Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

It's been... a while... since I posted a recipe here.

Today's recipe is for some cookies that have been pretty popular recently in my household. The recipe makes 16 large cookies.

Ingredients

• 100 g butter (softened at room temperature)
• 100 g soft dark brown sugar
• 100 g white sugar (granulated or caster)
• 1 large egg (duck egg if available)
• pinch of salt
• 150 g self-raising flour
• 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
• 100 g chocolate chips
• 50 g rolled oats
• 75 g crunchy 100% peanut butter

Method

Prepare 2 large baking trays with silicon baking sheets. Preheat the oven to 160 °C fan.

Cream the butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy. Thoroughly mix in the egg.

Mix in the flour, salt and cocoa powder. Fold in the chocolate chips and oats.

Add the peanut butter by swirling it in, so that it's distributed through the dough but not fully mixed in.

After portioning out the dough onto the baking sheets (I recommend using 2 desert spoons to shape each blob of dough), bake in the oven for 9 minutes.

Allow to cool for 15–20 mins before serving (and even then, they'll be pretty gooey).

These cookies will keep well for 4–5 days in a sealed container, but I expect they'll be eaten before then.

Japanese Shioyaki-style mackerel

This is a guest post written by Kathryn Grant, who has a knack for picking out exotic yet easy-to-cook recipes!

This is a quick version of 鯖の塩焼き (saba no shioyaki), or salt-grilled mackerel, served with cucumber pickle and toasted sesame seeds. This recipe serves 2 people.

Ingredients

For the cucumber pickle:

• ½ cucumber, halved lengthways and sliced
• 1 tsp cooking salt
• 50 ml rice wine (or white wine) vinegar
• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seed oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• ¼–½ tsp chilli powder
• 3 spring onions

For the grilled mackerel:

• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine (or white wine) vinegar
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 fresh mackerel fillets
• Sea salt
• Vegetable oil

For the rice:

• 120-180 g rice (depending on hunger levels)
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• Sea salt

To serve:

• 2 tbsp black sesame seeds
• Lemon wedges
• Finely sliced daikon radish or other radish (optional)

Method

1. Chop the cucumber and place in a bowl. Sprinkle 1 tsp cooking salt over the cucumber and leave for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the marinade ingredients together: vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sugar and chilli powder. Chop the spring onion. Once the 5 minutes is up, rinse the cucumber thoroughly with cold water to remove the salt, drain and place back into the bowl. Pour over the marinade, add in the spring onions, cover with clingfilm and set aside somewhere cool.
2. Mix the marinade for the mackerel: soy sauce, vinegar and toasted sesame oil. Pour into a shallow dish. Wash the fish and place, skin-side up, in the shallow dish. Leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
3. Pre-heat the grill to a high heat.
4. Toast the black sesame seeds in the bottom of a dry pan for around 2 minutes, taking care not to burn them. Remove from the heat and set aside.
5. Shred the radish, if using.
6. Boil a kettle of water. Heat 1 tbsp of toasted sesame oil in a saucepan. Wash the rice thoroughly, until the water runs clear, then add to the saucepan. Fry for 1 minute, stirring continuously to make sure the rice does not burn. Cover the rice with water, season with a pinch of salt and simmer for approximately 12 minutes (check packet instructions).
7. Whilst the rice is cooking, remove the mackerel from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Sprinkle the non-skin side with sea salt and let the fish rest for 5 minutes.
8. Prepare a tray for grilling: line a baking tray with foil and grease with about 1 tbsp of vegetable oil.
9. After the fish has rested, place onto the baking tray (skin-side down) and grill for 5 minutes until the fish is cooked. The skin should be crispy and surface lightly browned.
10. Serve the cucumber pickle and rice sprinkled with the toasted sesame seeds. The excess cucumber marinade makes an excellent sauce for the rice. Serve the fish with lemon (or lime) wedges and shredded radish. The lemon/lime wedges really brings out the flavour of the fish.

Beetroot risotto

One of my most popular dishes is beetroot risotto. It's both the recipe that I get asked for most often, and the recipe that people go out of their way to tell me that they enjoyed making. Here's the (quite simple!) recipe so that you can enjoy it too!

