Cottage Cheesecake

I was quite frankly skeptical of this idea but decided to give it a try anyway. My first attempt was ok, but there was room for improvement. So here's what I did:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups regular cottage cheese
1 1/3 Cups non-fat plain yogurt
2 Tbsp. flour
7 Tbsp. granulated Splenda (suitable for baking), or sugar if you'd rather.
2 Eggs
2 Egg whites
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Blackberry marmalade as needed for the topping (or any other topping you want)

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F)

First you need to reduce the cottage cheese to a thick fluid. Since I've been suing it in other recipes, I did what I always do: mix it with something more fluid, yogurt in this case, in the blender and hit the liquefy setting. It works very well.

Next mix the liquefied cheese and yogurt mix with the rest of the ingredients in a big bowl and whisk them together. the order doesn't matter, but it's easier to leave the lime zest and juice for last. Pour the whisked batter into a greased baking dish and place in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

It's a bit hard to say when it's done, as it won't solidify until it cools down a bit first. By my experience, it's done when the mix on the edges of the dish begin to turn golden brown.

Let the pie cool down and spread the marmalade, or the topping of your choice, on top.

The consistency is close to, but quite that, of regular cheesecake. The flavor is very close. For low fat it's really excellent.

I want to try mixing chocolate chips in the batter next. They ought to melt nicely while it melts. Or perhaps add melted chocolate in layers. This would raise the fat content, of course, but it might be worth trying.

Cream of Tomato Soup

This one I made yesterday. Again it's my own recipe, and again it's all made from scratch. About that, I've learned two things: 1) It's very tiring to do everything from scratch, but 2) it's very satisfying.

Without further ado:

Another Anchor container

Ingredients:

About 1.25 kilos (almost 3 lbs) of round tomatoes, peeled, cored and seeded, then chopped. Oblong tomatoes should work, but the round ones cook faster and better. They're also easier (but not easy) to seed.
1 small or medium clove of garlic, minced
1 thick slice of onion, chopped.
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1.5 liters chicken broth
3/4 Cup low-fat or non-fat milk
5 Tbsp. Cottage cheese (I use regular, which is rather low in fat anyway)
1/4 tsp. Cumin
1/3-1/2 tsp. Paprika
420 gr. Tomato puree (or paste, or sauce)

First peel and seed your tomatoes. This is hard work, and I usually assume my readers know how. But in this case it's important that you seed the tomatoes over a strainer in a bowl, to catch and keep the juice that seeding usually produces. So my method for seeding is to quarter the tomatoes and manually remove the seed parts.


Heat the olive oil in a soup pot and set the onion and garlic to saute. Add the tomato when the onion begins to turn translucent. I cut mine into fairly large pieces, but go any way you want. As they cook, they'll release a lot of juice and will soften considerably; so you want to keep stirring them in order to keep them from burning. When they're soft, add the juice you reserved from seeding.

Cook with the juice until it barely begins to boil. Despite the released juices and the added juice, the mix will be very thick and will form large steam bubbles. So lower the flame to minimum and add the chicken broth. Bring to a slow boil, stirring on occasion.

A word here. I used actually hot water and two low-fat, low-sodium chicken bouillon cubes. The reason is to have a more subtle chicken flavor. If you can do that with broth, great. If not, try my approach.

Good. When the mix boils, turn off the heat and let it cool a bit. You guessed it, the mix will be going to the blender. Do it in batches, adding a little milk and some cottage cheese on each batch. You may want to transfer the soup to a container first, as it's all going back in the pot.

Once it's back in the pot, add the tomato puree, cumin and paprika. Stir well, and again set the heat to low and bring to a slow boil, stirring frequently. Let it simmer a bit after it boils and then serve.

I love tomato soup. I usually have it mixed with boiled, plain white rice and a little lime (yes, lime; I'm like that). Or with crackers and lime, or with croutons and lime, or with rice, crackers and lime. Enjoy!

