Strawberry Cheese Cake (No bake)

Ingredients

Base :

9 oz walnuts, pecans or almonds
4tbs melted butter or 4 tbs honey

Filling :

16 oz cream-cheese (2 packages)
1 cup Sugar Free Cool Whip
16 oz Strawberries (sliced)
1 package Gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup Splenda (or any other sweetener)

Method

Place the nuts in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin (or process through food processor). Add the butter or honey and press into a 9"backing pan. I like to line up the baking pan with wax paper in order to be able to lift up the cheesecake when cold. Cover with cling film and put in the refrigerator to chill.

In a small bowl, mix the sweetener, gelatin and 1 cup boiling water. Whisk well and put in the freezer to chill quickly.

In a large mixing bowl, put the cream cheese and the cool whip and beat on medium speed. While doing that, slowly add the strawberries, setting aside a handful for decoration. Take out the gelatin bowl from the freezer and pour over the mixture. Beat the mixture of medium speed for a good 5 minutes.

Take out the 9" baking pan from the fridge and layer the mixture on top of the nuts. Decorate with strawberries and chill for about 6 hours before serving.

Maltese Sausage

Ingredients

4.5lbs of pork butt or shoulder (ground) (or 3.5lb minced pork and 1lb of pork fat)
1-1.5 oz black pepper*
0.5-1oz coriander seeds*
1-2oz sea salt
10 garlic cloves minced
Bunch of parsley finely chopped

Method (for KitchenAid users)

Rinse the hog casings in hot water from the salt and let them sit in a bowl of hot water for about 20 minutes. Run water through the casings after they soften and become pliable.

Grind the pork twice. Mix all the meat with half the amount of herbs and spices stated. Test the flavor by frying up a small patty and keep on adding the herbs and salt as desired. Do not add all of the salt from the beginning; you might find it too salty and you'll have to throw everything away.

Take one casing, tie at knot at the end and insert in the large sausage tube attachment, all the way in. Put the kitchen aid on speed 3-4 and you're all set to start stuffing the sausages. Keep a toothpick nearby, air might get trapped and you'd need to pierce the casing every now and then to release the trapped air.

Method (for non KitchenAid users)

In a food processor combine the pork fat and the minced pork, set on high speed and grind for about a minute or two. Mix half of the herbs, spices and salt and test the flavor by frying up a small patty.  Keep on adding the herbs and salt as desired. Do not add all of the salt from the beginning; you might find it too salty and you'll have to throw everything away.

If you are using hog casings you'll need a funnel. Stuff as per method above.

If you are not using hog casings, simply shape sausages by hand and freeze. If you cook them while frozen they will not fall apart.

Ricotta stuffed zucchini

Ingredients

2 large zucchini/marrows
1 cup part skimmed ricotta
1/2 cup parmesan
1 egg
Cherry Tomatoes
Rosemary.

Method

Slice the marrows vertically from the middle to end up with four quarters. Scrape the inside out with a spoon.

In a bowl, beat the egg, add the ricotta, Parmesan  rosemary, salt and pepper. Stuff the quarters with this mixture. Place halved cherry tomatoes on top and sprinkle with a little bit of Parmesan.

Bake in a 200 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Serves 2 people as a side.

S'berry, Lime, Ginger and Mint Water

Ingredients

6 large strawberries, sliced
2 limes, sliced
1 piece ginger, chopped
Handful of Mint

Method

Fill up a large pitcher with ice-cold water and stir in the above ingredients. I do not know if this has any particular health benefits, but it is definitely a refreshing beverage loaded with vitamins!

Let sit overnight before consumption. Serve Chilled.