This recipe serves two, and is especially good with some slices of pan-roasted duck breast on top. Yum.

Ingredients

• 1 beetroot
• 1 large carrot
• 1 small onion
• Half a celery stick
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 100 g risotto rice
• 30 g Parmesan cheese
• Butter
• Fresh parsley
• Salt & pepper

Method

First, peel the beetroot and carrot, and cut them into 1 cubes. Put them in a saucepan with a pinch of salt and enough water to cover them, bring them to the boil, and let them simmer for about 20 minutes.

While they're cooking, finely chop the onion, garlic and celery. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, and saute the chopped vegetables gently in the olive oil until they're soft and translucent. Also, grate the Parmesan, chop the parsley, and boil a full kettle.

Once the beetroot and carrot are cooked, strain off the liquid into a jug and set the vegetables to one side.

Turn up the heat in the frying pan, and gently fry the rice with the onion, garlic and celery for 1–2 minutes. Then add a little of the stock from cooking the beetroot and carrot (that you saved earlier in a jug), and stir the rice until almost all the liquid has been absorbed. Repeat until you run out of liquid. Add the root vegetables into the pan, and continue to gradually add hot water (from the kettle) while gently stirring until the rice is cooked.

Take the risotto of the heat, and stir in the Parmesan, the parsley, and a knob of butter. Let it rest for a minute, and serve in bowles with some freshly-ground black pepper on top!

Pan-roast venison haunch with pumpkin risotto

The rather awesome K. and I have been going out for three years! We made a special dinner to celebrate.

This recipe, unsurprisingly, serves two. Best accompanied by a nice Pinot Noir!

Ingredients

For the venison:

• 12 oz (350 g) venison haunch, in one piece
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 30 g butter
• 25 ml gin
• 1 tsp plain flour
• 150 ml red wine
• 300 ml lamb stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 small sprig rosemary
• 5 juniper berries
• Salt & pepper

For the risotto:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 celery stick
• 300 g pumpkin
• Some kale (a generous handful)
• 100 g risotto rice
• 150 ml white wine
• 500 ml vegetable stock
• 30 g Parmesan cheese
• Butter
• Salt & pepper

To serve:

• Parsley leaves
• Parmesan shavings

You will need a digital kitchen thermometer.

Method

I'm listing the two methods separately, but you'll need to do them simultaneously. Make sure you have all the equipment and ingredients ready before you start!

For the venison:

1. At least an hour in advance, remove the venison from the fridge, remove all packaging, and pat dry with a clean paper towel. Place it on a clean chopping board and leave to dry in the air.
2. Put a roasting tin in the oven and preheat to 120 °C fan. Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat.
3. Season the venison with salt and pepper. Fry the venison for 1–2 minutes on each side until sealed and browned. Add the butter to the the pan and baste continuously for 3 minutes, turning occasionally, then transfer it to the preheated roasting tin in the oven.
4. While the venison is in the oven, make sure to check it periodically with the thermometer — the aim is to reach 63 °C in the centre of the meat [1], but don't let it get any hotter than that, or it'll dry out! It'll need about 15–20 minutes in the oven.
5. Deglaze the frying pan with the gin, then add the flour and mix to a paste. Add the red wine and herbs, and simmer over a high heat until reduced by half.
6. Remove the rosemary (because otherwise it can overpower the other flavours), and add the lamb stock. Continue reducing until a sauce-like consistency is achieved. Sieve the gravy and set aside (but keep it warm!)
7. Once the venison reaches the target temperature, remove it from the oven and cover it in foil to rest. Make sure to rest it for at least 5 minutes.

For the risotto:

1. Finely chop the onion and celery, and crush the garlic. Dice the pumpkin into 1 cm cubes, and finely shred the kale. Grate the Parmesan.
2. Heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a large, non-stick pan, and add the onion and celery. Saute the vegetables gently for about 5 minutes until they are soft but not browning.
3. Add the garlic and rice, and continue to cook for 2–3 minutes.
4. Turn the heat up to high, and add the white wine and some salt. Continue to cook, while stirring regularly and adding stock when the risotto starts to dry out.
5. When the rice is starting to soften, add the pumpkin and kale. Continue to cook the risotto, adding liquid when needed, until the rice is soft but not mushy.
6. Stir in the Parmesan and a generous knob of butter, and leave the risotto to rest for at least a minute.

