Recipe corner: small batch basic brownies

Happy Easter to all who celebrate it - and Happy Chocolate Day to those who don’t. This is a big year for us; my Mum finally fulfilled one of D’s longest standing ambitions by buying us an Hotel Chocolat Ostrich Egg. It is gargantuan. We will be eating it until Christmas.

The thing with us and chocolate: we both love it and have a number of sweet teeth but don’t tend to eat it in massive quantities. I have friends who tell me they can’t have sweet stuff in the house without it being consumed; we have an overflowing stash drawer and generally just have a small treat after dinner. One of the few areas of life where I find it easy to exercise moderation. Shame I can’t do the same when it comes to, say, melted cheese.

Anyway, (sense the segue) I wanted to figure out the proportions for a small batch of brownies which are a GREAT way of using up any chocolate going spare. A full size bake for two adults is a bit too much, but this recipe makes 12 brownie bites or 6-8 more substantial cakes. I’ve adapted the recipe from the gorgeous Jane’s Patisserie website which is full of lovely, lovely things.

I use a small foil tray from Waitrose to bake these which are a good size (18cm by 11cm, 2.5 cm deep). You could also use a standard loaf tin which would give you a deeper brownie (and a smaller surface area). If you do this you will probably need to increase the baking time. Baking time is CRUCIAL when it comes to brownies; although I’ve given the time that works for me and for my oven, there is no substitute for checking. Use the toothpick test visual as a guide; it really works.

Ingredients

65g dark chocolate

65g butter

1 large egg

90g caster sugar

Pinch of salt

Splash of vanilla extract

35g plain flour

15g cocoa

Up to 200g additions - optional (chocolate chips, nuts, chopped confectionary)

Makes 6-12 brownies 

Finely chop the chocolate and dice the butter and place in a heatproof bowl. Melt together (either over a pan of simmering water or in short bursts in the microwave) and then set aside for 10 mins. 

While it’s cooling, preheat the oven to 160 (fan), and have the egg and sugar measured out in one bowl and the flour and cocoa in another. Lightly butter your foil tray.

Using a stand mixer or an electric whisk, beat together the egg and sugar until you have a pale mousse. This will take 5 mins or so.

Pour over the cooled chocolate and add a pinch of salt and splash of vanilla. Gently fold the chocolate through - try and preserve as much of the air as possible. Then shower over the flour / cocoa mix and fold that through too. It needs to be well combined and this ALWAYS takes longer than you think. Patience, grasshopper.

Finally, stir through any additions you’re including before pouring in to the greased tray and smoothing the top.

Bake for 12 minutes or until a toothpick yields the correct result. Allow to cool in the tray before removing and using a nice sharp knife to cut. 

Recent eats: a Diana Henry week

July’s themed week was an homage to the wonderful food writer, Diana Henry.

I vaguely recall that she appeared on some daily programme on the food channel years ago - Market Kitchen? Good Food Bites? - and she has the kind of cosy screen presence, and, indeed, writing voice which makes you inherently trust everything she says. I hope that she wouldn’t be insulted to be described as more of a home cook but, like Nigella, a home cook with an encyclopaedic knowledge of food and cooking techniques, who draws on multiple traditions and cultures like a foodie magpie to create interesting dishes that you really want to eat.

We own a number of her books and such is my admiration for her that I even have my mother saving Stellas (the Sunday Telegraph magazine) for me so that I can tear out her weekly recipe columns. There is currently a teetering pile of these on our dining room table, alongside the teetering pile of food magazines and shelves crammed with books - more dishes than could ever be cooked in a lifetime.

For our meal plan, we drew mainly on two books - “A Change of Appetite” and “Simple”. The former appealed because, divided as it is into seasons, it was easy to pick dishes that were appropriate for the current weather and available produce. The latter - well, the clue is in the title. What with the recent heat and the ennui that it occasioned, simple cooking is definitely the way forward.

As usual, we had two fast days in the mix, so five meals by the divine Ms Henry.

Monday - Linguine all’Amalfitana. Monday is nearly ALWAYS simple pasta supper night here and this was a great one to add to the repertoire. Garlic and anchovy are cooked slowly in olive oil to create a savoury backbone but the twist comes in the form of chopped walnuts which add not only texture but a welcome bitter note. Lovely.

