Delicious

Didn't get to visit my sister in the end so had even more brownies to myself. They were gorgeous.

Had visitors for the weekend - Cork lads over for the Heineken Cup Rugby Final - cooked Ragu di carne alla bolognese by Claudia Roden (see The Food of Italy for recipe). It is the best way to cook spaghetti bolognese despite having no tomatoes or garlic in it. It takes a while to cook but is easy and delicious - I can't recommend it enough.

Just seen the following recipe in the Guardian. I will have to try it soon as I love rice pudding and a chocolate one is even better. I might be able to convert my husband and daughter to rice pudding.

How to bake

Saucepan chocolate rice pudding

Dan Lepard
Saturday May 31, 2008
The Guardian


Saucepan chocolate rice pudding. Photo: Colin Campbell

Keep the oven turned off next Thursday, June 5, to mark World Environment Day. This recipe avoids the need to leave the cooker switched on for an hour, and instead uses the heat trapped in the saucepan to do most of the cooking, making this a rather green chocolate rice pudding. The quality, flavour and colour of cocoa varies markedly between brands - I prefer Sainsbury's own-label to Waitrose's or Cadbury's, because it looks and tastes more like one of those expensive imported ones that pastry chefs use, but at a fraction of the cost. For a superstar finish, serve in small ramekins with a brûlée sugar top. Or just eat it straight from the fridge.

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100g pudding or risotto rice

800ml milk

75g caster sugar

25g cocoa

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pour about half the milk into a pan along with the rice and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat, cover with a tight-fitting lid and leave for an hour to let the rice swell and slowly absorb the milk.

After the hour has passed, lift off the lid, add the remaining milk, sugar and cocoa and vanilla, whisk and bring slowly to the boil, stirring every so often to check it's not sticking to the base of the pan. Keep the pan at a gentle slow boil for about 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the mixture reduces and thickens, then remove from the heat, pop the lid back on and leave for another 30-60 minutes. Thin with milk or cream to the consistency you prefer, then store in the fridge.

danlepard.com/guardian

Brownie Heaven

Well, I decided on Nigella Lawson's chocolate brownies. My helper and I measured, melted, and mixed and baked a batch of deliciously moist and chocolaty brownies. Unfortunately as they were baking, wafting delicious smells from the over, my sister texted me to cancel our weekend plans. My helper and I were devastated but saw the bright side - more brownies for us. We have visitors tonight in advance of the Munster - Toulouse match who will no doubt be hungry when they arrive and will eat whatever is left.



Brownies - Nigella Lawson 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'

375g soft unsalted butter
375g best-quality dark chocolate
6 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
500g caster sugar
225g plain flour
1 tsp salt
(original recipe includes 300g walnuts which I omitted)

tin measuring 33 x 23 x 5.5cm

Preheat oven to gas mark 4. Line brownie pan.

Melt butter and chocolate together in a large heavy-based saucepan. In a bowl or jug beat eggs with sugar and vanilla. Measure out flour and salt.

When the chocolate mixture has melted and cooled for a bit, beat in the eggs and sugar, and then nuts and flour. Beat to combine smoothly and scrape into lined pan.

Bake for 25 mins (I had to leave mine slightly longer). When ready the top should be dried to a paler brown but the middle still dark and dense and gooey.



They were absolutely gorgeous - 9/10.

First Blog

I'm visiting my sister and her kids this weekend and trying to decide on what to bake to take with me - it needs to be portable, appealing to both adults and children and yummy.
I will be trawling through my Nigella Lawson book collection tonight to find something suitable to bake.
Any suggestions?