Lamb & Parsnip Pie with Japanese Cheesecake with Raspberries

Main: Lamb & Parsnip Pie
Life Food: David Herbert (The Weekend Australian Magazine)

Dessert: Japanese Cheesecake with Raspberries
Delicious – Love to Eat

Hi Everyone,

Hope life is treating you well and you’re enjoying your increased freedoms. Interesting family meals are the focus of this blog and certainly the pies from David Herbert, featured over the last two weeks, fit the bill.

I used a lamb shoulder for this pie as it has more flavour than the leg and the pie certainly contains a nice lot of veg but my thoughts were that even more could be added, so throw in some peas, and maybe zucchini or whatever you have in the crisper waiting to be thrown out. The combination of the red wine, tomato paste, rosemary and tinned tomatoes is a no-brainer when it come to flavour. I decided to do the filling ahead of time and freeze it because I wanted to know if it survived well. Yes! it did. It wasn’t watery once defrosted as so many casserole based recipes are. Just be aware that you will need to bring the filling up to room temp before putting the pastry on top. The recipe calls for the filling to be cool, not cold.

If frozen bring the filling up to room temp before covering with pastry

During cooking of the filling just be aware to check for sticking – I would definitely give it a stir every so often.

Pair this up with the mash of your choice, a little bit of something green and you have a hearty meal that is a winner all round. 9/10

Add the mash of your choice and something green and you have a very hearty meal

Dessert: Japanese Cheesecake with Raspberries. The name made me think that there was going to be something exotic about this cheesecake. Well, wouldn’t you think so too? At the end of the day it was simply a baked cheesecake with a berry coulis. Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love a baked cheesecake but I’m all for calling a spade a spade.

Basically a baked cheesecake

It was beautiful and light in texture and flavour. It definitely needs the coulis and you could use raspberries or strawberries for this. The raspberries were at an all time high in terms of price so I went for strawberries.

I used strawberries for the coulis

It was a very easy recipe and won’t take you long to do the morning of your dinner. It goes a long way so if you were having a few friends over for afternoon tea, this would be a great treat to present them with. 9/10

Both of these are well worth a go.

So until next week,

from my table to yours with love x

Lamb & Parsnip Pie

This pie is hearty and contains quite a few veg but, of course, add some more if you wish. The recipe is for 4, however, it feeds 6 easily

2 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks (trimmed & sliced)
1 carrot (peeled & diced)
1 medium parsnip (peeled & diced)
1 stalk celery (sliced)
800 g lamb shoulder meat (cut into 2cm pieces)
3 tbsp plain four
¾ c red wine
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
2 tbsp tomato paste
400 g can chopped or crushed tomatoes
2 c beef stock
2 sheets puff pastry (thawed)
1 egg (lightly beaten)

Heat oil in a large heatproof casserole and add leeks, carrot, parsnip and celery. Cook stirring occasionally for 7-8 minutes.
Toss lamb in flour, shaking off any excess. Add flour-coated lamb to vegetables and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
Add red wine, rosemary, tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil. reduce heat and simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cover and cook in oven at 170°c (fan) for one hour and 45 minutes or util lamb is tender; set aside to cool. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
To assemble the pie, preheat oven to 180°c (fan). Transfer the lamb to a large ceramic dish – it should fill the dish almost to the top. Drape the pastry sheets over the pie dish, layering together to join if necessary. Use a fork to prick the top a couple of times.
Brush the top with beaten egg. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden and risen.

Main Course

Modern Australian

Japanese Cheesecake with Raspberries

This recipe is a slightly lighter than usual baked cheesecake. Strawberries work just as well if raspberries are over priced or not in season. It is a recipe that goes a very long way.

500 g cream cheese (softened)
¾ c caster sugar
60 g unsalted butter (softened)
6 eggs (separated)
300 ml thickened cream
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ c plain flour (sifted)
icing sugar to dust

Raspberry Sauce

250 g raspberries (plus extra to serve)
2 tbsp caster sugar

The Cheesecake

Preheat the oven to 160°c. Grease and line a 22cm square cake pan, allowing some overhang to help remove the cake.
Using electric beaters, beat cream cheese and ¼c caster sugar for 2-3 mins until well combined. Add the butter and beat until combined. Add the egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating after each addition, then add the cream, lemon juice and vanilla. Fold through the sifted flour, then transfer mixture to another bowl. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Add the remaining ½c caster sugar, in 3 batches, whisking well after each addition, until thick and glossy. Gently fold the egg white mixture into the cream cheese mixture, then transfer to the prepared pan, gently tapping the pan on the bench to remove any air bubbles.
Place pan in a deep baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for 1 hour (if the top is browning too quickly, loosely cover with foil), then reduce heat to 140°c and bake for a further 30 mins. Turn off the oven and leave the cake in the oven for 15 mins. with the door ajar.
Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely, then refrigerate for 1-2 hours until firm.
Using the baking paper, remove cheesecake from pan, dust with icing sugar and serve with raspberry sauce and extra whole raspberries.

Raspberry Sauce

For the sauce, place the raspberries, sugar and 1tbsp water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 mins until the berries have released their juices and broken down. Strain through a fine sieve over a bowl or jug, discarding solids, then refrigerate.

Dessert

Japanese

Lamb & Parsnip Pie with Japanese Cheesecake with Raspberries