To serve, carve the venison into thick, even rounds. Arrange the risotto and venison on pre-heated plates. Spoon a little of the gravy onto the venison, and top the risotto with freshly-ground black pepper, parsley leaves and Parmesan shavings.

[1] Getting the centre of the venison to 63 °C is recommended if you want to make sure that any bacteria or other nasties are fully killed off, and will result in having venison that's "done" — with a centre that's slightly pink but still deliciously tender. If you'd like medium-rare, aim for 57 °C.

Roasted vegetable and chickpea tagine

It's been a while since I last posted a recipe here! Recently I've been having quite a lot of success with this Morrocan-inspired vegetarian recipe.

This recipe makes 6 portions.

Ingredients

For the roasted vegetables:

• 350 g new potatoes, halved
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed & cut into batons
• 1 medium carrot, cut into chunks
• 1 large red pepper, cut into chunks
• 1 large red onion, cut into chunks
• 3 tbsp exra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed

For the sauce:

• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 400 g canned chopped tomatoes
• 400 g canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 250 ml red wine
• 1 pickled lemon, finely chopped
• 0.5 tbsp harissa paste
• 1 tsp ras el hanout
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 40 g whole almonds
• 10 dried apricots, halved

To serve:

• Greek-style yoghurt
• 2 tbsp coriander, finely chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 °C fan. Put all the ingredients for the roasted vegetables into a large, heavy roasting tin, season to taste, and toss together to coat the vegetables in oil and spices. Roast for 30 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through and the vegetables generally have a nice roasted tinge.

While the vegetables are roasting, heat a large pan over a medium heat. Fry the garlic for 20–30 seconds until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil, and simmer while the vegetables roast.

When the vegetables are roasted, add them to the sauce and stir. Return the sauce to the simmer for another 15–20 minutes.

Serve in bowls, topped with a dollop of yoghurt and some chopped coriander. Couscous makes a good accompaniment to this dish if you want to make it go further.

Chilli and lime dark chocolate tarts

In the second round of the baking competition at work, I baked another invention of mine: sweet pastry tarts, filled with a dark chocolate ganache flavoured with chilli and lime, and decorated with candied chillies.

They didn't do very well with the judges — they thought there was too much chocolate filling and/or it was too rich, and they found the candied chillies too spicy. On the other hand, the whole batch got eaten, so it's not all bad news.

This time-consuming and labour-intensive recipe makes 8 tarts.

Ingredients

For the candied chillies:

1. 1/2 cup water
2. 1/2 cup sugar
3. 1 lime
4. 2 mild chillies

For the pastry cases:

1. 250 g plain flour
2. 35 g icing sugar
3. 140 g cold unsalted butter
4. 2 egg yolks
5. 1.5 tbsp cold water

For the chilli and lime dark chocolate ganache filling:

1. 100 ml double cream
2. 25 g caster sugar
3. 100 g dark chocolate
4. 12 g butter
5. 2 limes
6. 2 bird's eye chillies

Candied chillies

Make the candied chillies first — they keep for ages, so you can make them a good while in advance.

Cut the chillies into thin, circular slices, and remove the seeds (tweezers are useful). Take the peel of about a quarter of a lime, and slice it into strips as thinly as possible.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the water and sugar to make a syrup. When it gets to the boil, carefully add the lime peel and chilli slices and simmer for 20 mins.

Strain the sugar syrup to remove the chilli and lime — save the syrup for later — and lay the pieces out on a silicone baking sheet. Bake in the oven for an hour at about 90 °C, until they are dry to the touch.

Sweet pastry cases

Put the the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor and pulse a few times until the mixture becomes about the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the yolks and cold water and pulse until the mixture comes together. You may need to add a tiny bit more water. Knead the pastry a couple of times — literally only enough that it comes together into a ball — then wrap it in clingfilm and put it in the fridge to chill for about an hour.

