and put two to a pan but truly, three would have fit.) Brush the tops lightly with melted ghee or butter.



Bake in your preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and puffed.

Food Lust People Love: Spicy Beef Curry Calzones feature a thick rich beef curry inside and a soft naan bread outside. They are like eating your curry by scooping it up with naan, but in a less messy, more portable way.

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: Spicy Beef Curry Calzones feature a thick rich beef curry inside and a soft naan bread outside. They are like eating your curry by scooping it up with naan, but in a less messy, more portable way.


Many thanks to this month's host (and organizer) of Baking Bloggers, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out all the lovely calzones we are sharing this month.


Pin it!


Food Lust People Love: Spicy Beef Curry Calzones feature a thick rich beef curry inside and a soft naan bread outside. They are like eating your curry by scooping it up with naan, but in a less messy, more portable way.
.

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Fresh Pear Walnut Cranberry Salad

Sweet, sharp and crunchy, this fresh pear walnut cranberry salad is the perfect accompaniment to any rich dish, especially one made with blue cheese.

Food Lust People Love: Sweet, sharp and crunchy, this fresh pear walnut cranberry salad is the perfect accompaniment to any rich dish, especially one made with blue cheese.


A couple of days ago I shared a recipe for a potato chip crust savory cheesecake and promised to add the side salad soon. Here it is!

Fresh Pear Walnut Cranberry Salad


This recipe is easily doubled or even trebled. Serve it with your favorite quiche or my savory cheesecake.

Ingredients
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons walnut vinegar (or sub white balsamic)
2 tablespoons canola or other light salad oil
1/2 teaspoon whole grain mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:
3 tablespoons thinly sliced onion (1/2 a small one or about 20g)
3 medium pears
small handful dried cranberries, chopped
1/4 cup or about 8-9 walnut halves
Optional: watercress – I added some in at the last minute before serving, so that it didn’t wilt before we could eat it.

Method
Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and add in the onions. Leave them to marinate for about 10 minutes. This accomplishes two goals: to mellow the sharp burn of the onions and to infuse the dressing with a delightfully mild onion flavor.



Core and cut your pears into thin slices, stirring them into the dressing as you do, which will stop them turning brown.



Add in the cranberries and walnuts and stir well. Refrigerate, covered with cling film, until ready to serve. Toss with a few handfuls of watercress just before serving, if desired.

Food Lust People Love: Sweet, sharp and crunchy, this fresh pear walnut cranberry salad is the perfect accompaniment to any rich dish, especially one made with blue cheese.


Enjoy!


Food Lust People Love: Sweet, sharp and crunchy, this fresh pear walnut cranberry salad is the perfect accompaniment to any rich dish, especially one made with blue cheese.


Pin it!

Food Lust People Love: Sweet, sharp and crunchy, this fresh pear walnut cranberry salad is the perfect accompaniment to any rich dish, especially one made with blue cheese.
  .

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Potato Chip Crust Savory Cheesecake #FoodieExtravaganza

This crunchy potato chip crust savory cheesecake makes a great main course for Sunday brunch or a light dinner.  It’s also pretty fabulous cold in a packed lunch the next day, if you are lucky enough to have leftovers.

Food Lust People Love: This crunchy potato chip crust savory cheesecake makes a great main course for Sunday brunch or a light dinner.  It’s also pretty fabulous cold in a packed lunch the next day, if you are lucky enough to have leftovers.


This month my Foodie Extravaganza group is celebrating potato chips in anticipation of National Potato Chip Day, which is March 14. Our wonderful host Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories encouraged us to make a dish, sweet or savory, that includes potato chips or to make our own homemade potato chips.

I’ve adapted this recipe from a Warm Roquefort Cheesecake created by the great Delia Smith so I’ve kept “cheesecake” in the title, but I must confess that it strikes me more as a quiche than a cheesecake. The texture is light and definitely more on the eggy side. In fact, my husband came through the door after work, as it sat on the wire rack cooling and said, “Ohh, quiche for dinner.” “I know, right?” I had to reply.

Delia, Delia, Delia. Never mind. You are still one of my idols.

Potato Chip Crust Savory Cheesecake


I have made a couple of savory cheesecakes before and loved them. Both were appetizers, the first a Shrimp Cheesecake with Herbs and Spices,  the second a Savory Zucchini Cheesecake, baked in a Bundt pan. That’s why this recipe so appealed to me. Plus, I love blue cheese.

Ingredients
For the crust:
4 oz or 115g low salt potato chips
1 oz or 25g butter, melted and cooled

For the filling:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup or 200g full fat ricotta or cottage cheese
2/3 cup or 165g fromage frais (or sub full fat plain Greek yogurt)
3 spring onions, white and green parts, finely sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 oz  or 175g blue cheese (I used a Fourme d”Ambert AOP.)

Method
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C and line the bottom of a 9 in or 23cm round tart pan with baking parchment.

Put your potato chips in a thick plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Pour the crumbed chips into a small bowl with the melted butter and mix well.

Tip the mixture into your prepared pan and use your clean hands or the back of a spoon to spread it out over the bottom and ever so slightly up the sides of the tart pan. Press it down to compact it.



N.B. If your tart pan has a removable bottom, it would be wise to set it in another larger pan before you put it in the oven.

Bake the potato chip crust in the preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes, keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. You want a nice golden crust.



While that’s baking, you can get on with the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, fromage frais, spring onion and salt with a few good grinds of black pepper.



Don’t forget to keep checking the crust. When it is ready, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool. Turn the oven temperature down to 350°F or 180°C.

Crumble the blue cheese with a fork and fold it into the egg mixture.



Carefully pour the filling into the tart pan and sprinkle a few more grinds of black pepper to the top, if desired.


Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the outside is set and the middle is just the slightest bit jiggly. It will firm up more as it cools.

Food Lust People Love: This crunchy potato chip crust savory cheesecake makes a great main course for Sunday brunch or a light dinner.  It’s also pretty fabulous cold in a packed lunch the next day, if you are lucky enough to have leftovers.


Leave to cool for about 15-20 minutes. Delia serves her savory cheesecake aka quiche with poached pears but I wanted a little crunch to go along with mine. I made a small salad of fresh pears with walnuts and dried cranberries dressed with a maple syrup vinaigrette. You can find that recipe right here.

Delia is absolutely spot on about pears and blue cheese. They go together so nicely.

Slice and enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: This crunchy potato chip crust savory cheesecake makes a great main course for Sunday brunch or a light dinner.  It’s also pretty fabulous cold in a packed lunch the next day, if you are lucky enough to have leftovers.


And make sure you check out all the other lovely potato chip recipes we have for you today. Many thanks to our host Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories.

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays, and we all post recipes using the same ingredient. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

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Food Lust People Love: This crunchy potato chip crust savory cheesecake makes a great main course for Sunday brunch or a light dinner.  It’s also pretty fabulous cold in a packed lunch the next day, if you are lucky enough to have leftovers.

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