Brownies

Brownies are really easy to make and delicious.  I remember when I was young being in the car on the way out to Lake Chivero for a picnic lunch in the game park and discovering a tin of Jo's brownies under my feet - and secretly eating rather a lot of them!

The most important thing is getting the baking time right and not to overcook them - they need to be soft and squidgy in the middle.  If you like a richer brownie add some chopped up chocolate or choc chips to the mixture (dark chocolate is best).

I've also included a recipe I've recently found for nutella brownies - it's a bit extravagant as it uses a whole jar of nutella but it only has 4 ingredients so it's really easy and very delicious!

Jo's Chocolate Brownies

1 cup plain flour

½ cup cocoa

2 cups caster sugar

½ cup chopped pecans (or pistachios or other nuts)

180 grams melted butter 

4 eggs lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped chocolate or choc chips (optional)

Beat the eggs and mix in all the other ingredients

(make sure the melted butter goes in last and is slightly cooled so you don't scramble the eggs!)

Put into a well greased baking tin 28 x 20 x 3 cm

Bake at 180 c for about 20 minutes

When a bit cool but still in the tin cut into squares (about 30)

When serving dredge with icing sugar

Nutella Brownies

This recipe is for basic brownies, you can add nuts and dark choc chips to the mixture if you like.

Makes 9 large brownies

Ingredients

1 (400g) jar of Nutella 

2 eggs 

2/3 cup all-purpose flour 

3/4 tsp salt 

1/4 cup water

icing sugar to dust

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a square 8-inch baking pan with foil and baking paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together chocolate-hazelnut spread, eggs and 1/4 cup water. Stir in the flour and salt, and pour into the foil-lined pan.

Bake until just set around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside to let cool completely.

To remove the brownies, flip the pan and remove the foil. Cut the brownies into squares and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

lizzie weeden's easy chutney chicken

This is a really easy recipe - you can have all the ingredients in the pantry (except for the chicken!) - mix them all together, add the chicken, and cook in the oven for 40 minutes.

Prep Time: 5 minutes                                                     Cook Time: 40 minutes (Serves 4) 

Ingredients :

• about 750g chicken (thighs or breasts)
• 1 packet cream of mushroom soup
• 1 tsp worchestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 cup mango chutney (I use Mrs Balls)
• 1⁄2 cup mayo (optional)
• 1 cup tomato based pasta sauce (I use Leggos Chilli and Olive)
• 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
   salt and pepper

Preparation :

1. Mix all the other ingredients together and pour over the chicken in a casserole dish.
2. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes at about 180 degrees or until the chicken is cooked.
3. Season to taste.
4. Serve with rice and salad - or mashed potato or anything else you like!

beef chimichurri with roast mealies

Chimichurri sauce is a fresh South American green sauce, and is traditionally served with grilled steak.  It's an essential part of the Argentinian parilla, but it goes really well with chicken and fish too.

You will develop your own proportions in this recipe. You can add more garlic, use only parsley (if you don't like coriander), leave out the chilli - experiment to come up with your own signature chimichurri.

4 rump (or fillet) steaks

4 mealies (with husks on)
butter
grated cheese
1/2 a chopped chilli

2 cups fresh parsley and/or coriander, firmly packed
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves (or 2 tsp dried oregano)
3-6 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons chopped red onion (or spring onions)
1/2 chilli roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tblsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

for the chimichurri sauce :

Pulse the garlic, chilli and onion in the food processor until finely chopped.

Add the parsley, coriander, and oregano and pulse briefly, until finely chopped.  Add the olive oil, vinegar and lime juice and combine.  Season to taste and put in a bowl.

for the roast mealies :

For this recipe (Jamie Oliver's Mexican corn) you want one side of your braai to be a bit hotter than the other so stack your coals higher on one side. While it's heating up put all your mealies (with the husks still on) in a big bowl, cover with cold water and leave to soak.

Once your braai is nice and hot drain your mealies – make sure you shake off any excess water. Keeping the husks on the corn, put them on the cooler side of the braai and leave them to cook for about 20 minutes (If you are cooking on a gas braai with a lid then shut the lid for this stage). The husks will act like a natural layer of greaseproof paper, allowing the kernels inside to steam and smoke beautifully.

After 20 minutes, any water will have evaporated and the skins will be blackened – there should be a wonderful sweet and smoky smell. Carefully peel back the papery husks, then transfer the mealies to the hotter side of the barbecue. (If you are cooking on a gas braai, this time leave the lid open). The husks will start to burn off but this is exactly what you want – keep turning them for 5 to 10 minutes until all of the kernels are lightly charred.

While your mealies cooking, scatter come chopped chilli onto a large chopping board then grate some cheese over the top. Put to one side.

Season steak with salt and pepper and cook to taste on the braai.  Cover in foil and leave to rest for 10 mins.

Once you're happy with the mealies, remove from the braai then chop off the papery end and discard.  Roll the mealies around in some butter until they're glossy and coated all over, then one by one, roll the cobs in the cheesy chilli mixture, making sure they are evenly coated.