As I said, it's very satisfying to do it all from scratch (I know I used chicken bouillon cubes and tomato puree). So much so that I later thought "Shouldn't I get canned diced tomatoes?" And I answered myself "No. I might as well get a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup!"

Cream of Chile Poblano

I made this last week, but didn't get around to posting it until today (too many long hour days at the office)

This is an entirely original recipe, mistakes and all. I'm rather proud of it.

I love these Anchor containers!

Ingredients:

1 kilo Poblano Chiles (about 8 or 9)
1/4 onion, chopped.
1 clove of garlic, minced
1.5 liters chicken broth
5 Tbsp. Cottage cheese
3/4 Cup non-fat or low-fat milk

The preparation is a bit tricky, and very time-consuming.

First you place the chiles on a baking sheet in the upper part of the oven and turn on the broiler to high. You want them to blacken and blister, turning them with tongs as needed (pull out the oven tray when you do so). This is easier said than done, however, as chiles tend to be flat. You'll find the sides won't blacken nor blister much.

When they're done, let them cool for 30 minutes or so. Then you take the skin off. This is easy in some areas and hard on others. I didn't bother to take all the skin off where it got too hard to peel.

Next you chop the peppers into large pieces, being very careful to remove the seeds and veins. Poblanos are considered mild, which is why they can be used for soup and other dishes, but that's rather relative and some are hotter than others. As it was, I did not remove all the veins, so my soup turned out rather on the hot side.

Now heat a little oil in a soup pot and saute the onion and garlic until the onion begins to turn translucent. Add the chopped chiles and saute for 5-7 minutes. Reduce the heat to its lowest setting and add the chicken broth and bring to a slow boil, stirring occasionally.

When it boils, turn off the heat and let it cool a bit. Now you'll be adding the soup to the blender in batches (unless you have a big industrial-type blander), along with the milk and cottage cheese, also in batches. You'll be bringing the liquefied mix back to the pot, so you may want to empty it into another container first. Taste it, too, and see whether it's too hot. if it is, add some more milk and cottage cheese, and, to taste, more chicken broth. Just be careful not to dilute the flavor of the poblanos too much.

Once the soup is liquefied, return tot he pot and bring it again to a slow boil in low heat. Let it simmer a few minutes and serve.

If you like, you can add croutons to the soup once it's served. I like mine plain.

Green Bell Pepper Soup

This is an easy, but not quick recipe. be very careful with the oven!

Ingredients:

4 large bell peppers
1 Teaspoon olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 liter boiling water
1 can of baked beans (about 560 gr.), drained
2 chicken bouillon cubes, low fat and low sodium
A pinch of fine herbs

To begin with preheat the oven for broiling, then place the bell peppers on a baking sheet inside the oven near the top. Let the peppers broil until they blister and blacken, then turn them, using tongs, until all sides are black and blistered. be very careful, and remember to slide the oven tray out (wearing oven mitts, of course!) It's safer than sticking your arms into the oven.

When they're done, let them cool for about twenty minutes. Next you'll find the skin comes off with a little effort. Skin them. You don't have to remove the entire skin. no, let em rephrase that: I did not remove the whole skin from each. Once they're skinned, cut them open, and get the seeds and core out. You'll find the seeds may have turned brown. The peppers will be soft and easy to cut. Now chop them in small pieces.

In a soup pot heat the oil, then saute the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent. Add the chopped peppers and saute another 3-5 minutes. Add the water and bouillon cubes. Stir well to dissolve them. Add the beans and a pinch of fine herbs. Stir well and reduce heat to minimum. Bring to a slow boil, then let simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Let it cool and serve.

The recipe I was originally making called for putting the thing in the blender after adding the beans. I decided to let it cook through first. When I tasted it I found it very good, so I omitted the blending step. But that's a good option for another time.

New Year's Pears

First credit where credit is due: I found this recipe posted by an online friend, who wanted to share his daughter's recipe. Thank you!

