Author: Notnick

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.