Wednesday - Teryaki salmon with quick pickled vegetables. Served with sushi rice this was the perfect summer supper. I love this style of food and teryaki is so quick and simple to do. The addition of the pickled veg brought a perfect balance of sour and sweet and a pleasing crunch to the dish.

Friday - Seared tuna with preserved lemon, olives and avocado. What a flavour bomb this was! It sounds a bit unusual on paper, almost discordant, but here is where the trust comes in and I am so glad we did. Everything harmonised (to continue with my music metaphor) absolutely beautifully. Not to mention it couldn’t be quicker or easier to do but tastes far more special than the lack of effort would suggest. Perfect Friday night fare.

Saturday - Poulet au Comté. Some people might think that chicken baked in a rich cheese sauce, traditionally served after Alpine sports, is not really the thing for a blisteringly hot July evening. To them I say - you’re probably right. But this was one of those recipes torn from a magazine that I’d positively drooled over, so I pressed ahead. You’re either the type of person who is going to adore chicken baked in a rich cheese sauce or you aren’t - I most definitely am and can’t wait to cook it again when the nights draw in. I served it with a lemony orzo here, which helped cut the richness a bit, but come the winter all bets are off and this is going to be accompanied by a Matterhorn of mash.

Sunday: Yoghurt marinated spatchcock chicken with herbs and pomegranates. No one knows their way around a roast chicken like Diana Henry, and I think I have probably raved about her book “A Bird in Hand” on here before. This was a great summer roast with lots of zing and vim and an extremely tender, delicately spiced bird.

Elsewhere in the week, we enjoyed a delicious chocolate olive oil cake - this recipe is available online and would be a great dessert to make if you need to cater for gluten and dairy intolerances. Rich, decadent and fruity, we garnished with creme fraiche, berries, and a flurry of sea salt flakes.

So another successful theme week, and a few dishes already added to “regular” (if there is such a thing in this house) rotation. Some of Diana Henry’s recipes are freely available on t’internet (while the ones on the Telegraph site are mainly behind a paywall) so if you do come across any then do give them a whirl. She’s an absolute treasure whose food writing is up there with some of the best this country has to offer at the moment.

Easter Sunday lunch - 2019

For the second year in a row, D and I decided to push the boat out a bit for Easter Sunday lunch.  Although we did not eat it at lunchtime.  And we are neither of us practicing Christians (although I still maintain that my Catholicism is lapsed rather than totally extinct.)

Last year, we had duck.  This year, we again blew raspberries in the face of tradition (which demands that one serves lamb on Easter Sunday) and had pork.  Roast belly pork.  Twice cooked.

But first, not so much as a starter as an amuse.  An idea that we blatantly nicked borrowed from the specials board of The Reliance last week.  Little Jersey Royals, parboiled and then tossed in oil and roasted, split and topped with sour cream and caviar (not the real stuff, I hasten to add).  Reader, this is such a simple idea but it is SO effective and would make a marvellous canape, especially during Jersey Royal season.

Onto the pork, and my husband takes roasting belly pork very seriously.  This behemoth of a joint was slow cooked, pressed and then finished under the grill per the method that I've described here.

I, meanwhile, was in charge of side dishes, and I made lightly pickled rhubarb and stem ginger - not quite a chutney - based on Diana Henry's recipe here.  It was absolutely delicious with the rich meat.  She served it with a pork loin that was flavoured with caraway and juniper - I knew that wouldn't fly with the Pig Master, so decided to introduce caraway, at least, into the meal by sauteeing little cubes of potato with caraway seeds until crispy and golden.  Finally, we needed something green and so I made a delicious tangle of kale, blanched and then cooked together with onion, bacon and cream and flavoured with bags of black pepper and nutmeg.  To bring everything together, the splendid pork gravy.  And yes, we did serve the gravy in a miniature gravy boat.  The first rule of Masterchef Presenation is that the sauce should always be on the side.

Having devoured that, we were quite pleased that we had kept the starter light because still to come was dessert and this was another very rich dish, for all that I kept the portion sizes small.  Chocolate ganache, salted caramel sauce and candied salted peanuts.  I already had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do but used this recipe as a rough guideline.  It tasted like a very posh Snickers which is a Good Thing.

It wasn't till after we had finished that we realised that not only had the starter been a blatant rip off tribute to The Reliance, but the other two dishes were also based on things that we have eaten there in the recent past.  Which tells you that a) we love The Reliance and if you are ever in Leeds, you should go and b) eating out is an important source of culinary inspiration and therefore is entirely justified in all circumstances. 

