No-Cheesecake, Golden Beet Soup, Glazed Nasuri Donburi

Mango No-Cheesecake
Sally requested Mango Cheesecake for dessert at her Valentine's Day dinner.  This is a recipe from Kurbotm by WWtm, which is apparently Weight Watchers for young folks.  This recipe has all the flavor of cheesecake, but without all the calories of cheese and cream.  Turns out that Icelandic Skyr or Greek Yogurt make a good substitute for the usual cream cheese and heavy cream.

Nice recipe, and very tasty, but if you follow the directions below -- as I did this time -- the result will be pretty (as you can see) but it won't be what you expect.  Tasty.  Very tasty in fact.   But more of a custard than a cheesecake.  See my discussion at the below...

8" Springform Pan, bottom lined with parchment paper

Crust
8-9 'sheets' of Graham Crackers
2-3 Tbsp Almond not-Milk

Spin the graham crackers in your food processor to make fine crumbs.  In a bowl, stir the almond not-milk into the crackers to moisten them, then pack/press the mixture into the lined bottom of the springform pan to form the cheesecake base.   The parchment paper lining will make removing the cheesecake from the pan so much easier!

Filling
3 whole Mangos fileted (or equivalent frozen)
2 cups Siggi'stm plain Icelandic Skyr (zero points) or Greek Yogurt
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
pinch of Salt

Spin the mangos into a puree.  Reserve.  Spin the eggs, skyr, and vanilla.    Add 2 cups of the mango puree (reserve the rest), the cornstarch and salt to the egg mixture,  Spin again until smooth.

At any point here you will want to taste the mango puree and mango-yogurt filling.  Depending on how sweet and unripe-ripe-overripe your mangos are, and how sweet you want your final product, you may want to add upwards of a 1/2 cup of sugar to things. 

Pour two cups of the filling into the springform pan on top of the cracker base.   Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven for 35-45 minutes until the body starts to pull away from the sides and the center is just a bit jiggly.  Cool.  

While the bake is cooling to room temperature, make a sort of jelly topping from the remaining mango (about a cup) by simmering it with some sugar and a tablespoon or so of cornstarch or  unflavored gelatine, to thicken.  Pour this jam/jelly on top of the cooled cheesecake and chill for at least 3 hours before unmolding.  

As written above, I cannot recommend this for young or inexperienced bakers!   Whenever I find a new recipe I always make it exactly as-written the first time.  That way I know how to make it better the next time.  And I will make this again.   It was good, but it could be great!

However. 
1.  The crust needs to be parbaked or it turns soggy, unsupportive, and sad. 
2.  There isn't nearly enough cornstarch or other thickener to set the amount of filling properly, at the specified time/temp.   It started to slump the minute I removed the springform side.
3.  Double or triple the amount of thickener. 
4.  Increase the bake time to 60 minutes or the temp to 400F;  or some combination thereof. until the center is no longer 'jiggly".   If it's "jiggly" in the center it's just not cooked enough.  


Roasted Golden Beet Soup
We love golden beets.  So tasty and so much less mess to prepare than red beets.  

2-3 lbs Golden beets, peeled, sliced, dusted with Caraway  and roasted @ 400F for 30 minutes
1 large Sweet Onion, diced
2 stalks Celery, diced
4 cloves Garlic, chopped
6 cups Vegetable Broth
Bistotm Vegetable Gravy Crystals, to thicken
1/2 tsp Sweet Paprika
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp Coriander

Balsamic Vinegar, dressing.

Roast the beets.

Saute the onion, celery and garlic with the spices until soft.  Add mashed beets and broth.  Simmer,  Add Bisto to thicken as desired.  Definitely serve with splashes of balsamic!

Glazed Nasuri Donburi
More Japanese eggplant from our friend Wendy.  This time I made her, and us, Glazed Eggplant Ricebowls (donburi).

Eggplant  cut into 1/2" thick rounds, or 1/4" thick slices
Green Onions cut into 1-2' lengths and split lengthwise
Fresh Ginger cut julienne
Rice
1/4 cup Mirin
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1+ Tbsp Cornstarch

Sesame seeds for garnish

Cook the rice by itself.

Stir-fry the eggplnt in a skillet with just a splash of oil.  When mostly done, add the green onion and ginger and cook another minute or so.  

Pour in the mirin and soy sauce, sprinkle the cornstarch over, and toss/stir to combine and make a thickening glaze.  Add a little water if needed, to make enough glaze to coat all  the eggplant.  Plate with rice and fried tofu cubes  if you like (we did).