Tomatillo Fruit 4 September 2009
Posted by cath in growing your own.add a comment
At last, something is happening to my tomatillos :)
Tomatillo
Growing your own 15 August 2009
Posted by cath in Info and Cooks Notes, growing your own.2 comments
This year I’ve been growing more fruit and veg as well as the usual selection of herbs. Here’s a summary of what’s working, and what hasn’t!
Tomatoes have been a very exciting first for the bay window space. I got two small plants from a friends allotment greenhouse and I’ve seen them grow big and bushy, flower and set fruits. Finally, there is the exciting prospect of actually eating my own tomatoes as one is starting to ripen.
Ripening Plum Tomato
As well as two bushy tomato plants I also got a selection of tomatillos. They have very exciting little flowers, but alas so far no fruit have set. They have also grown a lot :) and I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that something will happen!
Tomatoes and Tomatillos
I’ve got a pepper plant. It’s small compared to the chillies I grew from seed, but I’ve been pollinating the first flower this week, and have high hopes for a large green pepper - and if I get one, I’ll be sure to take a picture!
Bay tree, basil, greek basil and chives are all doing well, as are my various mints. This year I let my favourite mint die back in winter and I cut most of it away. It sprouted quite early in the year but is quite tough compared to my new mint plants. I also took a cutting of some very nice mint from my friends garden in Biggar and this has settled in nicely to indoor living.
Now the big failures! I finally took the plunge and went outside to grow! A friend gave me a courgette and 5 broccoli seedlings in June and after a while I hardened them off in the stairwell under the skylights and then outside – but I went for plant pots so as not to disturb the shared garden. Sadly, I’d never noticed what a snail and slug haven the garden was until now and my courgette was gone within about 48 hours! The broccoli was also ravaged, however, two of the plants were slightly stronger, and although not looking very pretty – they have survived the snail feast and seem to be growing slowly. We’ll see!
As for my courgette planter, well! I’ve ordered some rocket seeds and some copper strip and I’m going to try again with an August late summer salad crop with the slug barrier in place I hope this will be a return to success!
With a view to getting a lot of courgettes from my plant (too much forward planning perhaps?), I’ve been experimenting with courgette recipes to tempt my partner who was highly dubious about eating them. Good news is that he is now tucking in once or twice a week and I’ll post the recipe soon (once I’ve perfected it of course).
Hope some of this has inspired you to go out there, try growing your own…OK it doesn’t always go to plan, but its fun anyway. Not to mention very delicious and rewarding when it does work!
Cookalicious Pickings – Growing Chillies 15 August 2009
Posted by cath in Info and Cooks Notes, growing your own.add a comment
Cookalicious first got the chilli growing bug some years ago. We love chillies here and growing your own is great. I’ve been growing them again this year and have had a bumper crop already. I even grew some of last years’ fruit seeds with all 5 germinating and growing well in various homes including my own!
Here’s a look at the chillies I’ve been cropping and eating thus far…delicious.
The incredibly hot chilli plant
This meandering chilli plant has been on the go for ages! It was actually bought 3 years ago from Phantassie at the Farmers Market (I think it was called ‘Ring of Fire’!). This year it’s growth has been remarkable as I was about to throw it away in early spring – then went away for 5 days and returned to leafy new growth. A quick prune and it has been happy as ever.
The produce really has been abundant despite the lower sunshine, here’s a nice crop for some laab:
Hot green chillies
My other plants are doing well and I’ve just started harvesting fatter, rounder chillies from them, you can see some fruit dangling temptingly from the branches. These chillies are from last year, and again the Farmers Market. Again barely seeming to survive the winter, they also sprouted again unexpectedly later in spring – worth hanging on to. I just give them a good prune of the dead and any weaker stems during early to late spring and see what happens.
Fat green chilli plants
I was not very careful storing my dried red chillies and can’t remember which came from which plant, so the 5 seeds that I’ve grown could have come from any of these chilli plants – oops.