Clear a shelf in the fridge and prepare 8 individual-size pastry tins (about 7.5–8 cm diameter).

Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Roll each piece out to about 15 cm diameter and carefully place them in the pastry tins, pushing it out to fill the corners. If any holes appear, push them back together again. There should be 2&ndash cm of excess pastry protruding from the edges of the tin; trim back any much more than this.

Prick the bottom of each case with a fork and place them in the fridge to chill for at least an hour. By making sure that the cases are well rested you will avoid the need to use baking beans.

Preheat the oven to 180 °C (fan) and place a baking train the oven to heat. When the pastry cases are rested, place them directly onto the hot baking tray and into the oven, and bake for approx. 12 min until golden. Be very careful that the pastry doesn't catch!

When pastry cases come out of the oven, immediately trim the excess pastry from the cases before they become brittle, using a sharp knife. Leave them to cool in the tins on a cooling rack.

Chilli and lime chocolate ganache filling

Finely chop the chillies and zest the limes.

Place the cream, sugar, chillies and half the lime zest in a saucepan. Warm over a low heat. (The longer you infuse the cream, the stronger the filling will be).

Meanwhile, break the chocolate into pieces. Put the chocolate, butter and remaining lime zest in a mixing bowl.

When the cream is almost at boiling point, strain it onto the chocolate and butter. Whisk the mixture slowly until the chocolate and butter has melted and the ganache is smooth and glossy. If the chocolate doesn't quite melt, heat the mixing bowl over a pan of hot water (but make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water!)

If the filling isn't strong enough, you can add a couple of teaspoons of the chilli sugar syrup left over from making the candied chillies earlier.

While the ganache is still warm, carefully spoon it into the pastry cases. Decorate with the candied chillies.

N.b. the ganache will take at least a couple of hours to set; you can put it in the fridge to help it along, but it may make the top lose its glossy finish.

Stripy chocolate, vanilla and coffee cake

At Sharp Labs we're having a baking competition going on to raise money for Helen & Douglas House. I foolishly decided to enter it.

There are three rounds. The first round, which took place on the 25th November, was sponge cakes. I invented a variation on a coffee cake. It's made up of six alternating layers of chocolate and vanilla sponge, bound together and coated with a coffee buttercream icing. This recipe is for a large cake which will happily make 16 slices.

Ingredients

For the vanilla sponge:

• 165 g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 165 g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 165 g self raising flour, sifted
• 1.5 tsp vanilla essence
• Hot water (if required)

For the chocolate sponge:

• 165 g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 165 g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 155 g self raising flour, sifted
• 1 heaped tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
• Hot water (if required)

For the coffee buttercream:

• 600 g icing sugar
• 375 g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 150 ml strong espresso coffee (about 3 shots)

Method

Preheat the oven to 155 ℃ (fan). Position a shelf near the middle of the oven for the cakes. Line the bottoms of two deep 20 cm springform or sandwich tins with baking parchment.

Each of the sponge batters is prepared in the same way (it's best to do prepare them in parallel in two bowls so that you can bake the cakes simultaneously):

1. Cream butter and sugar together using an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy.
2. In a measuring jug, beat the eggs. Then add them little by little to the butter & sugar mixture, making sure to fully combine each addition before the next. For the vanilla sponge, add the vanilla essence at this stage.
3. Sift about a quarter of the flour (or flour and cocoa mixture) into the mixture, from a height of about 50 cm so as to air the flour well. Carefully and gently fold the flour in (you want to trap as much air as possible at this stage). Repeat until all the flour has been combined.

Transfer the sponge batters into the tins, and place the tins at mid-level of the oven near the front. Bake for 25-30 mins. When they are cooked, they'll (1) make a popping sound like rice crispies, (2) feel springy when lightly touched near the centre with a fingertip and (3) a sharp knife inserted all the way through will come out clean.

About 1-2 mins after removing the cakes from the oven, turn them out, carefully peel off the baking parchment, and leave them to cool for about half an hour.

Carefully slice each of the cakes into three horizontal slices, approximately 1 cm in thickness. I found that a very very sharp knife and a lot of patience was more successful than using a cake wire.

