Easy peasy cheesy treats (Cheese Recipes)

Member Name: ~*pink-pilgrim*~

Product:	Cheese Recipes
Date:	05/11/07 (128 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to make, yummy ideas

Disadvantages: you may not like cheese ;-)

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* INTRODUCTION *
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Until recently I had never imagined a three course meal based on CHEESE! Only a few weeks ago I was cooking a meal for my partner. I looked through recipe books, had advice from my mum and my Nan. I even tried watching UKTV Food and Jamie Oliver for inspiration. I never got it. So I decided to go with what I know. I decided that the three meals I know very well would be easy. That was until I realised the ‘main ingredient’…cheese.




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* STARTER *
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My partner loves hot stuff. He is really into those Jalapeno poppers, personally I hate them so I will give an alternative recipe for those who will not eat hot, spicy food. I didn’t have a recipe for either of these so they have been made up via experimentation. They did work but required a lot of perseverance. I was unable to but Jalepeno Peppers so I used large chillies.

*~* Jalapeño Poppers *~*
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***INGREDIENTS***

• 12 Large green chillies
• 1 tub Cream cheese (I used dairylea)
• 1 Egg white
• 25g Flour
• 25g Breadcrumbs

Mayonnaise, cucumber and tomato to serve.

***METHOD***

1. Cut the top off the chillies (lids), scoop out EVERY seed. Boil them in a saucepan with hot water until tender.

2. Pipe the cheese into the cavity and replace the ‘lids’.

3. Dip the chillies into the egg and then the flour.

4. Dip the chillies back into the egg and roll in the bread crumbs.

5. Either place the ‘poppers’ (chillies) into a frying pan with some oil or into a chip pan. Wait until golden brown and scoop out.

6. Serve with a mayonnaise dip and some sticks of cucumber and tomato to cool it down.

This recipe will serve 3 people with 4 poppers each.

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*~* Mozzarella dippers *~*
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***INGREDIENTS***

• 1 bag of Mozerella
• 1 Egg white
• 25g Flour
• 25g breadcrumbs

Mayonnaise and garlic clove for serving

***METHOD***

1. Chop the mozzarella into strips (about 8 in a bag).

2. Coat the cheese in egg white mixture, then place into the flour.

3. coat the cheese in egg white once more then place into the breadcrumbs

4. fry the dippers in a frying pan until golden brown.

Serve with garlic mayonnaise (mayonnaise mixed with a crushed clove of garlic)

This recipe will serve 2 people with 4dippers each.



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* Main *
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Until recently I did not realise that cheese could significantly improve a meal. My mum has tried for a while to get us to eat boiled potatoes…eww you know the ones that look like skin heads and have no flavour whatsoever.

Well one day she explained that we had chicken, broccoli, carrots and boiled potatoes. It all sounded good until he said that word…no not broccoli…boiled potatoes!

This day was different though, she served up these potatoes with a sauce the potatoes had been sliced and were sitting on my plate with a tasty looking creamy sauce. Cautiously I tasted a bit and it tasted as good as it looked.

***INGREDIENTS***

Cheese Sauce
• 25g butter
• 25g plain flour
• 300ml milk
• 100-300g grated cheese (depending on how cheesy you want it)

Potatoes
• 6 peeled and sliced potatoes
• Handful of grated cheese

***METHOD***

1. First make the Cheese sauce.

2. Mix the butter and flour in a pan until a paste is formed.

3. Then add small quantities of milk at a time, whilst mixing (so that lumps would not form).

4. When this starts to look like a thick, white, creamy mixture add the cheese a bit at a time.

5. Place this aside in a heatproof jug. Cover the jug with a piece of cling film over the top to stop a ‘skin’ from forming.

6. Slice the potatoes (about 0.5cm thick) into thin, round slices. Boil these in a saucepan, until part done (about 10-20 minutes)

7. Pour the cheese sauce into an oven proof dish, add the partly boiled potatoes.

8. Grate some cheese over the top and place in the oven for about 30 minutes.


***SERVING SUGGESTION***

These potatoes can be eaten with almost anything. When I cooked the meal I served them up with a bacon and cheese melt chicken breast (chicken with mozzarella, BBQ sauce, pineapple slice and bacon wrapped around the chicken). This is beautiful with broccoli, peas or carrots.




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* DESSERT *
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Probably one of my favourite desserts and it’s a really safe option too. Most people like Cheesecake so it is a good option when catering for guests. OK so many do not think of cheesecakes as actually containing cheese but they do and this one has quite a lot of it.

Its also one of those desserts that you can prpare in advance giving you that extra time with your guests.


***INGREDIENTS***

*~*Biscuit base*~*
50g (2oz) of melted butter or margarine
100g (40z) of crushed digestive biscuits (this can also be nice with ginger nut biscuits)
25g (2oz) of desiccated coconut

*~*Cheesecake stuff*~*
135g (5oz) pineapple jelly (if you can’t get pineapple jelly lime and lemon would work just as well)
225g (8oz) low fat soft cheese (Philadelphia)
150g (5oz) low fat natural yoghurt
30ml (2 tbsp) Malibu (probably the best ingredient)
150ml (5 fluid oz) whipping cream. Whipped softly

*~*To decorate*~*
Pineapple, grapes and kiwis although something more tropical like star fruit, mango and papaya etc would be lovely with this.

***METHOD***

FIRST PHASE

1. Crush the biscuits in a sandwich bag using a rolling pin.

2. Melt the butter on a low heat, I have found that 10 seconds in a microwave dish is ample.

3. Mix the crushed biscuits and desiccated coconut with the butter

4. Pour into the greased loose bottom tin and push down so that the biscuit base is level and fully covering the bottom of the tin.

SECOND PHASE

5. Place the biscuit base in the fridge

6. Dissolve the jelly in 150ml hot water and allow to cool slightly.

7. Beat the cheese, yoghurt and Malibu rum together.

8. Slowly add the jelly mix to the cheese, yoghurt and Malibu rum. MIX WELL

9. Fold in the slightly whipped cream.

10. Poor the mixture onto the chilled biscuit base and replace in the fridge.

11. Leave until set taking a similar for to jelly.

12. FINALLY just before you serve put a few slices of kiwi, pineapple, grapes or other exotic fruits. I am sure mango and papaya would be nice on this cheesecake.


***SERVING SUGGESTION***

This dessert will serve 6-8 people depending on the size of portions, we usually get about 8 small portions which is ample, the dessert can be quite sickly in large quantities. You could place a jug of cream on the side or serve with a blob of Cornish Clotted cream. Variation serve in individual glass dishes for a formal dinner party.




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*SUMMARY*
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So there you have it a three course meal that is effective but easy to do. I enjoyed the meal and I know my other half did too. He is a chef and is obviously hard to please; he polished his plate and asked for seconds. I would recommend these recipes to anyone whether you do all three together or one at a time. They are not expensive to make and are all very easy with a bit of patience and perseverance.

‘Bon Appetite’!

Summary: My easy peasy cheesy recipe