Italian, cheesecake, Vietnamese, OH MY!!

Hello all my food-loving friends!!! I hope everyone is doing well and eating lots of good food. This weekend I made up for my lack of international cuisine last weekend by making two international dishes, plus a cheese cake. My boyfriend is italian, and his birthday was this week so I spoiled him by making an Italian dish and cheesecake on Friday. Allow me to start with dessert first!

Gluten Free Marble Cheesecake
1 1/2 cups gluten free graham crackers smashed into small pieces and crumbs
6 tbsp butter, softened
1-2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (I used 2 ounces)
2 pkgs cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 325.
Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter and press into the bottom of a pie dish, preferably glass/pyrex. Bake for 10 minutes.
Melt chocolate either in microwave or in my case double boiler until smooth. I also added approx. 2 tbsp of cream to keep it smooth.
Combine softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of mixture and combine that with the chocolate in a separate bowl.
Spread plain batter into crust. Add chocolate mixture in random spots and swirl with a knife to create marbled effect.
Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes. I actually ended up baking it for closer to 40 minutes.
Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight before serving.

SOOOOOO yummy!!! The crust ended up tasting almost like a caramel-butterscotch candy layer instead of a crust. I don't know if it had to do with the gluten free crackers and the quantity of butter, but it was amazing.

Now onto the main meal for that day.

I made a delicious pasta alfredo with prosciutto and pancetta with a side of prosciutto wrapped asparagus and peppers.

Alfredo pasta (made with gluten free corn pasta)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion finely chopped
2.5 cups cream (whatever fat content you chose, I used 18%) and milk (total, not separate)
1 tsp grated lemon zest (I had to use lemon juice)
200g chopped prosciutto
100g chopped pancetta
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh italian parsley, chopped
4-5 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1 package pasta
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp salt, pepper to taste
2 cloves of garlic

Over medium heat in a large skillet heat oil. Add onion and garlic, sautee until tender.
Stir in cream and milk and lemon. Cook and stir for about a minute, and remove from heat.
Prepare pasta according to instructions. Cook until just tender. Drain.
Return skillet to medium heat, add pancetta, prosciutto, herbs, and parmesan. Allow to cook for a minute or two, season with salt and pepper. Add pasta. Serve immediately in warm bowls.

Just before preparing this meal, preheat oven to 350 or 375, wrap asparagus and pepper slices with prosciutto and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until starts to brown at the edges.

I really enjoyed this meal. The pasta is a heavy, rich dish so it's only really a treat, but definitely heavenly.

Now onto the meal I made today!!! Today I went for Vietnamese, mostly because I seem to just have an obsession with asian food and also because I purchased a bunch of Basa fillets and since I know that Basa is a vietnamese fish, it would be smart to do todays international meal based on that theme. I found a lovely simple recipe for Vietnamese fish simmered in caramel sauce (Ca Kho To). The recipe is as follows:

1 1/2 lb Basa fillet (or other dense white fish) cut into 4 inch pieces
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
4 shallots (in my case, 1 small white onion, didn't have any shallots in my fridge) thinly sliced
2 small green chilies, chopped
1 2-inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced or julienned, grated would probably work as well
ground black pepper

In heavy 2 quart saucepan, cook sugar over low-med heat swirling pan and/or stirring regularly until sugar is brown and caramelized.
Remove from heat and stir in fish sauce. I was concerned at this stage because it smoked a lot and made a candy "crust". But it all worked out. Read on.
Return to low heat and gently boil while stirring until sugar is completely dissolved.
Stir in shallots (onion), chili, ginger and fish. Sprinkle with peppers.
Bring to boil, reduce heat to low and cover pan. Simmer for 30-35 minutes, turning fish occasionally and carefully.
Serve over rice.

I apologize for the quality of the pictures of this meal. The first one is just after I added the fish, so it was still raw. The second was after my boyfriend and I had dug in, and the third one is obvious haha! I also served it with roasted broccoli and asparagus with salt, pepper and garlic powder and olive oil. Yumm!!!

I hope you all enjoy these recipes!! Any suggestions on alterations or other recipes would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks everyone, and happy cooking!

Pad Thai and Beef Rendang.

Hello fellow foodies :) I apologize for the lengthy delay in my posting of recipes. I've been a busy gal, and the time I have had to post, I've just been lazy. That being said, I have the recipes from last week and the week before for this week's post.

Two weeks ago I made an old favorite: Pad Thai. Super simple, I didn't even follow a recipe from a cookbook. I just went from memory from prior batches.
1 package vermicelli (I use Rooster brand, made of bean starch)
1 sm onion
1-2 cloves garlic
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 chicken breast, or 1 lb shrimp (cooked or raw, whichever you prefer)
1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1-2 eggs (depending on how much chicken or shrimp you use)
2 tbsp tamarind sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce

Cook vermicelli according to directions (or with Rooster, boil water, add vermicelli, boil 1 minute, turn off burner and keep noodles in water until just barely cooked through)
In wok (or deep frying pan) sautee garlic and onion in olive oil. Add chicken (or raw shrimp) and cook through. Add vermicelli and peanut butter. Stir. Add tamarind sauce and soy sauce. Push all to the side of pan or wok and crack in egg(s). let eggs cook most of the way through, and then mix in with all other ingredients in pot. If using pre-cooked shrimp, add now. Remove from heat, top with green onion and cilantro for garnish.
I know this recipe is not authentic as it's missing some vital ingredients such as tofu and peanut oil and probably a few other things. But it's a nice easy throw together recipe. If you have any suggestions, I'd gladly accept them.


Beef Rendang - Indonesia.
This recipe I got courtesy of friends of my boyfriend's family.

3 lbs beef (either steak or roast meat, I used roast)
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger
4 sm chilies (recipe calls for red, I had green on hand so used those)
1/2 cup water
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp tumeric
2 tbsp tamarind sauce
10 curry leaves
1 stem lemon grass (couldn't find fresh, so got stuff in a bottle, used about 2 tsp)
2 cans coconut milk.

Remove fat from beef and cut into cubes, place in deep pot (or deep frying pan). In food processor, blend onions, garlic, ginger, chilies and water. I also added the coriander as I have whole coriander seeds instead of ground coriander). Blend until smooth, add mixture to beef. Add tamarind sauce, tumeric, curry leaves and lemongrass. Mix until everything is evenly combined, add coconut milk and stir. Bring to boil on medium-high heat. Reduce to simmer over medium heat, UNCOVERED for approx an hour, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to very low, simmer for another 30 minutes (I simmered another hour), stirring frequently until meat is very very tender. Serve over rice or potatoes ( I chose rice). Suggested to serve with Raita - sliced cucumber, pat dry and sprinkle with salt. let sit 30 minutes and toss with plain yogurt.

I Really enjoyed this meal. The biggest thing I noticed though was that I needed to add some extra tamarind sauce. Another thing I noticed is that the dish smells AMAZING, but on day one the flavour isn't really there, as in it's still good, but the flavour isn't the same as it smells. However, given a day or two to sit in the fridge the flavours merry and boy oh boy... is it ever an amazing dish!!! I highly recommend giving it a try. I will post a picture once I get it off my phone.

Thanks for reading!! Happy cooking :)