Happy Easter one and all!

Recipe corner: Mince pie brownies

Mince pies and a filthy imposter!

As I mentioned in my last post, my team at work had a mince pie bake off recently.  I toyed with a number of ideas, including a delicious sounding Mary Berry recipe for mincemeat topped with frangipane, but ultimately decided to veer off in an entirely different direction, a decision which may or may not have been slightly motivated by my fear of pastry.

I don't know what the issue is; when I've attempted pastry it has always worked perfectly well.  But, in my head, it is something that I Can't Do.  I used to feel the same about bread and I got over that, so perhaps 2019 should be the year that I take on pastry.  Although 2019 is also supposed to be the year that I finally lose a few stone and emerge from a chrysalis of podge like a beautiful, middle-aged butterfly.  The two things are not particularly compatible.

Anyway!  Mince pie brownies.  Good Food magazine have a recipe for this online wherein they recommend inserting actual mince pies.  I thought you'd get a better flavour if you stirred the mincemeat itself straight through.  And for a bit of crunch, I chopped up some shortbread biscuits (working on the basis that most people will have shortbread lurking around the house at Christmas) and bunged those in too.  Delightful.

The basic brownie recipe is based on my go-to which is from the Hummingbird Bakery book.  I have never been to the Hummingbird Bakery but I commend their brownie skills.  I've reduced the sugar for this batch, on the basis that the mincemeat will be pretty sweet and I don't want the whole lot to end up sickly.  Spoiler alert: they did not.

Additional spoiler alert: these did not win the bake off because they were not enough of a mince pie.  Pah.  I think they're rather delicious anyway.

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
175g unsalted butter, chopped

210g caster sugar

110g plain flour
15g cocoa
Tsp ground cinnamon

3 eggs

Half a jar of mincemeat
4 shortbread finger biscuits, roughly chopped

Makes around 16 - 20 brownies

It might take a few bowls here, but I’d recommend getting everything weighed and ready to go before you start which then makes this the easiest job in the world.

Preheat the oven to 170 (160 fan) and grease and line a square tin.

Chocolate pieces and butter in one, microwave proof, bowl.

Sugar weighed out in another bowl.

Flour, cocoa and cinnamon in a third.

Mincemeat in a small pan.  Set over a really low heat.  You want to melt the suet and make the whole thing slightly more liquid which means it will distribute evenly through the batter.

Microwave the chocolate and butter on a medium heat for around five minutes or until melted and glossy.  I find this easier than setting up a bowl over boiling water.  You need to take it out and swirl it around every so often to prevent it from overheating, but as long as you set the temperature to medium-low (about 50% on my model) it should be fine.

Add the sugar and stir well until incorporated.  I find that this works best if I add it in about three lots, stirring well after each time.  Then sift in the flour / cocoa / spice combo and stir well again.


Break the eggs into one of the bowls you used for the dry ingredients and lightly whisk before adding to the batter.  Again, I find that it incorporates best if you do it in about three goes, briskly stirring after each addition.

By now, the mincemeat should be nice and melty (a technical term!) so remove from the heat and allow to cool very slightly while you fold the shortbread pieces through the mix.  Finally, stir through the mincemeat. 

Transfer the lot to the prepared tin and bake in the oven for around 30 minutes (actually, they took 20 in my oven but it is a BEAST).  

The brownies are ready when they have a shiny crust and the underneath quivers very slightly when you remove them from the oven.  Alternatively, stick a skewer (or a piece of spaghetti – my implement of choice) into the cake.  The brownies are done when it emerges with a few scant crumbs clinging to it.  There’s a really good visual of what I mean here. 


I defy anyone, mince pie hater or not, to dislike these.  The combination of boozy fruit and chocolate is, to my mind, absolutely irresistible.  Merry Christmas all!

Eat North

Street food is definitely one modern trend that I can get on board with.  I'm an old fashioned girl in many ways - I don't have any tattoos and like my music to have an ACTUAL TUNE but yep, love the love for street food.  Of course, I don't actually like eating on the street.  We were always taught at school that it is common to eat while you're walking along, and that is one lesson that stuck fast so much so that I am almost physically incapable of eating and walking at the same time.  However, as long as there is a handy bench or, preferably, a table somewhere in the vicinity of the street food van then I am there.