This year I’ll aim to keep a chilli from each plant in a separate envelope so that I can grow some of each as the older plants need replacing. Still, it was very exciting and remarkably easy to grow from seed (indoors this is), and I would really encourage all chilli eaters to give it a try. Fresh chillies – you just can’t beat them for heat and flavour. Growing the plant from home-grown seeds – well that just completed the cycle and has solidified my need for more growing space. More on that in the next post.
Cookalicious Musings 1 February 2009
Posted by cath in Info and Cooks Notes, general info, shopping notes.1 comment so far
Was musing on excessive food packaging recently, see my other blog. It also reminded me of this comment from Tracy’s latest newsletter (Fitness with Tracy Griffen – February 2009) on the proliferation of pre-chopped vegetables and salads:
A chopping board and a knife is all you need to make carrot sticks, chopped oranges.
Yes! So get out your chopping boards people!
People can only continue to sell this stuff as long as we continue to buy it…
So the question is, are people prepared to change their habits? Can we be persuaded to use these simple skills again?
I hope so!
This year I also hope I can help some friends start their own veggie patch. I want to find out more about growing my own so that I’m prepared for when I get a garden one day! What I hope they get out of it is:
- cost-effective, really tasty and fresh food
- some good times outside with family and friends maybe?!
- a sense of achievement :)
- less trips to the supermarket
- and a lot less packaging and waste
- plus more material for the compost bin, yeah!
But as a gardening novice myself, we’ll have to see!
Easy Cakes > Anything Goes Fairy Cakes 4 January 2009
Posted by cath in Recipes, cakes and treats, comfort food, easy.add a comment
Fairy Cakes
These are basic sponge cakes, and the best thing is that you can use pretty much any flavouring you like – it’s a really versatile recipe. Anyone can make these simple little cakes, they are easy and quick. The basic recipe here makes 12 cakes – but can be scaled up as required. In fact, the basic mix can also be divided and flavoured in different ways to bake a selection of cakes. You will need small paper cases to bake them in.
I use a food processor to make the mix, it’s done in a few simple steps and does not take long. They are made by the creaming method which involves beating butter and sugar together and incorporating lots of air, similarly with the eggs. Sieved self-raising flour is then added along with flavouring. Care is needed to keep the mixture light, so it rises – this is not a dense, gooey brownie!
Coffee and Walnut Fairy Cakes
There are some tricks to getting it right and here are my top tips:
- Don’t use fridge cold eggs, these tend to curdle the mixture more easily than room-temperature eggs. I also take the precaution of lightly beating the eggs with a whisk prior to adding.
- It’s also best to soften the butter so its a good idea to leave the butter out of the fridge as well.
- Pre-heat the oven, it needs to be hot, and you must put the cakes in to cook straight away, this is not a mix that can be prepared in advance (but the finished cakes will last for a few days if kept in an airtight tin).
- In fact beating the soft butter as a first step adds lightness to the cake mix – and is definitely worthwhile if your butter is at all cold – so if you haven’t followed tip 2 you can recover somewhat here :)
- Don’t underestimate the amount of time it takes to cream the butter and sugar, I would suggest at least 5 minutes of beating on the highest setting, if not more, depending on the type of mixer you are using. Keep scraping down the bowl to ensure even mixing
- Once the butter and sugar are light and fluffy, it is time to add the eggs. Add them in bit by bit (e.g. add 2 beaten eggs in at least 3 additions), beat well each time. The mixture will be come quite liquid, but will still be thick and creamy looking. For extra security against curdling the mix, you can add a teaspoon of ground almonds with each addition of egg (up to 3 teaspoons).
- Adding the flour and any dried ingredients (nuts, cocoa, dried fruit etc.) must be done with care, quickly and without excess mixing. I use the pulse button on the processor – add 1/3 of the flour and press for a single pulse, perhaps 2 then scrape down and add the next 1/3. Add this similarly, and continue to the last addition of flour, scraping down the sides and pulsing once or twice more to ensure the flour and other dry ingredients are mixed – but only just.