Second, I've not done much in the way of desserts, and this seemed like a good place to start.

Third, I altered the recipe proportions in one essential ingredient, sugar, which I wished to keep low. But this alters the outcome, as we'll see later.

Delicious!

Ingredients:

4 Large pears, peeled, cored and cut into large pieces
1 Bottle (750ml) of red wine
1 Tsp. grated orange peel
1/2 Cup orange juice
1 Tsp. Cardamom
1 Cinnamon stick (about 3 inches long)
1 Scoop vanilla ice cream
1 Cup sugar

As with most cooking, the larger part lies in preparing the ingredients. I found it easier to peel the pears by using a diagonal motion with the potato peeler. Don't worry about peeling near the stem or the bottom, you'll be cutting off those parts anyway (or you should).

About the sugar, the idea is to obtain a syrup in the end. For that you need 2 1/4 cups, as one cup won't do it. Still, I do watch my sugar intake, and the single cup I used made the dessert sweet enough. But in the end I get a thin, sweet sauce rather than syrup. Choose accordingly.


First mix everything but he pears in a deep saucepan, or a pot, and bring it to a slow, gentle boil (you may want to let the ice cream scoop sit a while before adding it; of course it doesn't matter if it melts). Add the pears and let them cook through, say for about 25 to 45 minutes. Remove the pears to a serving dish when they're done, and keep simmering the mix until it's reduced enough (or until it's syrupy if you go with more sugar).

I tried them right off the stove, and found them delicious and perfect for a cold night. If you serve them cold, you can add a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle some syrup on top. This dish has a strong, spicy, flavor.

One last thing, the cardamom is key in this recipe. It's a bit expensive (I paid about $8 for a small jar with 65 gr., or about two ounces I think), but well worth it. In contrast, any cheap, dry red wine will do nicely.

Enchiladas Rojas (Red Enchiladas)

Traditionally enchiladas are either green or red, depending on whether you use red or green tomatoes to make the sauce. In fact, table salsa usually is also green or red for the same reason.

Again I made these with cottage cheese as a filling, but you can use anything else you want. Shredded chicken and pork carnitas are popular, and tasty, fillings.

Fresh from the oven!

As with the past enchilada recipe, I'll post the salsa apart from the rest:

Salsa
Ingredients:

4-5 red tomatoes
1/2 onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, quartered
Cilantro to taste (about 3-5 branches, stems and all)
2-4 Serrano chilies, or other small green chilies.
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup water.

Blanch the tomatoes and peel them, or peel by your preferred method. I tried roasting them this time, at first, but I had trouble doing so. Next quarter them and put them in the blender, removing the core and seeds first. Add the other ingredients to the blender and liquefy the whole thing. You may want to do this in two batches unless you have a big blender. BTW this is the time to taste the salsa and see whether it's too hot or no hot enough, and to adjust the ingredients accordingly.

Pour the salsa into a deep saucepan or pot and turn the heat on low. Let it come to a boil slowly, stirring from time to time. Let it boil for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Then remove from heat and set aside.


Enchiladas
Ingredients:

The salsa from the previous step
200 gr. Cottage cheese (or more)
70 gr. grated white cheese suitable for melting
2 Tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream (optional; personally I don't like it in my enchiladas)
Fresh, wide, corn tortillas, as many as necessary
Chopped onion to taste

First the tortillas handle better when hot. My preferred method is to heat them on a comal on the stove. A comal is a flat, round piece of thin metal that holds 3 or four tortillas. If you don't have one, you can use a wide skillet, or even put them in the microwave for thirty seconds wrapped in a clean kitchen cloth.

So, heat the tortillas a few at a time. Carefully, as they're hot, spoon some cottage each on one and fold it in on itself. Place it on an oven safe baking dish with the fold side down. If it opens as soon as you let go, you have the wrong kind of tortilla. Repeat as many times as necessary. In the photo above there are about 8 enchiladas.