There are already many reasons to love Leeds's North Bar, but this summer they've given us another, extra specially big one by running, in conjunction with Leeds Indie Food, weekly events at their tap room like mini festivals - of food! We've been meaning to go for a while and finally got around to it last weekend.

Different vendors attend every time - we happened to be presented by a choice of Indian food courtesy of Manjit's Kitchen, giant arancini by the girls of Golden Balls (like your style, ladies), and kebabs from The Middle Feast.  Both of us opted for kebabs - which seemed to be the most popular choice at 2pm on Saturday - D's with chicken, mine, blackened aubergine and halloumi.  Very tasty stuff and an absolute world away from the kind of kebabs that always seem like a good idea in the early hours of the morning after one two many cocktails.

We also decided that it would be rude not to take a couple of the Porterhouse Cake Company's wares home to try.  I am pleased to be able to confirm that tahini does work extremely well swirled through a brownie.  Who knew?

It was a really fun event and they've obviously been going down well with the good people of Leeds since a further six have just been announced.  I certainly hope to get to another one before the summer is out.  Further details can be found at the website here or the Leeds Indie Food twitter feed.

And no, this is not a sponsored post, although if North Bar would like to send me a T-shirt and a box of brownies they would be gratefully accepted.  I'm not proud.

Recipe corner: easiest ever chocolate pots

Although life may be tough at times, there is always, always chocolate.

When I was a child, my love of the good stuff was well known throughout the family.  You could guarantee that if we went out for a meal and there was a chocolate based dessert on the menu that my little piggy eye would immediately alight upon it; the creamier, the sicklier the better for my young taste buds.  My mother claims to still remember the expression on my face the first time that she gave me a chocolate button - the utter wondering delight that such a thing existed.

As I have got older my sweet tooth has receded to the extent that if you really, really pushed me, I'd probably opt for a starter over a pudding (always assuming that both wasn't an option).  But my predilection for cocoa based confections remains in tact such that if D sees chocolate mentioned on a dessert menu, he pretty much knows that all bets are off.

While I never met a chocolate pudding that I didn't like, I do think that a classic chocolate pot is possibly the ultimate.  It's unapologetic in its rich intensity, a true celebration of the cocoa bean.  And when I saw this recipe online, I thought that it must be too good to be true - as simple a thing as you ever did see.  Reader, it is not.  The only, only thing to watch out for is to make sure you add the water gradually - apply the merest modicum of patience, and chocolate pudding heaven is yours.

You could use flavoured chocolate.  You could add other flavourings yourself.  Or, you could sit back and let the star of the show shine through.  My most recent version made excellent use of the remains of a Prestat Easter Egg.  It turns out that the only thing that can make a Prestat Easter Egg better is the ability to eat it with a spoon.

Ingredients - per person

30g chocolate - I advocate going as dark as you dare
1 tbsp (which is 15g) boiling water
1.5 tbsp double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Boil the kettle.

Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a microwave proof bowl.  Stick it in said microwave and, er, turn it on.  Every ten to fifteen seconds or so, remove the bowl, swirl it around and see where you are.  The chocolate will continue melting in the residual heat once you have removed it from the microwave and you don't want to overdo it.  Once you've mastered it, I promise you, this is by far the easiest way to melt chocolate.

When the chocolate is melted, first, stir through the vanilla.

Now, you are going to add the water.  I would recommend weighing it out direct from the kettle.  Start with just a small amount, and stir briskly.  Initially, it will look as if the chocolate is going to seize into a great big mess.  Keep going.  When the water is incorporated, add another splash and repeat until all the water is incorporated.  Remember to stir it until glossy between each addition.

Finish by stirring through the cream.  You should have a mixture which is roughly the consistency of a thin creme custard.

Pour into little espresso cups and chill in the fridge for at least an hour to allow the mix to set.

Enjoy, preferably on your own in a darkened room.  Maybe light a candle, play some soft jazz.  Have some quality time with it.  Remember, whatever life throws at you, there will always be chocolate.

Polpetto, London

We're just back from a few days spent down South which was very nice indeed.  We got to spend time with friends and family and, of course, we made sure that we got to eat.  Although London has a distressing habit of encompassing far more nice restaurants than two people can possibly cover in a limited amount of time.  Sigh.