Make the buttercream by putting the butter and icing sugar into a bowl and beating them with an electric hand mixer while slowly adding the espresso.

Assemble the cake by putting a vanilla slice of sponge on a turntable, adding a thin layer of butter cream and levelling it off, then adding a chocolate slice on top, and continuing until all six slices are built up. Make sure on each layer to spread the buttercream all the way to the edge.

Use the remaining buttercream icing to smoothly coat the exterior of the cake. Use a side scraper and a turntable to get vertical sides and horizontal top! You should have some icing leftover.

Finally, you can optionally use cocoa powder and/or walnuts to decorate the finished cake.

Black onion seed and rye crackers

Here's a recipe for some nice crunchy rye crackers. I adapted it from a rosemary cracker recipe that my father figured out. It makes about 24 large crackers, but it very much depends on how you cut them.

• 160 g plain flour
• 120 g rye flour
• 80 ml cold water
• 60 ml olive oil (+ extra for brushing)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp baking salt
• 1.5 tsp black onion seeds
• Crystal salt
• Black pepper
• Crushed, dried seaweed
• Za'atar

Pre-heat the oven to 230 ℃ fan. Put baking sheets into the oven to preheat.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking salt and black onion seeds. Add the water and olive oil and knead briefly to form a smooth dough. Do not overwork the dough; you do not want gluten strands to form.

Divide the mixture into three parts. Wrap two in clingfilm while you work with the third.

Using a rolling pin, roll one third of the dough out as thinly as possible onto a silicone sheet. Using a dough blade or palette knife, gently score across to divide the sheet into crackers.

Sprinkle the top with salt crystals, seaweed, coarsely-ground black pepper and a generous sprinkle of za'atar. Gently pass the rolling pin over the sheet again to press the toppings into the dough.

Transfer to the oven and bake for roughly ten minutes, or until the top begins to darken at the edges.

Christmas 2012: Chorizo and roasted pumpkin risotto

In my quest to find interesting things to do with pumpkin, I came up with this chorizo-flavoured pumpkin risotto. Chorizo in a risotto base is something that I've been doing for about 3 years, but I found that the contrast between creamy risotto, smooth pumpkin, and tart lemon works remarkably well in this dish. Serves 4–6 as a main course.

• 1 kg pumpkin
• 2 sticks celery
• 2 medium onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 100 g unsliced chorizo sausage
• 750 mm hot chicken stock
• 150 mm white wine
• 50 g Parmesan (or similar hard cheese)
• 50 g butter
• 1 lemon
• Parsley
• Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200 °C (185 °C fan). Dice the pumpkin into 2–3 cm cubes. Spread the cubed pumpkin out on a baking sheet, use a pastry brush to roughly coat them with olive oil, and season generously. Put in the oven to roast for 35–40 min.

Finely chop the onions, celery, garlic and chorizo. In a wide-bottomed, covered pan, gently fry the onions, celery and chorizo in about 2 tbsp of the olive oil until very soft.

Next add the risotto rice and garlic, and fry for further 3 min. Now turn up the heat, and add the white wine to the pan. Keep stirring the risotto and gradually adding the hot stock until the risotto is cooked. It's okay not to use all of the stock; if you find that you need more liquid, just use boiling water.

Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese and butter. Gently stir in the roast pumpkin cubes, and allow the risotto to rest for at least a minute. Serve garnished with lemon wedges and chopped parsley.

Christmas 2012: Spicy pumpkin and carrot soup

This Christmas, I'm in charge of the menu (and the cooking) at home, and I'll be posting recipes for some of the food I cook. First up is a lovely warm and spicy vegetable soup that's delicious and quick to cook, and makes a great lunch. This recipe serves 3&ndash6 people depending on how hungry they are!

• 2 medium onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 stick celery
• 4 carrots
• 600 g pumpkin (approx)
• 1 chili
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin seed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
• Large handful of red lentils

The key here is to chop the vegetables to appropriate sizes so that everything is ready to eat at the same time. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Finely chop the onion, garlic and chili, and cut the celery into pieces about 1 cm on a side, and gently fry them in the oil with the cumin seed for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and clear.