Next pour salsa generously on top, making sure to cover all the enchiladas. Try not to use it all, as a reserve may come in handy later. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly on top and, if you want, the sour cream as well.

Place in an oven pre-heated to 300 degrees F (you may want to pre-heat the oven before you get started) for thirty minutes. Remove from the oven, let it cool and serve.

For serving, put freshly chopped onion on the table to sprinkle on top. Also perhaps additional salsa, as you should have some left over. If you reheat them in the microwave, BTW, they tend to dry out. When I reheat them I pour some salsa on them before putting them in the microwave, so they'll be moist when done.

I also like to serve them with Mexican rice.

Bonus recipe:

For making red chilaquiles, simply use the same sauce recipe and pour it over tortilla chips. Fried chips keep better, but baked chips do well for a fresh serving. Top with chopped onion. Some people like adding grated fresh cheese and sour cream as well.

Sopa de Pasta

This is a rather simple dish commonly served in Mexican homes and small restaurants.

The pasta can barely be made out!

Essentially this is chicken broth with tomato and small pasta shapes. The typical recipe calls for frying the pasta a golden brown. But this being a low-fat cooking blog, I didn't do that. It works as well with un-fried pasta, so long as you don't over-cook it. So first you want to almost-cook the pasta in plain water.

Ingredients:

2 liters chicken broth
200 gr. small pasta shapes,a bit under-cooked
350 gr. peeled, seeded, diced  red tomato (or about one medium red tomato, peeled and seeded)
1/3 Onion, quartered
1 clove garlic, quartered
A pinch of fine herbs
1 Bay leaf

Under-cook and drain the pasta and set aside. In a blender place the tomato, onion and garlic. Liquefy the lot and set aside. In a large pot heat the chicken broth slowly, seasoning with fine herbs and a bay leaf (if you've seasoned it when you made it, you can skip this step), and the liquefied tomato from the blender. Stir well.


When the soup begins to bubble, add the pasta and stir. Let it boil, turn off the heat, let it cool a bit and serve.

Traditionally it's seasoned individually with lime to taste. I favor a whole small lime, or half a large one. Other people prefer less. You can also add chopped onion, cilantro or serrano chilies if you like.

Cottage Cheese Enchiladas

Finally :)

The point is to get fresh, wide tortillas. Otherwise making low-fat enchiladas is just too difficult. You see, most people will fry the tortillas. In low-fat cooking that's obviously a no-no. But plain tortillas tend to crumble when folded, especially if they're a day or two old.

I think it's best to give the recipe for the salsa separately, so:

Salsa
Ingredients:

14-18 green tomatoes without the husk
1/2 onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, quartered
Cilantro to taste (about 3-5 branches, stems and all)
4 Serrano chilies, or other small green chilies.
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup water.

Boil the tomatoes until they begin to change color, then place them in a bowl of ice water. Next quarter them and put them in the blender, removing the core first. Add the other ingredients tot he blender and liquefy the whole thing. You may want to do this in two batches unless you have a big blender. BTW this is the time to taste the salsa and see whether it's too hot or no hot enough, and to adjust the ingredients accordingly.

Pour the salsa into a deep saucepan or pot and turn the heat on low. Let it come to a boil slowly, stirring from time to time. Let it boil for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Then remove from heat and set aside.

Enchiladas
Ingredients:

The salsa from the previous step
200 gr. Cottage cheese (or more)
70 gr. grated white cheese suitable for melting
2 Tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream (optional; personally I don't like it in my enchiladas)
Fresh, wide, corn tortillas, as many as necessary
Chopped onion to taste

First the tortillas handle better when hot. My preferred method is to heat them on a comal on the stove. A comal is a flat, round piece of thin metal that holds 3 or four tortillas. If you don't have one, you can use a wide skillet, or even put them in the microwave for thirty seconds wrapped in a clean kitchen cloth.

