Potato Chip Crust Savory Cheesecake #FoodieExtravaganza

This crunchy potato chip crust savory cheesecake makes a great main course for Sunday brunch or a light dinner.  It’s also pretty fabulous cold in a packed lunch the next day, if you are lucky enough to have leftovers.

This month my Foodie Extravaganza group is celebrating potato chips in anticipation of National Potato Chip Day, which is March 14. Our wonderful host Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories encouraged us to make a dish, sweet or savory, that includes potato chips or to make our own homemade potato chips.

I’ve adapted this recipe from a Warm Roquefort Cheesecake created by the great Delia Smith so I’ve kept “cheesecake” in the title, but I must confess that it strikes me more as a quiche than a cheesecake. The texture is light and definitely more on the eggy side. In fact, my husband came through the door after work, as it sat on the wire rack cooling and said, “Ohh, quiche for dinner.” “I know, right?” I had to reply.

Delia, Delia, Delia. Never mind. You are still one of my idols.

Potato Chip Crust Savory Cheesecake

I have made a couple of savory cheesecakes before and loved them. Both were appetizers, the first a Shrimp Cheesecake with Herbs and Spices,  the second a Savory Zucchini Cheesecake, baked in a Bundt pan. That’s why this recipe so appealed to me. Plus, I love blue cheese.

Ingredients
For the crust:
4 oz or 115g low salt potato chips
1 oz or 25g butter, melted and cooled

For the filling:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup or 200g full fat ricotta or cottage cheese
2/3 cup or 165g fromage frais (or sub full fat plain Greek yogurt)
3 spring onions, white and green parts, finely sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 oz  or 175g blue cheese (I used a Fourme d”Ambert AOP.)

Method
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C and line the bottom of a 9 in or 23cm round tart pan with baking parchment.

Put your potato chips in a thick plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Pour the crumbed chips into a small bowl with the melted butter and mix well.

Tip the mixture into your prepared pan and use your clean hands or the back of a spoon to spread it out over the bottom and ever so slightly up the sides of the tart pan. Press it down to compact it.

N.B. If your tart pan has a removable bottom, it would be wise to set it in another larger pan before you put it in the oven.

Bake the potato chip crust in the preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes, keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. You want a nice golden crust.

While that’s baking, you can get on with the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, fromage frais, spring onion and salt with a few good grinds of black pepper.

Don’t forget to keep checking the crust. When it is ready, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool. Turn the oven temperature down to 350°F or 180°C.

Crumble the blue cheese with a fork and fold it into the egg mixture.

Carefully pour the filling into the tart pan and sprinkle a few more grinds of black pepper to the top, if desired.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the outside is set and the middle is just the slightest bit jiggly. It will firm up more as it cools.

Leave to cool for about 15-20 minutes. Delia serves her savory cheesecake aka quiche with poached pears but I wanted a little crunch to go along with mine. I made a small salad of fresh pears with walnuts and dried cranberries dressed with a maple syrup vinaigrette. You can find that recipe right here.

Delia is absolutely spot on about pears and blue cheese. They go together so nicely.

Slice and enjoy!

And make sure you check out all the other lovely potato chip recipes we have for you today. Many thanks to our host Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories.

• A College Throwback + Potato Chip-Crusted Chocolate Tart from Culinary Adventures from Camilla
• Baked BBQ Potato Chip Crusted Pork Chops from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• How to Make Homemade Sun Dried Potato Chips from Sneha's Recipe
• Potato Chip and Roasted Cashew Cookies from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Potato Chip Crusted Salt and Vinegar Baked Cod from Palatable Pastime
• Potato Chip Crust Savory Cheesecake from Food Lust People Love
• Pretzel and Potato Chip Cookies with Butterscotch Frosting from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Salty-Sweet Potato Chip Cookies from Hardly a Goddess
• The Potato Chip Sandwich from Our Good Life

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays, and we all post recipes using the same ingredient. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

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Morning Glory Muffins #MuffinMonday

Any morning can be glorious if you wake up to Morning Glory Muffins for breakfast. Chock full of goodies like carrot, pecans, apple and coconut, these beautiful muffins also make a wonderful snack or treat to bring along to a coffee klatch.

If you’ve been reading this space for a while, you have already heard me talk about the couple years we lived in Balikpapan, an oilfield town on the southeast corner of Borneo, almost 30 years ago.