- The mixture should be thick, and reluctantly drop from a spoon – it shouldn’t pour or be too stiff. If it falls, it is too thin and you should add a tablespoon more sieved flour to stiffen it. Or you can add a teaspoon of milk to adjust the mixture to be more fluid. Try out the recipes suggested here first and get used to the consistency of the mixture first, then experiment with your own flavours. Be careful making these additions – don’t over mix the cake now, it will reduce the air incorporates so far. Also be measured in your additions, cakes require careful balance of quantities – you won’t need to adjust these quantities much for different mixtures.
- When you’re done, quickly spoon the mixture into paper cases – you want to roughly half-fill them, 1 rounded tablespoon is roughly enough. Bake them straight away, in a fairly hot oven (180 deg C in a fan oven) for 12-15 minutes. Don’t take them out too early, or the sponge will not have fixed, and they may sink again. However, after 12 minutes you can safely test the middle of a cake with a skewer – it should come out clean, if not, return for 2-3 minutes and try again. Of course, if you use bigger paper cases, or overfill them, the cakes will take longer to cook.
- Remove the cakes from the tin straight away and leave to cool completely in their paper cases on a wire rack. You will see some condensation under the cases as you remove them from the tin – if you don’t remove them to cool on a rack, they will sweat and the cases and cakes will get damp and soggy – so don’t forget this step!
Flavouring
Now for the variety of flavouring you can add. There are basically three types of flavourings that can be added. Using liquid flavourings such as coffee, vanilla extract etc. demands a little more flour in the recipe to keep the mixture together. Adding dry, powdery ingredients such as cocoa powder, grated chocolate, drinking chocolate or ground nuts requires that the flour content be reduced by the equivalent weight. Chopped nuts, dried fruit etc. are easily added as an extra, without need to adjust the main quantities.
So with minimal tweaks the basic mixture can be combined to make any combination of flavours. Add icing for a sweet treat or keep them plain for a healthier snack.
The Recipe
Here are two versions of the basic recipe – this one uses added dry cocoa, and thus slightly less flour.
Cocoa Fairy Cakes
Ingredients
125 g softened butter
125 g caster sugar
2 large eggs
some ground almonds (3 tsp max)
110 g self-raising flour
1 small pinch table salt
15 g cocoa powder – I’ve been experimenting with using finely grated Venezuelan Black 100% cocoa bar (http://williescacao.com/) but you can use any good cocoa powder.
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C (Fan oven).
2. Beat the butter well until smooth, then add the caster sugar and beat until the mixture lightens and gets fluffy (5-10 minutes).
3. Lightly beat the 2 eggs together then add a bit at a time to the mixture, beating well between additions and adding 1 or 2 tsp of ground almonds with the egg (see tip 6 above).
4. Sieve the flour and cocoa together with the salt. Add 1/3 at a time to the mixture and fold in (pulse in 2 or 3 short bursts) until everything is combined.
5. The mixture should drop slowly from a spoon, divide the mixture into the 12 paper cases in a patty tin.
6. Bake in the oven immediately, for 12-15 minutes. Check they are done using a skewer, which should come out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Use this basic recipe if you want to add dry flavourings to your cakes, or try this one which uses coffee and vanilla extract as liquids for flavouring, and thus slightly more flour. This one also contains chopped walnuts.
Coffee, Walnut and Vanilla Fairy Cakes
Ingredients
125 g softened butter
125 g caster sugar
2 large eggs
some ground almonds (4 tsp approx.)
140 g self-raising flour
1 small pinch table salt
4 tsp strong made coffee
2 tsp vanilla extract
70g chopped walnuts – reserve some for decorating.
Method
1. Follow the directions 1-3 above.
2. Add the coffee and vanilla extracts along with a teaspoon or 2 of ground almonds. Beat together.
3. Sieve the flour with the salt. Add 1/3 at a time to the mixture and fold in (pulse in 2 or 3 short bursts) until everything is combined.
4. Quickly mix in the walnuts using a few pulses.
5. The mixture should drop slowly from a spoon, add another spoon of coffee or vanilla if required to loosen it.
6. Divide the mixture into the 12 paper cases in a patty tin and bake in the oven immediately, for 12-15 minutes. When done, turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Use this basic recipe if you want to add liquid flavourings to your cakes.