So, heat the tortillas a few at a time. Carefully, as they're hot, spoon some cottage each on one and fold it in on itself. Place it on an oven safe glass baking dish with the fold side down. If it opens as soon as you let go, you have the wrong kind of tortilla. Repeat as many times as necessary. In the photo above there are about 8 enchiladas.

Next pour salsa generously on top, making sure to cover all the enchiladas. Try not to use it all, as a reserve may come in handy later. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly on top and, if you want, the sour cream as well.

Place in an oven pre-heated to 300 degrees F (you may want to pre-heat the oven before you get started) for thirty minutes. Remove from the oven, let it cool and serve.

For serving, put freshly chopped onion on the table to sprinkle on top. Also perhaps additional salsa, as you should have some left over. If you reheat them in the microwave, BTW, they tend to dry out. When I reheat them I pour some salsa on them before putting them in the microwave, so they'll be moist when done.

I also like to serve them with Mexican rice. The recipe for that will be along shortly.

Kathy's Lentil and Barley Casserole

I'm not really sure if this qualifies as a casserole, but I like the sound of it.

Again, this is an original recipe. Mostly I took what i found in the fridge, plus lentils. I like how it came out.

Ingredients:

1 Cup lentils
4 Tablespoons Barley
1 Cup of rice cooked to taste (the cup refers to pre-cooked measurement)
1 Clove of garlic, minced
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 Green Bell pepper, diced
4 Strips of turkey bacon, sliced
4 Turkey sausages, sliced
1 Cup soybean sprouts
1/4 Green cabbage, chopped
1/3 Teaspoon ground cummin
1 Teaspoon oregano, crushed
A pinch of fine herbs, crushed
1 Teaspoon vegetable oil (any kind)
1.5 Liters of water

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a pot and add the bacon. Cook for two or three minutes, then add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion begins to turn translucent. Add the rest of the vegetables and the sausages, and cook until the cabbage begins to soften.

Add the water and reduce the heat to minimum. Add the lentils and barley and stir well. When the water begins to warm, add the spices and stir well. Let the water come to a boil, stirring occasionally. Keep boiling until most of the liquid is consumed or the lentils are tender. At this point add the cooked rice and stir well to mix everything together. let the whole thing sit on the flame for a bit longer, then let it cool and serve. You want as little iquid as possible, but if some remains that's not a problem.

Simple spaghetti recipe

I didn't feel like making anything complicated this weekend, so I got some spaghetti and Prego sauce. If that were all, I wouldn't post about it, but I tend to add some things to the store-bought red stuff.

Ingredients:

350 gr. Spaghetti cooked to taste
1 Jar Spaghetti sauce (about 650 gr. if memory serves)
1 Cup snow peas
1 Cup Soybean sprouts
1/3 Red onion, thinly sliced
1 Clove garlic, minced
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/3 teaspoon fine herbs
1 Tablespoon oregano, crushed
Ground black pepper to taste
2 Turkey sausages, diced
A dash of Worcestershire sauce

I've found it best to prepare the pasta and sauce at the same time, because cooked pasta left in a colander tends to get sticky. It also helps to spray the cooked pasta with cold water after draining it.

So, in a deep saucepan, and I mean deep, or a pot, heat the olive oil. Saute the onion and garlic until the onion begins to turn flexible. Next add the bell pepper and keep cooking for two minutes. Add the soybean sprouts and snow peas, and sprinkle the black pepper. Cook for a few minutes longer until the vegetables are cooked to your taste.

Next reduce heat to minimum and add the jar of sauce and stir. Add the fine herbs, oregano, Worcestershire and sausages next, stir again. Bring the whole thing to a slow boil, and add the cooked Spaghetti (if it's done then). Stir/toss the pasta to mix it well with the sauce and veggies.

The added vegetables make the sauce really thick, so it's easier to ad the pasta to it rather than the sauce to the pasta. Also, commercial Spaghetti sauce already has oregano, so taste it beforehand and see if you want to add more.