It was years before the internet became the lifeline that it is now for folks in out of the way places, so we depended on our friends sharing their favorite recipes from the small stash of cookbooks or family jottings that they had brought along. That’s where I learned to make our favorite chocolate chip cookies and garlicky green beans with carrots.  And it’s where my friend MJ added sweet and sour chicken to her own family repertoire, which has now become one of ours.

Morning Glory Muffins

This recipe is another I got from a friend, after enjoying morning glory muffins at her house where we gathered weekly to play cards. Her name was Elisabeth and she was from Norway, married to an American, if I remember correctly. Of course I’ve searched for her on Facebook. I'd love to thank her again for sharing.

Pretty dog-eared and well-used, as you can see

Ingredients – for 18 muffins
2 cups or 250g flour
1 cup or 200g sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups or 245g finely grated carrot
1/2 cup or 90g raisins (I didn't have quite enough raisins so I threw in some dried cranberries.)
1/2 cup or 65g chopped nuts (I use pecans.)
1/2 cup lightly packed or 40g fresh or desiccated coconut
1 apple, peeled, cored and grated
3 eggs
1 cup or 240ml canola or other light oil
2 teaspoons vanilla


Method
Once you have all of your ingredients grated/assembled, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease or line a 12-cup muffin pan and a 6-cup muffin pan. This recipe makes 18 regular size muffins.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Add in the carrot, raisins, nuts, coconut and apple. Stir well, using a fork to separate the clumps and distribute the flour throughout the wetter ingredients.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and vanilla.

Fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture until just combined.

Spoon the batter into your prepared muffins pans.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes on a wire rack.

These are fabulous warm or cooled. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Enjoy! P.S. They freeze beautifully too!

Check out all the other lovely muffins we have for you this month! 

• Bouchon Bakery Style Carrot Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cocoa Beet Chocolate Chip Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts
• Lucky Charms Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Morning Glory Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Rice Cereal Apple Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Strawberry and Chocolate Muffin Hearts from Sew You Think You Can Cook

 #MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

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Ground Lamb Lancashire Hotpot

This untraditional recipe uses ground lamb cooked with carrots, onions and thinly sliced potatoes, for an inexpensive, quicker-to-the-table version of the classic Lancashire hotpot.

Lancashire hotpot is a hearty dish from the northwest of England, made from some of the less expensive cuts of lamb cooked long and slow until they are tender. This is a great family meal on a chilly night when the heat of the oven is a comfort and we all need something warm in our bellies.

Browning the ground lamb until it turns crispy deepens the flavor of the gravy that is created with the added stock as the hotpot bakes.

Ground Lamb Lancashire Hotpot

My untraditional version uses an even cheaper cut, ground or minced lamb, which since it’s already tender, also shortens the cooking time. If you can't find ground lamb or you simply aren't a fan, substitute beef or pork.

Ingredients
1 lb 6 oz or 625g ground lamb
2 tablespoons plain flour
3 cups or 710ml beef or lamb stock
2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf or 2 small ones
5 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil (for frying ground lamb and greasing Dutch oven for baking)

Method
Brown the ground lamb very well, until it’s a little crispy on the edges, adding a little of the olive oil if the lamb is dry. Some ground meat contains more fat than others, depending on which cuts the butcher has included in the mix.

Once the meat is well browned, sprinkle in the flour. Cook a few minutes more, stirring well. Turn the heat off and stir in the stock.

Add in carrots, onion and bay leaf.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Grease your Dutch oven with some of the olive oil. Line the base with potato slices then season them with salt and pepper.

Spoon the ground lamb mixture on top of the potatoes. Top with the rest of the potato slices.

Drizzle the potatoes with melted butter and season with salt and pepper.

Cover the Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid and cook the ground lamb Lancashire hotpot in your preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. 

Remove the lid and cook another 20-30 minutes so the top can brown. If it is not browned to your satisfaction, you can put it under the broiler (Br. Eng: grill) for 5 or 10 minutes to brown further but do keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn.

Enjoy!

We eat a lot of lamb at our house. If you are also a fan of lamb, you might want to check out these other recipes, all family favorites.

• Irish Lamb Stew - perfect for St. Patrick's Day! 
• Saucy Persian Lamb Meatballs
• Grilled Lamb Skewers with Roasted Carrots

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