Finishing Touches
For a sweet treat, icing the top of the cakes is easy to make. Try these basic quantities and adapt the flavours to suit your cakes.
Chocolate Icing
120g icing sugar
60 g softened butter
2 tbsp cocoa powder
Beat together all the ingredients until light and fluffy. If you use a processor, the mixture may first turn into a large ball, but persistent beating will smooth the mix into a spreadable topping. Add 1-2 tsp of strong made coffee, or milk, to loosen the mixture to an easier spreadable consistency (if required). Decorate with a sprinkle of cocoa powder or icing sugar.
Cappuccino Icing
4 tsp strong made coffee
1 tsp vanilla extract
120g icing sugar
60 g softened butter
2 tbsp finely grated chocolate or cocoa
Beat all the ingredients together into a soft, fluffy, spreadable icing. Decorate with chopped nuts, flaked almonds or grated chocolate.
Other toppings to try:
Melted chocolate – 55g cooking chocolate, broken into chunks, melted then spread on the cakes and left to solidify.
Chocolate and hazelnut spread makes a quick and easy topping.
Simpler water icing (100 g icing sugar plus a few drops of water at a time added and mixed well – be careful not to make the icing to thin, it will run! You can always add more icing sugar to thicken it again).
Many, many more…
So, experiment with your favourite flavours in small cake form – and let us know what combinations you like best!
Print the basic fairycakes recipe (opens pdf).
Mexican Dips > Guacamole 5 June 2008
Posted by cath in Recipes, easy, mildly spicy.add a comment
Yes its more Thai-style Mexican food with this rustic guacamole. It’s more of a chunky avocado salad than a traditional creamy guacamole, but I really like it.
When you’re making salsa, double the quantities of garlic, spring onion, chilli and coriander, juice another lime and do a couple of extra fresh tomatoes, then you can easily make both dips.
Ingredients
2-3 Avocados
2 fresh tomatoes – chopped finely
Chilli (red is best), garlic, spring onion, coriander – all chopped finely
Lime juice
Method
Scoop out the flesh of 2-3 ripe avocados and roughly chop into smallish cubes. Do this quickly, put it in a bowl and add a splash of lime juice to stop it browning.
Add the chopped chilli garlic, spring onions, tomatoes, coriander and a splash more lime juice (reserve some).
Mix well.
Press down to make the surface flat, then cover with a thin layer of lime juice. This keeps the guacamole from going brown.
Cover with cling film and keep in the fridge until needed. Before serving mix up again and add a garnish of fresh coriander leaves and/or chilli slices.
Mexican Dips > Salsa 26 May 2008
Posted by cath in Recipes, easy, herbs, ingredients, mildly spicy, shopping notes, variations, very spicy.add a comment
Simple, spicy, tasty – try this salsa to go with all kinds of foods – not just mexican! I use leftovers in cheese sandwiches, with cold meats and salads, and of course as a relish for home-made burgers…
Ingredients
Tomatoes – 8-10 fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped*
2 Spring onions – finely chopped
Garlic – 2-3 cloves (to taste) crushed and chopped fine
Coriander leaf and stalk – small bunch, chop stalks finely, leaves roughly
Red/green chillies – 2-5 (to taste) chopped finely
1 tsp dried oregano
salt/pepper
tequila – 1 tbsp
lime juice – 1-2 tbsp (to taste).
Preparation
Combine everything in a bowl. Keeps in the fridge until needed.
If you’re pressed for time you can even chop everything roughly and blitz it in a hand blender or similar. I prefer it more rustic, but you can also blend it until it’s smooth if you prefer.
* Out of season, you can use tinned tomatoes, although I recommend draining them well first or the salsa will be very runny (use the juice in the chilli con carne, or reserve for pasta sauce, stews etc. – it keeps well in the fridge).
For something a little different try a tin of green tomatoes – again drain before use and substitute for the red tomatoes. You can buy green tomatoes in tins from Lupe Pintos in Edinburgh.
