My cooking hobby

How to bake the perfect cheescake

2006-10-26T04:56:00.000+02:00

Last week I was searching for a cheescake recipe, because I haven't been baking it for a while. I came across the great article about mistakes most people do when they try to bake a cheescake.
I decided to take author's advice and the result was "The Perfect Cheescake" (mmmmm...).

And here's the article.

Baking The Perfect Cheesecake - Are You Making These Mistakes?

By Ben O'Rourke

Cheesecake is so delicious and simple to make. However,
a lot of people seem to have problems with getting it
just right. In this article I will show you how to
avoid a lot of the pitfalls that are encountered when
baking your cheesecake.

We will cover preparing and mixing the ingredients, the
cooking procedure and the final preparations.

Ideally the ingredients should be at room temperature.
Mix them together until smooth at a medium speed.
Overbeating or high speed mixing can cause cracks to
appear during the baking process.

Cheesecakes are egg based and so need a low heat
setting. Put your cheesecake in the center of the middle
oven rack. Place a shallow pan of water on the lower
oven rack. This will help stop cracking on the top of
your cheesecake.

As it is baking do not open the oven door. Draughts can
cause problems with cracking or dropping, so you do not
want to do that.

After baking is completed allow some time for your
cheesecake to settle. Open the oven door and turn the
oven off. As it cools it will shrink, and if it shrinks
too much you have baked it at too high a heat setting.
It is completed when center is almost set but moves
slightly when shaken. Let it cool completely before you
put it into your refrigerator.

A cheesecake should be well chilled before you serve it
up, allow 12 to 24 hours before cutting it. Using a
small knife, slide it all around the edges to loosen it,
and then remove the sides of the springform pan. You can
then put it onto a plate. Baking time is usually 1 1/4
hours, or until the edges are light brown.

So there you have it. No more excuses for not baking the
perfect cheesecake every time. Just follow the above
procedures and enjoy your finished results. Once you
have done it a couple of times you will be an expert.

Remember that cheesecake is thought to have originated
in Ancient Greece, so it is about time that we
discovered how to bake it correctly don't you think?
Think of that fact as you are preparing your next
favorite recipe and thank the Ancient Greeks with every
mouthful you take. Nothing is more rewarding than a
perfect cheesecake and you now have all the information
you need to do it correctly.

******************************************************

For FREE delicious cheesecake recipes visit

http://cheese-cake-recipes.info

You will be spoilt for choice with tons of recipes.

******************************************************

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ben_O'Rourke

Bon appetite!

My Cooking Recipes

Health Benefits Of Tomatoes

2006-08-11T05:43:00.000+02:00

by: Tim Sousa

Did you know that tomatoes were once considered poison? It's true, the tomato is a member of the nightshade family, and was at one time considered to be toxic. Tomatoes were first eaten in the U.S. in the early 1800's, when a gentleman by the name of Robert Johnson shocked his hometown by eating a basket of tomatoes in the middle of town. When he didn't die, or even get sick from the tomatoes, they became a part of the American diet.

We now know that tomatoes are not toxic, and in fact are quite nutritious. First of all, tomatoes contain a lot of vitamin C, which is quite beneficial, as you've probably heard. Vitamin C helps the body to produce collagen, an important protein skin, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant, helping to prevent cell damage by free radicals.

Tomatoes also contain a powerful antioxidant called lycopene. Studies have shown that men consuming 10 servings of tomatoes a week cut the risk of prostate cancer by 45%. Lycopene also lower the risk of colorectal cancer and stomach cancer, and inhibits the growth of other types of cancer cells. Lycopene may also help older folks remain active.

Coumaric acid and chlorogenic acied are also found in tomatoes. These two compounds are thought to block the effects of nitrosamines, which are formed naturally in the body, but are also a strong carcinogen in tobacco smoke.

Tomatoes may also help to reduce the risk of heart disease. Tomatoes are a good source of potassium, niacin, vitamin B6, and folate. Niacin has been used for years to lower cholesterol. Potassium has been shown to lower high blood pressure. And vitamin B6 and folate are used by the body to convert a dangerous chemical called homocysteine into more benign compounds.

Vitamin K, found in tomatoes helps to maintain healthy bones. Vitamin K1 activates a protein in the bones called osteocalcin, which anchors calcium inside the bone. Without enough vitamin K, bone mineralization is impaired.

When you buy tomatoes, be sure to buy the ones with the brightest red color. This indicates high amounts of beta-carotene and lycopene. Lycopene is found in the cell walls of the tomato, so by cooking it in a bit of oil, more lycopene is fully released. Also, cooking the tomato in a bit of olive oil helps your body to absorb the lycopene. If all you can find are canned tomatoes, that's fine. Cooking and canning don't cause tomatoes to lose any of their nutritional value. So cooked and processed tomatoes are just as beneficial as fresh tomatoes.

So tomatoes, once thought to be deadly poison, are now a nutritious staple of our diet. They help to fight cancer, and they contain a good amount of vitamin C, and other vitamins and minerals. So go ahead and start adding tomatoes to your diet.

Spaghetti Sauce:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced (or more if you want)
1 lb ground beef (optional)
4 28oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
1 28oz. can of tomato sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp dried oregano
3 bay leaves

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the chopped onion, and cook for a couple of minutes, until the onion is tender. Add the garlic, and cook briefly. Be sure not to burn the garlic.

If using ground beef, cook the meat in a skillet until browned. Drain the meat, and add it to the pot.

Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, worcestershire sauce, oregano, and bay leaves. Stir everything together, then turn the heat to medium low, and simmer for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove the sauce from the heat, and serve over pasta. The leftover sauce will freeze well.

