Baked Cheese Food

BAKED MAC AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook until tender, about 7 minutes; strain well. Transfer the macaroni to a large bowl, add the butter and toss to coat.
• Whisk together the milk, eggs and 2 teaspoons salt in a medium bowl. Add the milk-egg mixture to the macaroni; add the Cheddar and stir until it is evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared casserole dish.
• Bake until the custard is set and the top is browned and bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes.

BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
• While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
• Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
• Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.
• Remember to save leftovers for fried Macaroni and Cheese.

BAKED CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter; press mixture into the bottom of a 10" springform pan; set aside.
• Blend cream cheese and sugar together (in a food processor or with a medium-speed electric mixer) until smooth; add eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition; add sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla; blend well; pour filling over the crust and spread evenly.
• Lay a sheet of aluminum foil that has been bent up slightly to form a "foil tent" over the top of pan and not touching cheesecake (this is to prevent overbrowning) then bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes (remove foil tent after 50-55 minutes) or until top is set.
• Combine sour cream and sugar; remove cheesecake from oven and immediately spread sour cream mixture over its top; return cheesecake to oven for 5 minutes to set topping; remove from oven.
• Cool cheesecake on wire rack; cover and refrigerate to chill thoroughly.
• Just before serving remove sides of springform pan and transfer cheesecake to serving platter; garnish cheesecake with berries (we like chilled cherry pie filling on top) and serve.
• OPTIONAL: Just before pressing the graham crust into the bottom of the springform pan, spray the pan's inner sides with a little no-stick cooking spray, sprinkle a spoonful of combined graham cracker crumbs and sugar into the pan, then tilt and spread that mixture around so that it sticks to the coated sides and later adds to the visual appeal of your finished cheesecake.

BAKED GRILLED CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Lightly butter one side of each slice of bread.
• Place on a cookie sheet butter side down.
• Place 2 slices cheese on each piece of bread.
• Place other piece of bread on top, lightly butter side up.
• Bake for approximately 5 minutes.
• Then flip each sandwich over.
• Bake additional 3-4 minute until done.

BAKED CHEESE WITH HERBS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Remove the cheese from the box and discard any wrapping, then put the cheese back in the box. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 mins.
• Remove from the oven and take off the lid. Cut a large cross through the top of the cheese, then peel back the quarters of rind. Scatter over chopped herbs and serve with pitta crisps or breadsticks.

ZELJANICA (CHEESE & SPINACH PIE)

Steps:

• Lightly oil a roasting tin (ours was about 25 x 35cm and 4cm deep) and line with baking parchment. Mix the eggs, cheeses, soured cream or crème fraîche, spinach and some seasoning together in a bowl.
• In another bowl, mix together the oil, yogurt and baking powder. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
• Cut the filo sheets in half so they are roughly the size of the tin. Put one filo sheet in the tin and evenly brush over 1-2 tbsp of the yogurt mixture using pastry brush. Top with another filo sheet, brush over more yogurt mixture and repeat until you've used half the filo.
• Pour over the cheese filling, then gently spread it to the edges using a spatula. Continue layering the rest of the filo sheets and yogurt mix. Spread any remaining yogurt mix over the top of the final filo sheet.
• Cut the pie into squares (either nine or 12, depending on how big you want the pieces to be). Will keep frozen for up to a month. Defrost completely in the fridge overnight before cooking. Top each square with a small knob of butter, then bake for 20 mins. Reduce the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and bake for another 25-30 mins until browned on top. Leave to cool slightly before serving warm. Will keep covered and chilled for up to two days.