Basic Recipes > Chilli with Beans 4 April 2008
Posted by cath in Recipes, mildly spicy, variations, vegetables, very spicy.add a comment
My recipe for chilli is slightly inspired by Thai cuisine as I used to eat these very hot chilli con carnes out in Thailand. The recipe is quite spicy, with lots of fresh chillies, coriander and lime. Its nickname is “Tom Yum” Chilli because my Thai friend thought that it tasted like the hot and spicy Thai soup. Of course you should adjust the amount of chilli to your tastes.
This recipe below is actually a fantastic vegetarian chilli san carne, or you could try a variation with meat if you prefer.
Add guacamole and salsa, some tortilla wraps or chips to accompany the dish. You can use the basic stew recipe to make a variety of different Mexican inspired dishes…like this toasted chilli wrap.
Toasted Tortilla with Chilli, Sour cream, Salsa and Guacamole
Ingredients
1 tin Aduki beans, rinsed and drained then slightly crushed
1 tin Black-eyed beans, rinsed and drained then slightly crushed
1 tin Kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 small handful of each red split lentils and puy lentils – rinsed (uncooked)
1 large onion – chopped
1 leek – sliced finely
2-3 sticks celery – finely chopped or grated
1/2 golden beetroot – grated (If you want to use purple beetroot, use sparingly as they will bleed purple into everything!)
1 small carrot – grated
6-8 cloves garlic – crushed and finely chopped
1 large handful of coriander (leaf, stalk & roots, if available)
4 large red or green chillies – finely chopped (or to taste, remove the seeds for less heat)
1 large red chilli sliced for garnish
1 Bay leaf
1-2 heaped tsp cumin powder (to taste)
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 pinch smoked paprika
1-2 tsp chilli powder (cayenne pepper)
2 tbsp dried oregano (use fresh instead or as well if you can get it)
salt and pepper
1 large glass red wine (or a small glass of port)
2 tins tomatoes (or use fresh chopped tomatoes)
A selection of vegetables like mushrooms, peppers, spinach – diced/chopped as appropriate
Juice of 1 lime
Method
- Heat a large pan, add a few tablespoons of oil (like Oleifera), you may need more as you cook all the vegetables.
- Fry the onion on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally. Just start to soften the onion, not brown it (about 5 minutes).
- Add the celery, leek and again fry off gently until they begin to soften (about 3 minutes), stirring gently.
- Then add the grated carrot and beetroot, fry, stirring gently – add a spoon more oil as required but don’t make it too greasy.
- Add the garlic, and taking the stalks and root from the coriander (save the leaf for later), chop finely and add to the pan. Stir again.
- [If you are using mince pork or beef, add it here and brown gently, stirring.]
- Now add the spices to the pan, the bay leaf and the dried oregano, a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Mix well and let fry gently for a minute.
- Get the crushed aduki and black eye beans, and the lentils and stir them into the pan with the spiced ingredients. Mix everything well.
- Add the wine, stir and let the alcohol evaporate.
- Add the tomatoes, break up the tinned tomatoes with the spoon. Stir well to combine. Add a large glass of water, and keep some at the side to add as required to loosen the mixture.
- Bring to a gentle simmer.
- Add the chopped mushrooms and fresh oregano if you have it.
- Simmer the dish with the lid partially on for 45-50 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding extra cold water if required (particularly if you are cooking lentils).
- With 10-15 minutes to go before you serve, add the peppers, check the seasoning and add more fresh chilli if required to taste.
- Add the drained kidney beans to heat through.
- With 5 minutes to go, stir in the spinach to wilt.
- Then remove from the heat, finish off with chopped coriander leaf and lime juice.
Serve with rice and sour cream.
Tips and Variations
Chilli is lovely with just mixed beans and vegetables as in the ingredients shown here, but you could also make it with pork or beef mince. Just substitute the meat for some or all of the beans and lentils. Add meat at the frying stage.
You can make chilli in advance as well. Remember that any beans in the dish will have continued absorbing liquid and flavour, which means you will need loosen the sauce with some extra cold water as you reheat it.