Cooking recipes: Rice with chicken meat

2006-07-30T22:29:00.000+02:00

Category: main dishes
Difficulty: 2/5
Time needed: up to 1 hour

I cook this dish quite often, especially when I don't have too much time or I'm too lazy. Recipe is simple and the end result is delicious. And normally I don't need to rush to the grocery store because all I need is often already at home.

Ingredients (for 4 persons):
- 500 ml rice (I prefer parboiled one)
- 1,2 L chicken soup or bullion
- 1 middle sized onion
- 4 husks of garlic
- 300 g chicken meat (fillet from chests or back)
- oil (I prefer olive oil)
- spices (depends on your taste - I would suggest curry, parsley, 2 leaves of bay)

Procedure:
- make chicken soup or bullion. I don't complicate so I use 2 chicken soup cubes. Put it to boil.
- in the meantime peel the onion and cut it to small pieces
- peel garlic, too
- in a pot (app. 2 L), put some oil, heat it, put the onion and fry it until it gets glassy look
- while you are frying the onion, chop chicken meat into small pieces
- when the onion is fried, put the meat in the pot and fry it (don't forget to mix)
- just before adding rice, cut garlic in small pieces and put it in the pot to fry just a little bit (to feel the smell of it)
- then put the rice in the pot and fry it just a little bit
- pour the chicken soup in the pot, stir and add the spices
- cover the pot, boil everything and then lower the heat. The soup has to boil just a little bit. Leave the pot covered
- normally don't stir anymore. After app. 30 min (check in between) the rice should soak almost all the soup and should be cooked. If it's not, just add some hot water. Turn off the heat, put the pot aside and leave it covered for about 10 min, so that tastes spread all over the pot and the rice calms down
- serve it with some parmesan cheese and white wine

Buon appetite!

Check for more at My Cooking Hobby Recipes

Cooking recipes: Pancake - basic recipe

2006-07-24T20:58:00.000+02:00

Summer is such a nice time for cooking because there is normaly more time, especially during vacations. This week my wife is on vacation so I can expect to have something good for the lunch.
Today she surprised me with vegetable stew and palačinka. Palačinka is a slovenian word for pancake or crêpe (in french). We all like them very much so I decided to put down the recipe for them.

Pancakes are well known all over the world. There are many variations. In Slovenia we fry "panequets" (french word), which are a little thicker, and "crêpes" (french again), which are very thin. I've also tried american pancakes, which are very thick, but I prefer first two types. If you check cookbooks or internet (for example Wikipedia), you will find a lot of other information.

Pancakes can be used in various ways. We use both sweet and non-sweet variation. Sweet ones are filled with different sweet ingredients, like jam, sugar and lemon juice, whipped cream, chocolate sauce etc. and used as sweets. Non-sweet ones are filled with mashrooms, cheese, ham, eggs etc. and used as a main dish.

Basic recipe for palačinka (pancake, crêpe).

Ingredients for about 20 crêpes:
- 1 cup (230 mL) plain flour
- 1 cup (230 mL) milk
- 2 eggs
- 20 g of butter or oil
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 table spoons of sugar (for the sweet variation)

Insead of milk, you can raplace a part or all of it with the beer which makes them more soft.

PROCEDURE
First melt down the butter. Put the flower in a mixing bowl, make a hole in the middle and in that hole we put eggs, the butter or oil, the salt and a bit of milk. Mix all ingredients so you get a thick paste. Then continue mixing and slowly add the rest of the milk, mix well to avoid making lumps. Leave it to rest for about 2 hours (if you are not in the hurry).
Heat a pan (non-stick ones are the best), put a small piece of butter until it melts down (you can also use oil) and spread it all over the pan by rolling it. A drop of water can be used to test the pan temperature: too cold, and the water will sit on the pan, too hot and it will vanish immediately. At the right temperature, the water will seem to "dance" on the pan.
Pour a ladle of crêpe paste in the midle of the pan and roll it so that paste spreads all over the pan. Use the right amount of paste so that crepes will be as thin as possible.
Cooking it the crêpe slides when you shake the pan, then turn it over to cook the other side; with some practice, you can flip it in the air by swinging the pan.
Crêpes can be filled and folded into triangles or rolled up.

You can fill crêpes with different sweet things. I prefer this ones:
- jam
- sugar and lemon juice
- chopped fruits and whipped cream
- chocolate souce
- nutella

There are many recipes about crêpes. I'll take a look at my cookbooks and put down interesting ones in the future.

TIP
Crêpes cool down quickly. If you want to serve them warm, which are the best, take a pot, fill it with some water, and boil it. After that put down the heat and put a plate for crêpes on it. Put crêpes on that plate when you bake them.

Buon apetite!

My Cooking Recipes

The first blog

2006-07-19T10:21:00.000+02:00

Hi, everybody. I have decided to make this blogg about cooking, which is a favorite hobby of mine. I will try to regulary post recipes that I find interesting, cooking tips and tricks and other interesting stuff. I hope you'll find it interesting.

Slovenia is a small country, as you probably already know, located between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. Troughout the history we were always part of some bigger country, until 1991, which has influenced a lot of our habbits together with our culinary art.
Our food is diverse, many times quite strong, and we like to consume it in a "slow food" manner.

As far as I'm concerend, I prefer that kind of food. I like to have strong breakfast, a big lunch and normally no dinner. As one of our saying quotes: "Have breakfast like a king, lunch like a gentelman and dinner like a beggar." It's working for me.
What about you? What are your eating habits?

My Cooking Recipes