Serve them lovely and hot with wedge of lime for squeezing over.

(Leftover chimichurri can be mixed with sour cream or cream cheese to make a dip for corn chips or raw vegetables)

this is just to say .....

whenever I take a plum from the fridge, I always think of this poem .....

Niki's lemon fromage

I have this in my recipe book as Jenny's lemon fromage but I think a lot of the best recipes doing the rounds in Zim were from Niki originally.  Although it is called a fromage it doesn't have any cheese in it - it is actually based on a traditional Danish dessert called Citronfromage made from farm fresh cream and eggs.  I love this description on when to eat it that I found on a Danish food blog :

"Citronfromage is a classic Danish dessert, a familiar old friend to all Danes. It can of be served any time of the year but I associate it with long summer days when the sun sets late in the evening. The mousse is a beautiful pale yellow color and it is filled with air making it a very light dessert. The tart lemon flavor is complimented with sweet whipped cream which gives it nice contrast. Make sure to serve the Citronfromage cold with a dollop of whipped cream and enjoy!"

Lemon fromage is really quick and easy to make and deliciously light and airy despite all the cream.   I use half lemon juice and zest and half lime.  You can serve it in a big glass bowl but I like to do individual servings in my Moroccan tea glasses.

Lemon Fromage

2 eggs

6 oz (175g) caster sugar

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp finely grated lemon rind

1 pint (570 ml) cream lightly beaten

1 tbsp gelatine

4 tbsp cold water

Soak the gelatine in cold water and dissolve over hot 

Beat the eggs until light and fluffy

Add sugar to eggs gradually, continue beating

Add the gelatine 

Stir in the lemon juice and most of the rind

Fold in most of the cream reserving some for topping

Place in glass bowl or individual glasses, top with cream and decorate with grated rind

Refrigerate until set (about 3 hours)

Juj's banana bread

Kate, Emma, George and Hope's favourite.  Juj always has some in the car when he picks K&E up from the airport for them to eat on the M4! 

Nigella's recipe - it's from here:

Banana Bread

100 grams sultanas
75 ml dark rum or brandy
175 grams plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon salt
125 grams unsalted butter (melted)
150 grams caster sugar
2 large eggs
4 small very ripe bananas (mashed)
60 grams chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the sultanas and rum in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Put
the butter in a bowl and put the bowl on top of the saucepan like a lid
so the butter melts while the brandy cools. Leave the sultanas to drink
rum and get fat for at least 30 mins.

Beat together butter and sugar

Beat in the eggs one by one

Stir in the bananas, walnuts, drained sultanas and vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients in another bowl then stir them in bit by bit.

Line a loaf tin (mine is 20cm x 7cm) with greaseproof paper and put the
mix in it.

Bake 1 hour at 170ºC

peach pie

Having watched the movie 'Labor Day' recently, and because of the beautiful peaches in the shops in summer here I was inspired to make a peach pie.  This is an adapted recipe from Gourmet Traveler magazine - don't put too much sugar in with the peaches as their tartness works really well with the sweet sugar-crusted pastry.

Ingredients

Filling :

10              firm ripe peaches, cut into thick wedges

300 gm      caster sugar

1 tbsp        lemon juice

For brushing:   eggwash

For dusting:     white sugar

To serve:          thick cream

           maple syrup (optional)

   

Crème fraîche pastry :

525 gm (3½ cups)    plain flour

260 gm                     chilled unsalted butter, coarsely chopped

 70 gm                      caster sugar

150 gm                     crème fraîche (or sour cream)

Finely grated rind     of ½ lemon

2 tbsp                        almond meal

Method :

 Process the flour, butter, sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Add crème fraîche, lemon rind, and 1 tbsp chilled water and pulse until dough comes together. Form one-third of pastry into a disc, form remaining pastry into another disc, wrap separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled (30 minutes).

 Preheat the oven to 180C. Roll out the larger piece of pastry to a 32cm-diameter round, then line a pie tin with a 22cm-diameter base and a 28cm-diameter top. Roll out the remaining pastry to a 29cm-diameter round, cut a small hole in centre and transfer to a tray. Refrigerate both pieces of pastry to rest (30 minutes). Blind bake base until golden around the edges (10-15 minutes), remove paper and weights and continue to bake, gently pressing pastry occasionally with a clean cloth to prevent rising, until light golden (5-10 minutes), then scatter with almond meal.

 Meanwhile, combine the peaches, sugar, lemon juice and reserved vanilla bean in a bowl and stand to macerate (20 minutes). Strain the juice from peaches into a small saucepan, bring to the boil over medium-high heat and cook until reduced to a thick syrup (5-10 minutes). 

 Transfer the peach mixture to the pie dish. Brush the edges with eggwash, top with the remaining pastry, press gently to seal, then trim the edges. Brush with eggwash, scatter generously with sugar and bake until golden (25-35 minutes). 

Serve warm or at room temperature with thick cream, the peach syrup and maple syrup.