Meanwhile, boil a kettle. Dice the carrots into pieces about 5 mm in size, and add to the pan. Next, cube the pumpkin to about 15–20 mm and add to the pan. Add the paprika, and continue to fry the vegetables together for another 2–3 min.

Add about 750 ml of the boiling water from the kettle to the pan along with the bouillon powder, and season with salt and pepper to taste (the liquid should be just enough to cover the vegetables). Bring to the boil, and sprinkle the lentils in. Finally, cover the pan, and simmer for about 30 min until ready to serve — preferably with some crusty bread and a wedge of cheddar cheese.

Leek and potato soup

It's been a while since I lasted posted a recipe. Here's a recipe for some delicious leek and potato soup that I first tried out last Christmas. Serves 3-4.

• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 large leeks
• 350 g potatoes
• 250 ml white wine
• 150 ml double cream
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder

Peel and dice the potatoes.

Finely chop the onion and leeks and, using a large heavy-based saucepan, fry gently in the olive oil over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Crush and add the garlic, and fry for a further 1 minute. Meanwhile, boil a kettle.

Add the potatoes, wine and bouillon powder to the pan, with enough boiling water to just cover the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Turn the heat down to a simmer, and cook for 30-40 mins until the potatoes are nice and soft. Blend or mash the soup, and finally stir in the double cream just before serving.

Beef shin hotpot

The cheesecake I described in my last blog post was absolutely delicious!

I enjoy eating beef, but the most well-known cuts are quite expensive. Shin is a less-commonly used cut (you probably won't find it in Sainsbury's), but is still delicious in stews and hotpots as long as you cook it correctly! Ask for it at the butcher or at a farmers' market. Here's a shin hotpot I enjoy making — this recipe serves 4-6.

• 450 g shin of beef, boned and diced
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 6 pork sausages
• 450 g potatoes
• 1 dessert (eating) apple
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 450 ml beef stock

Put the beef and vinegar in a bowl, and cover with clingfilm. Marinate for an hour, stirring occasionally. This softens and tenderises the meat.

Pre-heat the oven to 160 °C. Thinly slice the potatoes, apple, tomatoes and onion, and cut the sausages into chunks.

Drain the beef, and (optionally) pat it dry with paper towels. Toss the sausage and beef pieces in the flour.

In a large casserole dish, start building the hotpot with layers of sliced vegetables and meat:

1. 1/3 of the potatoes
2. 1/2 of the apple, tomato, and onion
3. 1/2 of the sausages and beef
4. 1/3 of the potatoes
5. The rest of the apple, tomato and onion
6. The rest of the meat
7. A top layer of potatoes (make sure you keep enough back from the previous layers to cover the casserole fully!

Give the dish a little shake to help the casserole settle, and add the stock (it should come about halfway up the casserole).

Cover and cook in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. For the last 10-15 minutes, take the lid off and turn the oven up to 200 °C to allow the top layer of potatoes to crisp up.

Serve in bowls, with plenty of the stock. Leftovers keep really well in the fridge!

Seattle Cheesecake recipe

Thanks to one of my colleagues, here's the cheesecake recipe I'm going to try to bake this evening. I've converted the units to metric, scaled the quantities, and added ingredients for a British-style base and an apricot topping.

Start by greasing a 20 cm spring-form tin and lining the base with a round of greaseproof paper. Pre-heat the oven to 160 °C.

Biscuit base

• 12 digestive biscuits
• 60 g unsalted butter

Crush the biscuits to the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Melt butter and mix into crushed biscuits. Gently press mixture into bottom of tin using the back of a spoon to form a level base. Bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned and just set. Set aside for at least 5 minutes.

Bottom layer

• 625 g cream cheese (not reduced fat, premium brand strongly recommended)
• 140 g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 15 ml/1 tbsp vanilla essence

Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly, and pour onto the base. Bake in the oven for about an hour. Time needed depends on atmospheric conditions, but when done the top will start to crack. When done, remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack for 30 minutes. (The cooling rack is important, as you need to get airflow underneath the cake).

