Thursday, June 15, 2023

Words & Brush Weekender: Easy listening music and chat, Friday 16th June 2023, Free Choice - all genres of music welcome

Easy listening music and chat, Friday 16th June 2023, Free Choice - all genres of music welcome!


Enjoy some good music here on Words & Brush, it's your free choice so please post any of your favorite music of all genres! 

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Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Words & Brush Recipe Corner: Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

By Lisa Starr, Meatland

https://www.meatland.net/


BASE (see notes for alternative base)1 cup plain flour1/2 cup ground coconut100 grams butter, melted1/2 cup light brown sugarGenerous pinch salt (preferably Maldon)

FILLING500 grams cream cheese* 2/3 cup sugar1/4 cup fresh lemon juice1 tablespoon grated lemon zest2 tablespoons custard powder**1 teaspoon vanilla essence3 eggs, separated1/3 cup extra sugar for meringue topping* Can substitute with 5% or 9% white cheese but in this case add 1/3 cup cream too for richness.** If you don't have custard powder then replace with cornflour and increase vanilla to 2 teaspoons. 1: Preheat oven to 180°C to prepare base. Place the flour, coconut, butter, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix to combine. Using the back of a spoon, press the mixture into the base and up the sides of a lightly greased 22 - 24 cm round tin, and bake for 15 minutes.  2: Place cheese and sugar in a deep bowl, whisk in the lemon juice, lemon zest, custard powder/cornflour, and vanilla and stir well. Lastly add the egg yolks only - see notes - and stir till smooth. 3: Turn the oven down to 160 C. Pour mixture onto prepared base then bake at 160 C for approximately 40 minutes until just set on top.4: Beat the egg whites till frothy then beat in the extra sugar to make meringue. Spoon over the top of the just-set cheesecake, creating height and points with a fork, and cook at 200 C for just a few minutes till just golden and peaks are lightly browning. Watch it here as you don't want to burn.5: Allow to cool and set completely before serving.NOTES: This is ideally best served on the day it's made to avoid the meringue topping weeping. You can always make the cheesecake ahead of time, refrigerating the egg white, and only do the meringue topping on the day of serving. It's still perfectly delicious if made ahead and refrigerated a day or two in advance. Alternatively leave out the meringue topping if you choose and use whole eggs in the cheesecake instead of separately. Fabulous this way too though not quite as impressive-looking. Crushed digestive biscuits make a wonderful base mixed with melted butter. A mixture of crushed Petite Beurre and Lotus could be used for the base too but don't use only Petite Beurre as they are very powdery. Bake cookie crumb bases for 15 minutes too before adding filling to prevent the base getting soggy.


ENJOY!

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Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Words & Brush Recipe Corner: Mince beef and crispy dumplings

 

  • Dumplings
  • 330g / 11½oz Self raising flour
  • 2tsp Baking powder (if you’re using plain or all purpose flour use 4 tsp of baking powder)
  • 175g / 6oz full fat or semi skimmed milk
  • 60g / 2oz of cold Butter
  • 100g / 3½oz Beef or vegetable suet
  • 1 Large egg
  • 70g / 2½oz finely chopped spring onions
  • Mince and onions
  • 1kg / 2.2lb Lean mince or ground beef
  • 1 Large onion (medium chopped)
  • ½tsp salt
  • ½tsp pepper
  • ½tsp Dried thyme
  • 560mls / 1pt  Beef stock
  • 1tsp Vegetable or Olive oil

  • Start by preparing the dumplings.
  • Finely chop the spring onions
  • Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, if you’re using plain or all purpose flour, use an extra 2tsp of baking powder.
  • Rub in the butter until it resembles fine bread crumbs.
  • Add the chopped spring onions and beef or vegetable suet.
  • If you can’t find suet, add an extra 100g / 3½oz of cold butter to the previous rubbing in step.
  • Lightly toss all the ingredients together using your fingers until thoroughly mixed.
  • Whisk the egg and milk together and add it to the bowl, with an ordinary dinner knife cut the mixture together,  until it becomes a sticky mass.
  • Cover the bowl and let it relax at room temperature until needed.
  • Preparing the mince and Onions
  • On a medium heat, add the teaspoon of oil to a large pan and add the 
  • medium chopped large onion,  fry for a couple of minutes.
  • Add the minced/ground beef to the pan followed by the salt, pepper, and thyme, 
  • give it all a good stir, keep stirring until the mince turns a light brown colour 
  • and separates,this should take 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Add the 560mls / 1 pint of beef or chicken stock, if you have no natural stock 
  • you use stock cubes to taste.
  • Bring it to a simmer and let it cook with the lid on the pan for 10 minutes.
  • After the 10 minutes skim off any fat from the top on the mince.
  • Add the 1tbls of corn flour/starch to the 80 mls of cold water mix 
  • thoroughly and add it to the pan, stir until mince and onions thickens, 
  • as per the video. 
  • And that’s the mince and onions ready.
  • Next job it preheat your oven to 180°C / 356°F / gas mark 4
  • Now carefully pour and scrape out the mince mixture to a deep 
  • Baking / roasting pan, the dimensions of my tin/pan are 30 x 21 
  • x 5cm / 8 x 12 x 2in.
  • Using a dessert spoon add the dumpling mixture to the mince and onions, 
  • equally spacing them out (remember these dumplings will double in size 
  • as they cook) 
  • to prevent the mixture sticking to the spoon dip it in the gravy every time. 
  • This recipe will produce 12 good size dumplings.
  • Get the pan into the preheated oven and set your timer for 30 minutes.
  • When the times up carefully remove from the oven and serve piping hot.
  • Enjoy.

See my Beef Stew & Dumplings video on Youtube: 


ENJOY!


This page was posted by Sputnik One of the Sputniks Orbit blog

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