Poppy’s Chocolate Brownies

  • 185g Dark Chocolate
  • 185g Butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 275g Brown Sugar
  • 80g flour
  • 40g cocoa
  • 120g choc chips

Melt the butter and dark chocolate together, and let cool a little.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together until double the volume. Mix in with the chocolate/butter mix. Fold in the flour & cocoa then the chocolate chips.

Add to a lined 15cm square tin and cook for 25mins at 180ºc.

Cool in the pan, and cut into squares.

Pastiera (savoury)

(savoury pasta egg bake)

First had this at a family party – and asked nicely for the recipe. Every other pastiera recipe I’ve seen is a sweet easter tart this is something quite different.

Roughly – pastiera is great for using up left over pasta (sauce or no sauce). Think Spanish frittata, but with pasta not potatoes in those eggs.

The mix – for a 500g of pasta (uncooked weight), use 12 eggs, 1 cup of grated parmesan and 2 cups milk. (salt & pepper to taste). Scale according to your leftovers.

Use cooked pasta. If it has a pasta sauce on it already – use it. Still good – might just need to wind back the salt and parmesan a spot. Spagetti looks the best, but really, any pasta, sauce or no sauce.

Mix the ingredients together and put in a non-stick 30-34cm diameter cake tin. Sprinkle of cheese on top? why not.

Cook at 140ºc for the first 15 minutes, then push up to 18ºc until set through and golden. over-cooking it makes it quite dry – the pasta keeps absorbing the liquid in you’re not watching it!

Bread Machine – basics

These recipes are from the Panasonic SD-yR2550 cookbook. Saves looking them up – here are the ones I want to find in a hurry.

Basic White bread
Menu 1 – 4hrs
Strong White Flour – 400g / 500g / 600g
Butter – 20g / 30g / 40g
sugar – 1tbsp / 1.5 tbsp / 2 tbsp
salt – 1.5 tsp / 1.5tsp / 2tsp
Yeast – 1tsp / 1tsp / 1.25tsp – into the top cup
Water – 280ml / 340ml / 400ml

Basis Brown Wholemeal
Menu7 – 5hrs
Strong wholemeal bread flour – 400g / 500g / 600g
butter – 20g / 30g / 40g
sugar – 1tbsp / 1.5tbsp / 2tbsp
salt – 1.5tsp / 1.5tsp / 2tsp
Yeast – 1tsp / 1tsp / 1.25tsp
Water – 280ml / 350ml / 420ml

Rye & White
Menu12 – 3hr30
Rye flour – 250g
Strong White Bread Flour – 250g
Oil – 2tbsp
Sugar – 2tsp
Salt – 2tsp
Water – 360ml
Yeast – 2tsp

French white
Menu11 5h40
strong white flour – 400g
salt – 1.5tsp
water – 290ml
yeast – 1tsp

Pain de Champagne
Menu11 5h40
strong white flour – 320g
strong wholemeal flour – 80g
salt – 1.25tsp
Cold water (5ºc)- 300ml
yeast – 1tsp

Basic white Dough
Menu18 – 2hr20
Strong White bread flour -500g
butter 30g
Sugar – 1.5tbsp
Salt – 1.5tsp
Water – 310ml
Yeast – 1tsp

Pizza dough
Menu24 – 45 min
strong white bread flour – 450ml
oil – 4tbsp
salt – 2tsp
water – 240ml
yeast – 1tsp

Mum’s Apple fizzy drink (not quite cider)

3lbs cooking apples – minced, incl peel & cores
12 pints water
2lbs sugar
3 lemons

mince the apples and add to a bucket – add cold water and leave for a week.

strain the liquor, and add sugar, grated lemon rind and juice of 3 lemons, leave for 24 hrs, then strain and bottle (loose tops). Drinkable within a couple of days.

Mum’s Chocolate Orange Chestnut Desert

10oz plain chocolate
6oz unsalted butter
6oz sugar
1 can (15oz) unsweetened chestnut purée
1 orange (juice & grated rind)
2 tbl grand marnier
Whipped double cream to decorate

9″x4″ loaf tin

whip the chestnut puree till light & soft. Beat the butter with sugar until sugar disolved. Melt chocolate, add to the chestnut. Combine remaining ingredients, add to the lined (clingfilmed) load tin and cool overnight in fridge.

Mum’s French Country-style Liver Paté

8 oz Pigs liver – tubes removed and minced
8 oz Belly pork, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
salt & black pepper
1 tsp dried mixed herb
3 tbl white wine
4 rashes streaky bacon

Mix all together (except streaky bacon) -put in a small bread tin, with bacon on top. Stand in a water bath in the oven and cook for 60-90mins, until pate has shrunk away from the edge of the dish. Pour off the excess fat and allow to cool.