Top layer

• 330 ml sour cream
• 30 g caster sugar
• 15 ml/1 tbsp vanilla essence

Turn up the oven to 220 °C. Once the bottom layer is cool, mix the top layer ingredients together, and pour on top. Then return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.

Topping

• 1/2 jar apricot preserve
• 3-4 fresh apricots

Slice apricots. Heat jam in microwave for about 45 seconds, until runny, and spread over top of cheesecake. Arrange apricots on top.

I'll update this post later with the results!

Update: This worked out really well! The only slight problem was that the tin didn't come away from the sides totally cleanly, but the cake still looked excellent and tasted delicious!

Banana and walnut cake

A cake recipe that I've had some success with recently is this rather delicious banana and walnut cake. It's dead simple, and takes very little time to make. There's one in the oven right now!

• 450 g ripe bananas (weighed before peeling), mashed
• 125 g unsalted butter
• 150 g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• Half tsp vanilla extract
• 50 g walnuts, chopped
• 250 g self-raising flour
• Pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 180 °C. Lightly butter a 25x10 cm loaf tin. Cream butter and sugar together until smooth and pale.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Fold in mashed bananas, vanilla and walnuts. Sift in flour and salt and fold in.

Spoon mixture into loaf tin, and bake for one hour or until a knife pushed into centre of cake comes out dry. Cool in tin for at least 20 min before turning out.

My chocolate brownies have also been popular recently, this time with the University of Surrey Mountaineering Club!

Double-chocolate brownies

While CURA were at Bisley for the Imperial Meeting this year, I made the team some of these brownies. They were very much enjoyed by all!

This recipe is designed to make quite firm brownies that travel easily (e.g. on the back of my bike). If you like your brownies nice and squidgy, put less flour in (175 g instead of 225 g).

• 275 g plain chocolate (50% cocoa solids)
• 220 g unsalted butter
• 85 g walnut pieces
• 170 g milk chocolate (cut into chunks)
• 225 g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 325 g caster sugar

Pre-heat oven to 170°C (155°C if you've got a fan oven). Line a 30x20x3.5 cm cake tin with lightly buttered greaseproof paper. I find that it makes the brownie easier to extract from the tin if you butter the base of the tin as well.

Melt the plain chocolate and butter in a large (preferably metal) mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar, followed by the eggs and vanilla essence.

Sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixture, and fold in. Fold in the nuts and chocolate chunks.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin, place in the oven and cook for 20-25 mins. The corners will cook fastest; do not allow them to burn! When cooked, a skewer inserted into the centre of the brownie should come out mostly clean, but it's no big deal if you get a squidgy middle.

Allow to cool in the tin. When cool, remove the brownie from the tin and cut into squares (you should be able to get 24 good-sized pieces from this recipe).

Update: Avoid oil-based chocolate and/or HFCS-based chocolate for this recipe. It won't work.

Enchiladas

While I'm on a roll with the recipes, here's my recipe for chicken enchiladas. It's probably not particularly authentic, but I enjoy them! This recipe serves 2 moderately hungry people.

Enchilada sauce

• 400 g can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• Fresh chilis, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil

I usually use 2-3 of the normal chilis sold in Tesco or Sainsbury's (with the seeds left in), but I like my echiladas nice and spicy! With those chilis, I find them a bit impotent with the seeds left out.

Fry the chilis and garlic in the olive oil for 2-3 minutes over a medium heat. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for 20-30 minutes until most of the excess liquid has evaporated leaving a thick, spicy tomato sauce.

This can easily be made in advance, and freezes well.

Fried chicken filling

This is a very simple filling -- use your imagination and come up with your own! Try other meats, fried peppers or mushrooms, seafood, cheese... Also consider marinating the chicken with spices before frying.

• 300 g chicken breast, cut into strips
• 10 g fresh ginger, grated
• Dried paprika
• Salt & pepper
• Half a medium cooking onion, coarsely chopped.
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Heat the oil over a high heat in a wide-based frying pan. Add the onion, chicken, ginger, and paprika, and season the chicken to taste. Fry until the chicken is cooked through, then set aside.

Like the sauce, this can easily be made in advance.