We decided to go to Polpetto and, in doing so, have now officially managed to have a meal at each of Russell Norman's London outlets.  I've been irritatingly enthusiastic about him before on numerous occasions - see here or here or even here.  Finishing the set has long been a cherished goal of my husband, who believes in completism (and, as such, is doing his best to visit every single Brewdog bar.  The fact that they've opened one in Brazil is a constant source of annoyance to him).

Anyway, Polpetto.  I'm not sure that I've much to add other than what I have said about Norman's restaurants before.  They're not high end dining, the decor tends towards slightly shabby whimsy, the staff towards the achingly cool.  The food is, in my experience, always delicious.

Whoever was cooking on Monday night was skilled in the art of perfect protein.  Grilled octopus skewers were the absolute highlight of the evening, the meat all at once dense and tender.  Ribbons of flank steak, tangled with aubergine and lamb's lettuce, melted on contact with the tongue.  Squid, thinly robed in batter and fried, had just the right amount of silky bounce.

Octopus!

Elsewhere there was a pizzete, the base bubbled and blistered, the top, liberally cheesed which is always a good thing.  And an orange semifreddo, liberally scattered with great, golden chunks of honeycomb which reminded me of the sophisticated lovechild of a Chocolate Orange and a Crunchie, There may have been plate licking.

Semifreddo

Sure, it's not setting the world on fire and since Polpo et al opened, the "small plate" dining experience has become somewhat ubiquitous.  I mean, we're even doing it in Yorkshire now. But it's all good stuff and I, for one, am very happy to hear that Polpo might be looking for a permanent home in Leeds.  It's the type of food that I will never tire of eating - honest, robust and tasty.

Polpetto
11 Berwick Street
London
W1F 0PL
020 7439 8627

Day 5: Jura/Islay - cat cuddles & chocolate puddles

Until the chocolate and whisky fondant arrived at the table last night, our dinner at the Jura Hotel, while pleasant enough, was not hitting any particular heights. And then - a boozy, oozy, glossy gush of chocolate heaven. Someone in that kitchen knows how to make a fondant.

Really, the Jura Hotel doesn't have to bother at all - it is the only place to stay on the island so its audience is pretty captive - but the elegant decor, the extremely comfortable room, the well stocked bar with the panoramic views AND the chef's way with desserts mean that it is a place to which I would happily return. There is even a friendly local cat, Elvis, who submitted quite amenably to crazy cat lady cuddles.

To be honest, I am sorry that we were not on Jura longer. It would have been nice to see the house in which George Orwell wrote "1984" and the whirlpool that sits just off the shore in the strait which separates the islands of Jura and Scarba. More than anything else, I like the fact that it feels like a little haven from the world, a place to be quiet and calm.

Recipe corner: American style chocolate chunk cookies

Picture courtesy of zazzle.co.uk  How cute is this fabric? 

I sometimes think that people (and I most definitely include myself in that all encompassing term) have forgotten what a treat actually is.

A treat is not something to be consumed every day - certainly not in any quantity. It is something to be anticipated, something to savour, something special.

When I was a young kid, sweets were for weekends and fizzy drinks for high days and holidays. The only pudding we tended to have during the week, if at all, was yoghurt. And then oh, the giddy joy at going to the sweet shop on a Friday to pick out the evening's delicacy (rhubarb and custards, or Munchies, or the wonderous thing that is a Caramac) or the pleasure taken in the sponge pudding or a crumble after Sunday lunch.

As I got older, of course this was less enforceable and, being a teenager with a remarkably sweet tooth, visits to the school tuck shop were a pretty standard part of the day. But now, as I get older still, I quite like the idea of going back to that mentality where a treat is not for every day. I want that sense of anticipation, and that sense of specialness that makes sweetmeats all the sweeter.

So I made cookie dough and shaped it into a log and I wrapped it in cling film and consigned it to the freezer so that I can bake up a slice from frozen every now and again. An oozing, chocolatey cookie, soft in the centre with a suspicion of crunch around the edge, headily scented with vanilla and on the verge of being slightly too sweet, that sort of cookie definitely falls into the treat category. Especially if consumed within minutes of coming out of the oven so it is still warm and the chocolate is liquid and smudges your fingers. I do not intend to bake up a cookie every day. But, if I am going to make my treats really count, this is definitely the way to go.

Use any kind of chocolate you like. I'm thinking about making the next batch with Smarties.

