Basque Cheesecake was all the rage a couple of seasons ago and now I'm making it almost weekly.

Partly because it's a classic, is easy, and super-yummy, and partly because I am trying not to get my scrawny Asian ass kicked in this race I'm competing in Very Freakin Soon. DON'T ASK ME ABOUT THE RACE! Let's talk about cheesecake instead!

YOU NEED:

A lust for cheesy, delicious protein.

A 20cm high-sided cake tin, which you have lined with scrunched up baking paper so that the paper towers a little above the top of the tin.

An oven pre-heated to somewhere between 200-220C. (I use 200C in my oven.)

INGREDIENTS:

3 cream cheese blocks at room temperature

200 g caster sugar

310 ml cream or Greek yoghurt (which will add an extra tangy sourness to the cake)

30g plain flour

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

220g whisked eggs

Combine everything, then cook for 45mins - until it looks right.

Recipe courtesy of Nagi from Recipe Tin Eats.

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Simon and I are both dismayed to hear that pears have grown so "unpopular" that local growers have been ripping up their trees to try to plant something more lucrative. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-17/pears-out-of-favour-with-shoppers/102961848

Why not just enlist us to plug the pear?

We'd do a great job!

There are so many great uses for this subtle and affordable fruit - not least of all one of the GOATS of salads! (Does not contain goat nor any other livestock.)

DEAD EASY POACHED PEARS RECIPE:

10 pears

250 ml sweet wine

100g sugar

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 180C

Slice the bottoms of the pears so that they can sit proudly upright.

Arrange them to sit close together in a ceramic roasting tray.

Top with a mingled mixture of the wine, sugar and any aromatics you like - eg., cloves, cinnamon, star anise. (Or leave these out!)

Bake for 1 hour, basting with the syrup every 15 mins if you can be bothered.

Serve with ice-cream, custard, yogurt or whatever you like. Use the leftovers to go with breakfast muesli or granola. DELICIOUS!

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Brussels sprouts were only ever polarising because our Boomer parents had no idea how to cook them.

Here in the real world, this seasonal, winter vegetable is INCREDIBLE.

How do you get the most out of them so they're as good as when you sit down for a side dish of these babies at a fancy restaurant with your mum?

It's easy, you can do it!

Find out more on today's episode.

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