Mini Cheesecakes with Nectarine and Grape

As I have mentioned several times previously, we have hallway dinners in the student housing I live in. Basically all or most tenants of the same hallway gets together to eat, roughly once a week. Last semester, I was in a different hallway (having moved during the summer), and this hallway has themed dinners.

For example, the stuffed bell peppers I made a couple of weeks ago were for a Mexican-themed dinner.

This week, we had an American themed dinner. I immediately volunteered to make cheesecakes, for although I've made them numerous times in the past (21 to be exact!), I haven't made a cheesecake in a while. It was high time for me to get back on my cheesecake track.

These were plain vanilla cheesecakes, with a small crust made from crushed digestive-type cookies and some melted butter. I topped them with nectarine slices that I left to soak in a bit of slightly sweetened water syrup, and I added half a grape for color contrast.

As sour cream is not cheap, I opted for some Greek-style yogurt to sub in. It may have been part of the cause for a higher density of the cheesecake, which was not the usual smooth creaminess. That may also have been partially because I'm still not used to baking in the small toaster oven we have here, and may have overbaked it all a bit...

As I had leftover cheesecake filling, I put it all in a small springform pan to make the larger one.

Roasted Veggies Pasta

Last night, I made pasta with homemade arugula pesto (from the arugula that grows in abundance in my cousin's garden). To top it, I roasted some cauliflower florets in the oven with a bit of olive oil. Then I roasted halved cherry tomatoes, and mixed it all into the past. Then topped with thin pieces of strong gruyère cheese (because I don't have any parmesan in the fridge right now T_T).

Mexican-style Stuffed Bell Peppers

For a Mexican-themed hallway dinner, I was at lost as to what to make. Of course, I considered burrito... but I had a few bell peppers that needed finishing in my fridge.

A quick Google search led me to this recipe for stuffed bell peppers. I filled mine with half white and half brown rice, black beans, corn, and tomato sauce, all mixed and topped with cheese. Instead of boiling the peppers, I pan-fried them a bit before sticking them in the oven to cook some more while the filling cooked. I also halved each bell pepper (I had 3 red, one green, and one yellow pepper) since a whole pepper per person would have been too filling for a bring-and-share dinner.

It was delicious coupled with some quark~

White Choc Chip Cookies with Lemon

These cookies were baked on August 18th, 2014. I brought them on my second to last day at the Dutch summer course I was taking. Since I left about a week early due to university schedule clashing, I thought I would treat my teacher and classmates. We were together for a short time -- merely 3 weeks -- but I felt that we bonded a lot more than I would've ever expected.

The labels are hand-made. I got the translation of "White Chocolate Chip Cookies with brown sugar and lemon" from what I learned and Google Translate (so forgive any mistakes ^^).

I admit I probably am getting into the habit of bringing baked goods whenever I'm somewhere, or need to say "bye" to someone.

I baked these cookies with some lemon in them because I usually curb the sweetness with some walnuts, but since I didn't have any, I cut down on the sugar and added the tartness and fragrance of lemon.

I just realized that I have never posted the recipe I usually use for making chocolate chip cookies, despite having made them quite a few times. Well this one's a tweak on the recipe, but I guess it'll have to serve for now. I'll post the original recipe properly the next time I make choc chip cookies.

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RECIPE

  Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup golden sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• zest 1 lemon
• 2 tsp Orgran egg replacer
• 4 tbs water
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp hot water
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

  Procedure

1. Preheat oven 175°C.
2. Cream butter and all sugar until smooth. Add in lemon juice and zest.
3. Mix the egg replacer and the 4 tbs water (proportions ~2 eggs) and beat them into the mixture.
4. Dissolve baking soda into the hot water before adding.
5. Stir in flour and chocolate chips.
6. Put on baking sheet by large spoonfuls.
7. Bake for 10-15 mins.