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
75g caster sugar
75g soft brown sugar
1 medium egg
Tsp vanilla extract
225g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
100g chocolate, chopped into chunks

Cream together the butter and the sugar until soft and fluffy. Stir in the egg and the vanilla extract.

Sieve the flour and the baking powder into the mix, add the salt and stir and, finally, fold through the chocolate chunks. The mixture should be soft and malleable, like Playdoh.

Spread a large piece of cling film on the work surface and tip out the cookie dough. Use your hands to push the mixture together and shape it like a log. Then wrap the clingfilm round and roll it, so the log rounds out and becomes a sausage. Freeze.

When coming to bake, preheat the oven to 170. Use a sharp knife to take off a slice of dough - any size you like but the log should yield at least 12. Sit in on baking paper on a tray in the oven for 11 minutes. When you take it out the middle will still looked uncooked, but it will become former as it cools. The edges should just be turning golden brown.

Wait a few minutes (anticipation, remember?) and then dive in, face first. Heave a contented sigh.

Bloggers do Christmas

I am intrigued by the increasing number of bloggers (and I follow a lot of people – foodie, beauty, random…) who have been posting Christmas present guides.  This is obviously now a Thing and so I wondered if I should do something similar.

But then I drafted a post and I realised that it was basically my Christmas list re-written to make it sound slightly generic.

Does your Uncle Jo like reading?  Here are the books that I have enjoyed in 2015!  Or even the ones that I want to read in 2016!

For the foodies in your life, what about these products that I really like scoffing?  Or how about some new Le Creuset?  Everyone (I) loves Le Creuset.

Enjoy a bit of a tipple?  I went to this distillery in the summer and really liked the whisky!

You can't blame the bloggers.  Newspapers and magazines do it every year, and blogging is just a natural extention of the print medium.  It's just that I’ve always thought, if you know your nearest and dearest so little that you have to resort to a Guardian journalist telling you that all the well dressed men this year will be wearing cashmere striped socks, then…well, maybe consider giving them the gift of your time and attention this Christmas.  The very best presents are the ones that mean something.  Either because they are an item genuinely coveted or because the giver feels it has resonance.

Having said all that, just in case you are interested…

This year, my favourite books have been “The Bone Clocks” by David Mitchell (apart from the ending – oh, the ending!), the Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman (Harry Potter goes to university) and “A Prayer for Owen Meaney” by John Irving  (I think Owen himself might be one of my all time favourite characters).  Ooooh, and “The Paying Guests” (because Sarah Waters is all kinds of wonderful).

I adore Amelia Rope chocolate and am beyond excited to see that she has started doing the pale lemon and sea salt as a truffle.

Grey’s Fine Foods sent me free stuff, so it only seems fair to mention them again, but they genuinely have a lovely selection of Spanish goodies and I really rated the quality of both their meat and sherry.

For entry level whisky drinking, my absolute favourite is Penderyn.  My favourite splurgier purchase this year was Ardbeg Auriverdes.

And, having recently become vaguely obsessed with this blog, I am desperate (desperate!) to own an Hermès scarf.

Happy Christmas shopping everybody!

Amelia Rope chocolate (being a little of what you fancy)

I am a fully paid up, card carrying, unashamed chocoholic. Let's just get that out of the way first, shall we?  If there is a pudding on the menu that involves chocolate in any shape or form, you can be 99% sure that I will order it.  If there are two, then I'll be trying to convince D to order the other one.

This has been going on for a long time.  My mother claims to still remember the look of bliss that passed across my face the very first time that I was given a chocolate button. And I'm sure that there is a story in the family annals about me as a toddler managing to steal and eat my way through an entire box of chocolates (and it does sound like the kind of thing that I would do - moderation and I are not regular bedfellows).

Mind you, I'm not a chocolate snob.  A four finger Kit Kat is a thing of beauty and a joy forever.  As is a bar of Dairy Milk, cold from the fridge and eaten with a cup of coffee.  But on the days when I don't have many points to spare yet need a chocolate hit, I tend to find myself turning towards the more expensive end of the market where you find greater intensity and complexity of flavour and thus can satisfy yourself with a smaller amount (theoretically).