Putting it all together

• 4 corn tortilla wraps
• 150 g grated cheese (cheddar works okay)

Pre-heat the oven to 150°C. Microwave the tortilla wraps for 15-20 seconds until they are warm and flexible. Divide the filling between them, roll them up, and place them together in a small roasting tin. Spread the enchilada sauce generously over the tortillas (making sure to coat them all over). Top with the cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, and serve with green salad and spring onions.

Chorizo and tomato pasta

Another chorizo recipe that I made to use up what was left over from the previous one. Note that I use Spanish chorizo, not Mexican (as most commonly found in the USA).

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

• 150 g dried chorizo sausage, diced finely
• 1 medium cooking onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 100 g mushrooms, sliced
• 400 g can chopped tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Dried tarragon
• 2 small bay leaves
• Black pepper

In a wide-based saucepan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil, and fry the onion and chorizo for 2-3 minutes (or until the onion is translucent). Add the mushrooms and garlic, and continue to fry until the mushrooms begin to darken and shrink. Add the tomatoes, and stir in the dried tarragon, bay leaves, black pepper, and about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Cover and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes.

Serve with pasta and fresh green salad.

Baked pork chops with chorizo

Here's a simple but delicious recipe I adapted from a dish served at Girton's cafeteria sometime in early 2009.

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 2 pork chops
• 60 g dried chorizo sausage, diced finely
• 1 medium cooking onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fanless oven 200°C). Sprinkle both sides of the chops with salt, and place in a small roasting tin. Pile garlic, onion and chorizo on and around the meat. Add pepper on top. Cover the roasting tin with tin foil and bake in the oven until the meat is cooked (usually between 45 mins and one hour).

Serve with boiled potatoes and fresh cabbage.

More cooking escapades

I tried out two recipes yesterday, with lots of success (well, I thought so, anyway).

First was nice and simple recipe for lemon drizzle cake from the BBC Good Food website -- I used it as a fallback plan when I failed to obtain a copy of my mother's legendary and delicious recipe.

I made it in a 20 cm spring-form tin instead of a loaf tin as the recipe suggests (I don't have a loaf tin at the moment). This meant it only took around 40 minutes rather than the 45 to 50 suggested, due to the cake being somewhat wider and flatter.

The cake was delicious, but a little dense; next time I will try adding an extra teaspoon of baking powder to try and lighten it slightly.

The second was a Thai-style dish called khao pad gai from a WikiBooks Cookbook recipe. Due to the limited contents of my food cupboard and my unwillingness to buy lots of unusual and seldom-to-be-used foodstuffs, my version of the ingredients (to feed two) looked more like:

• Olive oil
• 225 g chicken breast, in strips
• 2 medium eggs
• 'Some' cooked, cold Basmati rice
• 1 medium cooking onion, half-ringed
• 2 small tomatoes, seeds removed and julienned
• 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup coriander, coarsely chopped
• Dark soy sauce
• 'Normal' granulated sugar
• Salt
• 2 cloves fried garlic

We didn't bother with the garnish, the nam pla or the Thai chili sauce, but nevertheless the taste came out okay (we were quite pleasantly surprised by how good it was after how awful it looked just after the egg was added). Note that although the recipe specifies a wok, we cooked it quite successfully in a large, flat-bottomed non-stick saucepan.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

We made a rather delicious birthday cake for one of our friends, and it worked so well I thought I'd post it here (because I'm bound to lose the piece of scrap paper it's scribbled on).

For the cake

• 6 oz butter
• 6 oz caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 8 oz plain white flour
• 3.5 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder

Preheat oven 180° C. Whisk eggs. Cream butter and sugar together. Sift in flour and baking powder. Mix cocoa powder and 3 tbsp hot water together to form a paste, and stir in. Add 1 tbsp milk if still stiff. Put in greased 8 in sprung cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes.

For the icing

• 4 oz butter
• 2 oz sifted cocoa powder
• 8 oz icing sugar

Place cocoa and butter in bowl and microwave on 800 W for 20 seconds. Cream together, and gradually sift in sugar. Add a small amount of milk if too thick. Spread on cake once cool.