You can use any type of bean, or a mixture of different beans and lentils as I’ve used here. To save time, I usually use tins of pre-cooked beans, which will disintegrate more into the dish, but I also add some uncooked lentils to balance the different textures. Simmering the tinned beans gently in the sauce allows them to soak up the flavours. If you have time you could use dried beans and make everything from scratch – that way they will absorb even more flavour.
You can add any root vegetables you like – just grate and sweat them off in the base – they stew and melt into the sauce adding lots of flavour.
Chunks of mushrooms and peppers make a good addition to the dish, although you could use other vegetables – just put them in the sauce at the appropriate time to cook them through.
If you have any, you can also add some chopped fresh tomatoes at for a minute or two at the end of cooking for a fresher flavour (in season). Or try a tin of Mexican green tomatillos.
Cakes and Treats > The Best Chocolate Brownies 14 March 2008
Posted by cath in Recipes, cakes and treats, comfort food, desserts, easy, specials.5 comments
This is the ultimate in easy, comfort food. A treat with a cup of tea, or a delicious dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or cream. My brownie recipe has been a long search. I’ve done much researching of many different ideas and recipes. A lot of trials, tests and tweaks later, its a very good thing for my belly (and that of my chief tasters) that the quest is over, and perfection has been reached!
Chocolate Brownie
Now, here are the three things that I’ve discovered are the key to making the perfect brownie:
1. Undercooking!
Don’t be tempted to cook the brownie mix as you would a normal cake. Test it with a knife and the middle should still be quite wet. The trick is to also gently press the top of the cake to check that it has firmed up slightly, but still has some give. This should give the crisp top and gooey centre typical of the perfect brownie.
Be careful – it may take a few goes to get the timing perfect with an individual cooker – once you’ve got it right, remember to write it down so you know for the next time!
2. Icing Sugar (or confectioners sugar)
This definitely makes the best consistency of brownie. I have tried several combinations of sugars, from caster to muscovado. But it is fine icing sugar which definitely gives the best texture, its thanks to a recipe by Marcus Wareing (author of How to Cook the Perfect...) that I tried it.
Remember, a brownie mix is dense and fudgy, unlike cake mix that is typically beaten and aerated. Also, you don’t cook brownies for very long. So there isn’t much mixing or cooking time for the grains of other sugars to dissolve and blend properly. Go for the confectioners sugar! This recipe also adds some golden syrup helps the gooeyness along.
3. Nuts
Although they are not in all the recipes, I’m sorry, but for me a brownie is not a brownie without some walnuts (or you could use pecans). After trying a recipe by Pierre Hermé, I am also a convert to toasted walnuts. This is a very quick and simple first step and really makes a difference to the flavour, please try it! Also, as I tend to avoid scoffing all my brownies in one go, adding nuts improves the keeping time of cakes and biscuits, so I also add a few spoons of ground almonds with the flour as well to aid moistness.
OK, those are my top tips, now here is the recipe…
This makes enough to fill one round cake tin (18-20 cm wide). Which gives you at least 10-12 brownie slices, depending on greediness. I know brownies are traditionally square, but I use my favourite loose-bottom cake tin and treat it more like an un-iced cake. Also, this way every slice has some crispy outside and gooey centre – it’s the taste and texture that make these brownies the best!
(Of course, if you want square brownies, just use a square or rectangular tin. Remember to double the quantity I’ve used if you have a large rectangular tin (30×20 cm) – and you’ll also need to cook it for 5-8 minutes more.)
Ingredients
100g walnut quarters or pieces
150g good quality dark chocolate (I recommend Valrhona manjari, but any good quality, high cocoa content chocolate will do) – chopped/broken into similar sized pieces (aids even melting)
90g unsalted butter – diced (to help even melting)
2 tbsp golden syrup
150g icing sugar
75g plain white flour
15g ground almonds
20g cocoa powder (I recommend Divine)
2 large organic/free range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional, try Ndali or make sure you use an extract, not a synthetic vanilla flavour)
Method
- Heat the oven to 130 degC (fan)
- Spread the walnuts on a flat baking sheet and place in the low oven for 10-15 minutes until toasted. Put the timer on, you must not burn them! (When they are ready – they will be lightly browned and mellowed in flavour, just take them out of the oven, pour onto a clean tea cloth, wrap up and bash them against the worktop to slightly crush into smaller pieces, then open up the cloth to let them cool).