And so it is that I wanted to commend to your attention the wonderful products produced by Amelia Rope.  If you're a chocolate fan - particularly a salted chocolate fan - then you need to give these a whirl because in terms of balancing flavours this woman is on a par with Willy Wonka himself.  The chocolate itself is superlative but factor in a dusting of sea salt and a few drops of one of Ms Rope's beautiful flavoured oils and you have an absolute masterpiece.  If I had to pick a favourite, I'd probably come down on the side of pale lemon and sea salt simply because it is a slightly unusual pairing and utterly, compellingly delicious.  If portion control is your issue, then follow the example of  D, who got me a box of salted chocolate cubes instead of an Easter egg; these are an absolutely perfect way for me to get a sweet fix at the end of the day and still feel relatively virtuous.

This is not a cheap product by any means, and the fixed £5 delivery charge means that you are better off buying a number of bars at a time - although this is no very great hardship.  If you are a fellow chocolate lover and you do give it a try then I'd love to hear what you think - or alternatively, get your own recommendations.

NB:  Sadly, this is not a sponsored post.  It is just bloody lovely chocolate.
NB2: If you are a Weight Watcher, both milk and dark chocolate are 1pp per 7g square.

Happy Easter!

I hope, most fervently, that you all had chocolate for breakfast...or, at the very least, a hot cross bun.

I'll be back soon with tales of an Italian inspired roast leg of lamb and the recipe for a VERY indulgent but seriously good Easter pudding.

In the meantime, I leave you with news that at least one person does not appear to be perturbed by the decline in Creme Egg quality this year...

Recipe corner - Snowy rocky road: a chocolate treat for chilly days

Is it snowing where you are?  I feel a tad short changed here in Leeds - there was talk of snow and yet here we are, clear skies and not a flake to be seen.  Mind you, snow is one of those things that I think I like until I have to go out in it and then remember that I tend to be unsteady on my feet at the best of times and the addition of a layer of frozen water between my good self and solid ground is not a happy one.  And, also, it never stays picturesque for very long, does it?

Although talking of picturesque, I was recently going through some old photos as I transfer the contents of my phone onto my laptop, and I came across one I took a couple of years ago which is my favourite snow scene EVER.  Check it out (and then rap my knuckles for saying check it out - I can't carry off that kind of patois):

If that doesn't utterly thrill you...then you are far less geeky than I am and probably have a life which involves going out on a Saturday night as opposed to following the adventures of a nine hundred year old Time Lord.

Anyway, snowy Rocky Road...now, I know most people are probably currently wearing their January hair shirts and therefore won't be interesting in a recipe that falls under the category of "Indulgent Treat" but I am not drinking (polishes halo) which gives me more points to play with (especially at the weekend), so I am all for a bit of chocolatey goodness.  My Mum made me some of these to go in my New Year hamper and they are utterly lovely - and incredibly sweet, so a small piece goes a long way.  I believe the recipe originally came from Good Housekeeping magazine.

Ingredients

400g white chocolate
25g mini marshmallows
50g dried cranberries
40g pistachios
50g ginger nuts, crushed
55g desiccated coconut

Makes 20, 4 pro points per piece

In preparation for the goodness to come, line a rectangular tin of roughly 15cm by 20.5cm with cling film. 

Melt the white chocolate: break into small chunks and put into a microwave safe bowl, microwave on full power for a minute and give a vigorous stir.  If not fully melted, put back in the microwave for 10 second bursts, stirring after each, until you have a smooth, glossy mass.

Now all you have to do is incorporate the other ingredients, reserving some of the coconut to sprinkle on top.  Depending on taste, you could chop the nuts and dried fruit before stirring through. 

Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the service before sprinkling with the remaining coconut (and if you've got any edible glitter left over from Christmas, throw some of that on too!)  Freeze for about 15 minutes until solid and then cut into squares.  Eat, preferably while contemplating some gorgeous snowy vista.

I'm linking this and my recent soup recipe up to Mrs M's January recipe link party.

Recipe corner - whisky and stem ginger brownies

I can’t really take credit for these brownies. Which is a shame because they are seriously, seriously good.

They came about because of an unsatisfactory Starbucks brownie. D’s, not mine I hasten to add, I’m not that bad at weight watching! Anyway, the brownie was disappointingly dry so I rashly declared that I would bake some myself that we could take up to Scotland with us and that they would be as satisfyingly damp and fudgy as brownies should be. “If they’re going to Scotland,” said he, “They should have a Scottish theme.” And so the whisky and ginger brownie concept was born.

