No Bake Mini Oreo Cheesecake

Making these no bake mini Oreo Cheesecake for tomorrow lunch appointment. I like this easy no bake recipe. The trick for a nice smooth dislodge of the cheesecake is using silicon mould.^^

You can serve this cheesecake frozen or let it sit at room temperature for 15 mins if you prefer a soft cheesecake dessert. Yield 24 mini Oreo Cheesecake. 

Recipe:
Crust:
12 pairs of original Oreo cookies, crushed into fine crumbs
113g unsalted butter, melted 

Cheesecake Filling:
175g thickening cream chilled, whipped to medium stiff peaks
250g Philadelphia cream cheese, softened room temperature
100g granulated sugar 
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
8 pieces of crushed Oreo cookies
additional 24 mini Oreos as topping to the cheesecake 

Method:

1. Prepare the crust: Place 12 pairs (together with its cream) of Oreo cookies in a zipper lock, use the flat bottom of a drinking mug to crush the cookies to fine crumbs. Alternatively you can use the food processor. Add in the melted butter, mix well. Divide the crust mixture into 24 mini cheesecake silicon mould. About 1 tsp of mixture per cavity. Press down the crust mixture into the bottom of the mould. Set aside for later use.

2. Prepare the cheesecake filling: In a clean mixing bowl, use the electric mixer to whisk the thickening cream to medium stiff peaks. Cover the cream with a plastic wrap, chill in the fridge.

3. Heat up a small soup saucepan, place a clean big bowl on top as a double boiler. Place the softened cream cheese in the bowl, cream the cream cheese until smooth. Remove the bowl from the bottom hot saucepan. Add sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Scrape down the bowl to ensure thorough mixing. 

4. Fold in the crushed Oreo cookies. Add 1/3 of the thickening cream to the cream cheese mixture. Fold to combine. Add remaining thickening cream mixture. Fold well. 

5. Assemble: Divide the cheesecake filling into 24 cheesecake cavity. Level the top of the cheesecake. Top the cheesecake with a mini Oreo cookies. Place in freezer for at least 4 hours or set. 

6. Once the cheesecake is firm, dislodge the cheesecake from the silicon mould. 

Stuffed Bitter Gourd with Minced Pork

Bitter gourd or bitter melon is a versatile pod vegetable, you can steam, fry, or braise the bitter gourd. The main problem here in serving a bitter gourd dish is some may not like the bitterness in the dish. My son and hubby are not fond of eating bitter gourd, however, looking at the health benefits from eating bitter gourd, I insisted they have to take bitter gourd once in a while. 

This round, I try to reduce the bitterness of the bitter gourd by soaking the sliced bitter gourd in sugar water. It works, at least my hubby ate a lot and the last piece was snatched by my son! ^^

Recipe: 
Yield 24 pieces

2 medium size bitter gourd, sliced into 1 cm thick
2 tbsp sugar
300g minced pork
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp oyster sauce + 1 tbsp oyster sauce
a pinch of black peppers
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp of sesame oil
3 tbsp of water 
200ml water
3 tbsp cooking oil
a few pieces of wolfberry or Goji

Method:
1. Prepare the bitter gourd: Wash the sliced bitter gourd and remove all the pods. In a big bowl, add 2 tbsp sugar with water enough to soak the bitter gourd. Soak the sliced bitter gourd in the cold water for at least an hour.

2. Prepare the minced pork: In a bowl, place the minced pork, minced garlic, minced ginger, 2 tbsp oyster sauce, black peppers, salt, corn flour, sesame oil and water together. Stir the minced pork mixture together using a pair of chopstick until the texture of the meat is a bit gooey. 

3. Assemble and cooking: Take a piece of sliced bitter gourd and stuff a teaspoon of minced pork in it. Level the meat with the bitter gourd thickness using the back of the spoon. Repeat for the rest of the sliced bitter gourd. 

Heat up a flat base pan with 3 tbsp of cooking oil. Arrange the sliced bitter gourd in the pan, add 200ml of water, wolfberry and a tablespoon of oyster sauce in the water. When the water in the pan is boiling, let it simmer for another min before you flip the sliced bitter gourd. When the meat turned pale or cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Serve the bitter gourd on a serving plate.