Hot Chocolate Cake

Serves 6

125g butter, melted

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup self raising flour

3/4 cup caster sugar

1/2 milk

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Melt butter.

Mix all the ingredients for 3 minutes.

Pour mixture into a greased tin.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, until a knife comes out clean.

Pour over thick chocolate icing.

Serve hot with ice cream.

NB: This cake can also be made vegan by replacing margarine for butter, soy milk for cow’s milk and 2 tablespoons of potato flour and 4 tablespoons of canola oil for eggs. When I use this recipe to make cupcakes I put a block of chocolate in the centre before baking. To make the icing you can just use chocolate icing sugar and milk or you can also add melted chocolate which makes the icing richer.

Crystal Castles – Courtship Dating (zSHARE)

Good wholesome comfort food.

Chickpea & Risoni Soup

Serves 4

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 stick of celery, finely chopped

1 clove of galic, finely chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

A spring of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped

2 x 400g tins of chickpeas

500ml stock (chicken or vegetable), warm

150g risoni (or other small soup pasta)

salt and pepper

A handful of fresh basil or parsley, leaves picked and torn

Place the onion, celery and garlic into a saucepan with a little olive and rosemary.

Cook as gently as possible, with the lid on, for about 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and without any colour.

Drain the chickpeas and rinse them in cold water.

Add the chickpeas to the pan and cover with stock.

Cook gently for half an hour.

Remove half of the chickpeas using a slotted spoon and put them aside.

Puree the soup in the pan using a handheld stick blender.

Add the reserved whole chickpeas and the pasta, season with salt and pepper and simmer gently until the chickpeas are tender the pasta is cooked.

If the soup is too thick, pour in some boiling water to thin it down and season if needed.

Serve drizzled with good quality extra virgin olive oil and torn basil or parsley.

Seagull – Dust Storm (zSHARE)

Roasted Mushroom Risotto

Serves 4-6

1.1L stock (chicken or vegetable)

2 tablespoons olive oil

A knob of butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

400g risotto rice

500ml dry white wine

salt and pepper

70g butter

115g grated parmezan cheese

A small bunch of fresh parsley, very finely chopped

1 lemon

500g mushrooms (portobello, swiss brown etc…), cleaned and torn

1 bulb of garlic, cloves peeled and halved

A small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked

1 tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Heat the stock and keep it simmering hot on the stove.

Put the olive oil and butter into a separate pan, add the onion and garlic, and cook very slowly for about 15 minute without colouring.

Add the rice and turn up the heat. The rice will begin to lightly fry, so continue to stir it. After a minute it will look slightly translucent.

Add the wine and keep stirring.

Once the wine has cooked into the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock.

Turn the heat down to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook to quickly on the outside.

Continue adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring the creamy starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 20 minutes but always varies so taste the rice to check if its cooked. If not, continue adding the stock until the rice is soft but still has a slight bite. Don’t forget to check the seasoning carefully and if you run out of stock just add some boiling water.

When the rice is almost cooked, heat a heavy bottom ovenproof fry pan or baking tray until medium hot and add a splash of olive oil.

Fry the mushrooms for a few minutes until they begin to colour, and season with salt and pepper.

Add the garlic, thyme and butter and mix together.

Place the pan in a preheated oven and roast the mushrooms for 6 minutes or so, until cooked through and rich in flavour.

Remove the risotto from the heat when cooked and add the butter, parmezan, parsley and a splash of olive oil. Stir well.

Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes.

Chop half the mushroom and garlic and stir into the risotto adding a good squeeze of lemon juice to balance flavours.

Divide between plates, sprinkle over the remaining mushrooms and drizzle with good quality extra virgin olive oil.

Eat as soon as possible.

Peter Bjorn And John – Objects Of My Affection (zSHARE)

The terrine is really simple, fried eggplant, de-seeded skinned tomatoes and basil. I bought the tomatoes at my local supermarket which was a big mistake. I could tell there weren’t great but they were so tasteless and therefore the terrine wasn’t as great as it should have been. With really ripe good quality tomatoes the terrine is amazingly refreshing. I also think it looks better when made in smaller moulds.

Eggplant & Tomato Terrine

Serves 2

Olive Oil

1 eggplant, peeled and cut into 5mm slices

6 ripe red tomatoes, peeled, halved and seeded

5 basil leaves

salt

1 leaf gelatine

20ml vegetable stock, warm

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based fry pan and fry the eggplant on both sides until lightly golden.

Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.

Arrange the tomatoes on kitchen paper for an hour or so to drain away as much moisture as possible.

Line a terrine mould up the sides with the eggplant.

Fill the mould with layers of tomato and basil leaves, salting each layer lightly as you go.

When you reach the top of the mould, dissolve the gelatine in the warm stock and pour over the tomatoes.

Cover with more slices of eggplant.

Weight the terrine and refrigerate for a few hours.

Cut into slices and serve.

NB: I doubled the recipe and used a large ramekin. I put a small plate on top and weighed it with a mortar.

Love Is All – Make Out Fall Out Make Up (zSHARE)

The Pear Tart Tatin was super easy and delcious. I would cook it in alot less water next time and probably add some more lemon rind and something else to flavour it. But I managed not to stew the pears and they kept there shape nicely. The pastry was lovely and gooey under the pears but was nice and crispy on the bottom. The second time I made this I took the pears out of the pan before placing them back neatly (shown in one of the photos below).

Pear Tart Tatin

Serves 4

3 firm brown skinned pears, sliced

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup caster sugar

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

4 pieces lemon zest

A knob of butter

1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Place the pears, sugar, lemon zest and water into a large ovenproof fry pan.

Cook the pears over a medium heat for 10 minutes and then reduce to heat to a simmer for another 10 minutes to reduce the syrup further.

Remove the lemon zest and stir in the butter. At this point you can just leave the pears as they are or take them out and put them back in neatly.

Cover the pears with a sheet of puff pastry and tuck the edges into the sides of the pan.

Cook for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and puffy.

Turn out onto a plate and serve with ice-cream. This is easiest done by placing a large plate over the fry pan and quickly flipping it over.

NB: You can also add a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of vanilla essence. I’m not sure if the measurements of sugar and water are exact, I just guess. If you make it too runny just drain of some of the syrup before you put it in the oven then pour in over the tart when you’ve turned it out.

GoodBooks – Leni (Crystal Castles Remix) (zSHARE)