I’m not the biggest fan of alcohol and chocolate in combination – odd when you consider how much I adore the two things separately. But the whisky here is not in your face, it just adds a subtle spiciness that works incredibly well with the chocolate and the little zinging pieces of ginger. You could add a little ground ginger to the flour if you wanted to make the taste slightly more overt.

At 6 pro points a piece, these are obviously not the lowest point option treat in the world but they’re about the same as a chocolate bar – and well worth the expenditure in my opinion. Fortunately they keep excellently well – for at least two weeks in a tin, or even freeze, so one is denied any excuse to scoff the lot in one sitting.

Ingredients

185g unsalted butter
185g dark chocolate
85g plain flour
40g cocoa
50g white chocolate chips (I used buttons here)
50g stem ginger, chopped
2tbsp whisky
3 eggs
275g golden caster sugar

Makes 20, 6 pro points per brownie

Prepare your (approximately) 20cm square tin (I spray mine lightly with oil and put baking parchment in the base) and preheat your oven (180 or 160 for a fan).

For this recipe you’re going to require three bowls. In your first bowl, place your dark chocolate, butter and whisky. You are going to melt these together – you could do this over a bowl of simmering water but I think by far the easiest way is to use the microwave. A couple of minutes at a medium setting should suffice – give it a brisk stir every thirty seconds or so to ensure that nothing untoward is happening. Once the mixture is melted and glossy, set aside and allow to cool slightly.

Now you can sieve your flour and cocoa powder together in a second bowl. Add any spices at this stage, and perhaps a decent pinch of salt.

The eggs and sugar will require whisking together until pale and doubled in volume – this took about a minute in my beloved Kitchen Aid.

Gently, gently take your cooled chocolate and fold it into the whisked eggs: a rubber spatula works well here. You need to be very careful and fold as opposed to stir so that you retain the air you have whipped in. Once the chocolate is incorporated, sieve (again) the cocoa and flour mixture into the mix and again, fold it gently in. Perseverance is required here as it will take a while to come together. Finally, stir through the chocolate chips and ginger pieces.

Pour into the tin and bake for 25 minutes. The difficulty with brownies is to know whether they are ready or not – a skewer inserted into the cake should have some crumbs clinging to it and the top should be shiny and crisp looking and starting to come away from the sides of the tin. I also found that as I removed it from the oven it had the slightest hint of a wobble to the middle of it which had disappeared less than a minute later. The resulting brownies were the perfect amount of squishy.

I’m linking this up to Mrs M’s April Recipe Link party to spread the word – boozy brownies for all!

So what’s new with you?

Or, the Foodie tries so you don’t have to…

So, firstly, let’s talk chocolate cheese. Cadburys Philadelphia Light. This particular product has the Weight Watchers messageboards aflame (in so far as an internet messageboard can ever said to be aflame…) and, frankly, with good reason. If you like chocolate cheesecake then it is very important that you try some of this glorious stuff soon. The mini pots, or a 30g serving from a fullsize pot, are 2 pro points. You can smear it on toast, or cake, or biscuits, or fruit, or just eat it with a spoon. Luscious.

Image from The Grocer website.  May provoke attempts to break through computer screen with a spoon.

 And next up on my product review list is an epic fail. Lurpak Lightest. I bought it out of interest because I like Lurpak and think the Lighter version is a pretty good ingredient to have in one’s fridge for cooking purposes (as opposed to smearing purposes – if you’re having butter on toast or crumpets etc. then it needs to be the proper stuff.) The Lightest is obviously a step too far. I had to melt it for use in a banana loaf – it looked like scary alien mucus and refused to cream properly with the sugar. I then (foolishly) attempted to use it as the basis for a white sauce. Terrible. I have never before had to sieve a white sauce, but the roux just would not cook out properly. And, it doesn’t taste nice. It may be low in points (1 pro point per 10g serving) but that is all that can be said for it.

Twix Travesty

I'm all for companies trying to make "lighter" versions of things.

But this is just wrong.  A travesty along similar lines to the Mars Delight or the Kinder Bueno.  The only acceptable chocolate / wafer combination is the KitKat in my opinion (which is the only one that counts on my blog).

As for the confectionery versus biscuit debate...I used to work for the sweetie company that makes KitKats and they classified the 4 finger as a chocolate bar and the 2 finger as a biscuit.  So there.