(Healthy-ish) cheesecake

The Auntie Anne household is exclusively diabetic so we're always on the hunt for sugar-free treats. (To cut a long story short we have to watch our cholesterol too, but this isn't a medical blog so go elsewhere if you want to know more about that bit.....)

So we bought some sugar-free ginger biscuits at a food fair and- to be honest - they were awful! We thought about pouring custard over them but that seemed a bit feeble so here's what happened:

Bash the biscuits into crumbs. (Stick them in a plastic bag and hit them with a rolling pin). Melt about an ounce of butter. Yes, it has to be butter. Low-fat spreads don't hold their shape. This is the only naughty bit in the whole process! Add the crumbs and stir around until they are well covered, then press them into the bottom of a serving dish.

 I also put a collar of greaseproof round it because this dish is quite shallow.  If you want to turn out your cheesecake at the end, use a loose-bottomed dish. Pop it in the fridge to set while you make the topping.

Next mix a 250g pot of light cream cheese with a good dollop of natural yoghurt. The exact amount you need will vary with how thick it is. If it's too runny you don't need so much. But look at the picture for a rough guide.  Also add a couple of tablespoons of artifical sweetener. (If you're not diabetic you can use icing sugar.)

Split a vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the cheese mixture. DO NOT DISCARD THE POD. There are things you can still do with it!

Give the cheese mixture a really good stir then pour it onto the biscuit base.  Put it back in the fridge to set, preferably overnight. Make a nice pattern on it if you like or you can just spread it thusly:

ENJOY!

Make your own stock cubes

I made a fish pie today. I'll give you instructions for that sometime in the future. But I just thought I'd offer this tip that cropped up during the process.  I'd bought some whole prawns as part of the fishy bit.  I shelled them and kept the meats for the pie but I made a stock out of the shells by boiling them up with a half a stick of celery, a small onion, a squeeze of lemon juice and some freshly ground black pepper. I let it boil for about 20 minutes then strained it through a sieve and let it cool.

I had loads more than I needed for sauce for the pie so I reduced down the remainder (that means boiling it rapidly until it's only a quarter to a third of the original volume) and then poured it into an ice cube bag and froze it. Next time I need some fish stock all I have to do is break out an ice cube and drop it into whatever I'm cooking.

You can do the same with any stock you make. Ensure you label it well if you do. It's a bit difficult to tell the difference between chicken and fish once it's frozen!