- Whilst the walnuts are cooking, weigh out the rest of the ingredients. Place the chocolate pieces, diced butter and golden syrup together in a medium-large glass bowl. This will be the bowl you mix everything together in, so make sure it’s big enough.
- Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. (Make sure the bowl does not touch the water, you just need a small amount in the bottom of the pan to provide some steam). Stir occasionally with a large metal spoon to melt and combine. (See my post on chocolate crispy cakes for chocolate melting tips).
- Whilst the chocolate mixture is melting, sieve together the icing sugar, flour, ground almonds and cocoa powder into another bowl.
- When the chocolate mixture is nearly smooth and melted, remove from the heat and stir until completely smooth. Then leave to cool whilst you prepare the cake tin.
- Grease the cake tine and then line the base and sides with baking parchment (if you are using a loose-bottomed tin then just line the bottom). Then grease the lined base and sides carefully with some extra butter.
- The walnuts should be done by now, once they are out of the oven, turn it up to 180 degC (fan).
- Break the eggs into a small bowl and beat together with the vanilla extract (if using). Just do this by hand as well, you don’t need to worry about making the mixture airy and light – you want a stodgy mix!
- When the chocolate mixture has cooled to room temperature (takes at least 5-10 minutes, test it if you are unsure, it can’t be hot as it will scramble the eggs – but don’t wait too long or it will be too stiff to combine with other ingredients) add the beaten eggs and stir vigorously to combine. The mixture will begin to thicken up quite quickly.
- Then add half of the dry ingredients and mix together vigorously until smooth, continue adding the other half, then the walnuts, beating each time until smooth. The final mixture will be thick, dark and gooey.
- Pour the mixture into the cake tin. If you like, you can smooth the top a little using a knife – place a metal knife in a cup of hot water until warm, remove and wipe off the water, and use to smooth the top of the mixture.
- Once the oven is heated up, place the brownies in for 13-15 minutes.
- To check they are done, the top will be dry looking and slightly cracked – carefully and gently press on the top, which should be beginning to firm but not solid. A knife inserted into the centre should come out moist. Be careful not to overcook the mixture.
- Leave them to cool in the tin – don’t be tempted to remove them yet! Once cool, carefully remove them from the tin – peeling off the parchment paper. Sieve the top with a little icing sugar.
Serve with cream or ice cream for a delicious dessert, or just with a cup of tea or coffee for a decadent snack.
Yum!
The Finished Brownie Cake
Fairtrade Fortnight 2008 25 February 2008
Posted by cath in Info and Cooks Notes, general info, ingredients, shopping notes.add a comment
Go on! Try something fairtrade this fortnight…or any fortnight!
This is my review of fairtrade goodies. The list is evolving as I try and test fairtrade stuff available from local shops in my area.
1. Fairtrade Vanilla Ice Cream
Cream o Galloway – this one is locally produced using fairtrade sugar and vanilla, also uses organic egg yolks, so no concerns about the quality of life of those laying hens. I loved it, and can’t wait to try the chocolate flavour…
I’ve also tried Ben&Jerrys – this one also uses fairtrade sugar and vanilla, they also use free range eggs in their products which is reassuring. Again, a good quality ice-cream and a little easier to find in the shops from this popular brand name.
2. A bit early for Easter…but… Fairtrade Mini Eggs
Dubble Speckled Eggs – finally an ethical mini egg. The good news is that it tastes great, and with fairtrade vanilla, sugar and chocolate it is good too! I’ve seen them in the One World Shop, also in Oxfam shops around the country.
The fairtrade chocolate from Dubble and Divine tastes excellent, so make sure you go fairtrade for all your Easter eggs. There are also other varieties and brands to consider. See the fairtrade website for more details about fairtrade chocolate
3. Fairtrade Cola
Yes, there is an alternative to Pepsi and Coca Cola…and it is Ubuntu cola (not to be mistaken for the Linux distribution of the same name!*).
