Classic Cheesecake

 Cheesecake is  made of three or more layers.  They are supported with the crunchy crust of cookies and butter at the bottom.  The middle layer is soft  because of cream cheese and easily melts in your mouth.  Finally, they are topped with fruit compotes or any syrup/freshly cut fruits.  That said, it is an explosion of flavours and textures in one bite.     This is really a much-relished treat, for any season, though they are feasted a lot on summer.

They can be baked in an oven or can exist as non-baked as well.  Here, we are going to how they are baked, using a water-bath.  It's always best to use springform pan when making these, otherwise, they may get messy, when removing  from pan.

I topped them with strawberries and they were total yum.  Not only did they taste great, but also instantly melted in your mouth. This soft consistency comes from the lightness of cream cheese and also because of the fact that they are baked with a water-bath.   But, please opt if and only if you prefer a heavy dessert.  These are not for any light takers. 

On the whole, we had a hearty dessert, that completed our weekend.  Hope you tried the same and let us know :)

Orange flavoured Brioche

   Brioche is an enriched bread with high amount of butter and eggs.  This pastry, of French origin, is served for Breakfast.  The butter and egg content, imparts them very tender and crumbly texture and they  can be served with jam, chocolate spread as well.

These Brioche were, as promised very tender and softer than commercial bread, we had them with chocolate ganache and an few sugar stars on top.  They were amazing and had an strong orange flavour.  I would like to make them again and again :)

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This orange flavoured Brioche was suggested by Swathi Iyer from the pastry chef Dominique Ansel.  All thanks to them for such an rich, unique Brioche

Tawa tossed aubergine with ketjap manis dressing

 This week, for cookbook challenge,  I choosed my dish from this month's Good Food magazine.  Grilled aubergine, tossed with ketjab manis dressing, has an perfect match with dal rice or rice with curry.  The ketjab manis dressing is sweet saucy yet tangy in taste.  The major part is soya sauce with an slight garlic and chilly twist.  

Together with ketjab manis, my pan tossed aubergines went well and that had an blast of flavours with dal rice.  Kindly try this one and let us know.

Empanada vegetariana - Galician stuffed bread

    Empanada gallega/ Galician empanada belongs to cuisine of Galicia, and is mainly had as an appetizer.  This, in general refers to an variety of stuffed bread - filling being fish or seafood or vegetables or an ultimate combo  of all three.  They are known to have sweet fillings as well.  They are prepared as an large savoury pie, and is sliced for serving purpose.

So, when Swathi and Marisa suggested us this bread, I was very delighted to bake them.  I choosed vegetarian version of Empanada with an touch of scrambled eggs, you can avoid eggs if you want. Empanadas vegetarian mixture are called as, 'zaragallada' and they have an strong hint of onions along with garlic, capsicum and tomatos. 

Empanada can be circle or rectangular, depending on baker's choice. Once out of the oven, they were mild, delecious and filling as well.   Since, they are mild, they would go great with tomato-chilly dip or chilly sauce.  We cherished them as an week-end tea-time snack and all thanks to  Swathi and Marisa  for suggesting such an delecious bread

Verkadalai chutney - Peanut chutney

   Back at Chennai, my mother used to prepare fabulous chutney, depending on the available ingredients.  Everytime, it was different - ranging from onion chutney, mint chutney, peerkankai chutney, dal chutney, verkadalai chutney etc.  Yes, I am still drooling here thinking of her exotic chutneys :D

     For us, it would be always coconut chutney, but for an change, I tried my mother's recipe for verkadalai chutney.  I must say, it resembled an spicy desi version of ' Peanut butter'.  Chutney was soo smooth, soo buttery to have with every bite of dosa.

The next day, I called mom and thanked her for such an unique and tasty chutney.  Bored of regular chutney, please do give them an chance...  :D