I have been looking for recipes for tomato sauce to make my own, but I haven't had much success there. One time I attempted my own recipe with tomato puree and spices. The result were ok, but no better than store-bought sauce, so why bother?

On the plus side, my inability to find good recipes led me to develop my own recipe for Green Bell Pepper Fettuccine, which led to the recipe for Fettuccine with Poblano Chile Sauce.

Sweet and sour cabbage, first draft

I thought this one up while at work late this afternoon. I've tried some sweet and sour recipes before, but was disappointed with the results. This one comes close to meeting my expectations, but it's not all it could be yet. Think of it as first draft.

Ingredients:

1/2 A head of green cabbage, shredded
1/3 Onion, quartered
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
1 Cup soybean sprouts
1 Cup snow peas
1 Cup chicken broth (Ok, I used a cup of hot water and one cube of low sodium, low fat chicken bullion)
3 Tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium)
4 1/2 Tablespoons vinegar
1/4 cup Ketchup (I used low-sugar ketchup)
2 Tablespoons Splenda (you can use sugar in the same proportion)
Black pepper to taste
1 Teaspoon sesame seed oil
3 Tablespoons corn starch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water

Preparation:

First do the sauce. In a bowl mix the chicken broth (cold or warm, not hot), ketchup, soy sauce and vinegar. Whisk until you can't see lumps of ketchup. Taste to see if it's sour enough. if it isn't, add more vinegar (carefully, you don't want it too sour). Add the Splenda and whisk again. Taste again to check if the sweet and sour balance is ok. if not, adjust as needed by adding more sweetener or vinegar. Just be careful not to mess it up, or to add too much liquid. Set it aside.

Heat the oil in a pot. Add the onion and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the cabbage, snow peas and soybean sprouts. Sprinkle with pepper, if you want, and stir well. Stir-fry for ten to fifteen minutes, or to the point where you think the veggies are soft enough.

Reduce the heat to minimum and add the sauce (it won't hurt to give it a last whisk). Stir well so everything gets coated. You may need to toss it like a salad. Let it simmer for three minutes and add the corn starch dissolve din water. Stir/toss well again, insuring everything gets well-drenched in sauce. Let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, remove from heat and serve.

I need, and I will,make some improvements. For one thing I should add sliced carrots and pineapple bits in syrup (which would alter the sweetener amounts). It might also serve for sweet and sour meats like chicken or pork.

Enjoy!

Green Salsa

 For all my fondness quoting my own cooking laws, you'd think I'd pay attention to them... Well, long story short, I found out two-day old tortillas are edible, but too stiff for enchiladas. I'll try again soon.

The good news is the salsa came out well. So here's the recipe:


6-7 green tomatoes without the husk
1/3 cup chopped onion
A small piece of onion.
1.5 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 teaspoon cumin
Cilantro to taste
1 or 2 serrano chilies (without the tails)
Water
3 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil

Boil the tomatoes until they begin to change color. Plunge them into a bowl of ice water for a few minutes. Quarter them and toss them in the blender. Add one clove of garlic, the small piece of onion (and I mean small), cilantro, chilies, some water, cumin and vinegar. Liquefy the whole thing.

In a deep sauce pan heat the olive oil and saute the minced half clove of garlic and the chopped onion, but only for a minute. Reduce the heat to minimum, add the salsa from the blender and stir. Bring to a slow boil uncovered, stirring occassionally. When it begins to boil, turn off the heat and let the salsa cool.

Once it cools you can make enchiladas with it in any way you want. Or you can use it as regular salsa on any dish.

I put the serrano chilies in whole, except for cutting off the tail part. If you prefer a  milder salsa, you can remove the veins and seeds, or just use half a chile instead of a whole one. The time to taste whether the spiciness level is too high is after you've blended everything. If it's too mild, you can add more chile. If it's too hot, I recommend tossing in another tomato and some water.