You can buy it in the One World Shop up here in Edinburgh, it is a very tasty cola made with fairtrade sugar (they state they are also going to try to source fairtrade caffeine from the fairtrade coffee industry which is interesting too). Check out the Ubuntu-Trading Website for more info and stockists in your area.
4. Fairtrade Vanilla
I’ve tried a couple of brands of fairtrade vanilla pods (Barts Spices and Ndali) and have recently tried the Ndali Vanilla Extract. This has been quite useful in brownie making – and is a lot less hassle than the pods. The extract is very different to the synthetic vanilla flavours I remember from years ago, and definitely worth a try if your a fan of vanilla.
5. Fairtrade Coffee – the old favourite
It has been a long time that Fairtrade coffee has been in the shops and in our coffee houses. Make sure you get a fairtrade cup – ask next time you order a coffee and make sure your cupboard at home/work is also stocked up with fairtrade:
Cafe-direct now does a massive range of coffee and more products besides.
Scotmid (or the Co-op) also has a full range of coffee and chocolate, also much much more, check out their website for more details.
Espresso Ground Coffee…
We’ve always found it hard to get good espresso coffee to make at home, but can recommend Clipper Espresso (with the picture of the Three Graces on the front). Great for use in your stove-top coffee pot.
6. Fairtrade Cooked & Canned Beans!
No, I’m not talking about baked beans! (but I can recommend Scotmid Organic Baked Beans, although presently they are not fairtrade).
These are Aduki Beans – a small, red bean – nutty and delicious. Particularly good as a meat substitute in vegetarian dishes like cottage pie etc.
I’ve just made a vegetable and bean chilli con carne with Suma Organic, Fairtrade Aduki Beans, Black Eye & Kidney beans too, with lots of veg. The tinned beans are pre-cooked so they are very quick and easy to use. They don’t require lots of soaking/blanching etc. Best of all, they are now fairly traded.
Look out for them in your local shops. I’ll post my veggie chilli recipe soon…
7. Fairtrade Bananas – Let them loose!
I would love to eat more fairtrade bananas, but I have a problem buying the plastic packs of 7 or so bananas ubiquitously available in the supermarkets today. I don’t want 7 bananas, sometimes I just want one for lunch or as a healthy afternoon snack. Well, during fairtrade fortnight, I went in search of the humble loose fairtrade banana, with very little luck I’m afraid. I asked at several local shops who had the fairtrade poster up, but their bananas were not fairtrade! But I did find small packets of bananas in my local Scotmid – I got a pack of three for 54p – good value, but why the plastic packaging I wonder?
Quite unexpectedly I finally found the illusive loose fairtrade banana in my local Margiotta (a local chain of shops in Edinburgh) in Marchmont. The price was higher than Scotmid, but I was able to buy two individual (not plastic wrapped) fairtrade (with the mark on a sticker) bananas for 55p. Come on shops – lets see more of this please!
8. Other Fairtrade Fruits
Fairtrade oranges and citrus fruits have been in my local Scotmid, and some other supermarkets for a while now, but this fortnight I’ve been looking for more options. I’ve tried fairtrade grapes from Marks & Spencers this week, they were very nice, and good value due to being half-price (I expect that was just for fairtrade fortnight though!).
Other good ones to look out for are pineapple, mango and avocado – available from a lot of supermarkets, and some local organic stores.
8. Fairtrade Sugar
Nowadays you can buy a lot of different sugars, granulated, white, soft brown etc. Sadly I’ve not yet found any icing sugar for my brownie mix, so I’ll keep looking. Make sure your sugar bowl is full of fairtrade!
9. Fairtrade Cotton Anyone?
OK so it’s not food, but check out the increasing availability of fairtrade cotton for your clothes. I love People Tree and the One World Shop…but there is a lot more to choose from nowadays.
There is a lot more information on Fairtrade including product listings and brands. Check out the Fairtrade Website for more details.
*if you are actually interested in Ubuntu Linux (an open-source, free operating system), the website is: http://www.ubuntu.com/
