Bakery-like Chocolate Muffins

 These chocolate muffins are sheer dessert. They are the type of thing you have when you need a huge dose of chocolate. And they seriously are like the muffins you buy at Starbucks. Also they are not hard too make! The only thing you need to make beforehand is the buttermilk. 

This recipe was very good, but I cut the sugar amount because american recipes are most of the time a bit over the top with the amount of sugar and left it in 1 cup, but the original one calls for 1 and a quarter cup. This recipe makes 12 standard muffins pretty loaded.

INGREDIENTS:
-2 cups of flour.

-3/4 cup of unsweeetened cocoa.
-2 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder.

-1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.

-1/2 teaspoon of salt.

-1 cup of white granulated sugar.

-2 large eggs.

-1 and 1/4 cup of buttermilk.

-1/4 cup of melted butter.

-1/4 cup of vegetable oil.

-2 teaspoon of ground coffee.

-1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

-3/4 cup of chocolate chips.

STEPS:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl and all the liquid ones in another one. Heat up your oven to 220.

2. Mix them together with a spoon slowly (you can sieve it) and then at the end of it all fold in the chocolate chips. 

3. Distribute in the 12 muffins holders and place in oven at 220 for 7 minutes so that they rise quick. Then turn down to 175 for another 15 mins approx. Check your oven! Exact times are impossible to give.

So good, you all, these with a cup of coffee is what you need with a book. Great recipe.

Morning Glory Muffins

 I have a lot of respect for doctors AND for bakers these days. Baking is a real art you all, there is no messing around when it comes to it and it takes as much time as a surgery, 3 hours up. I had been drooling over this recipe for a week and finally gathered all in the ingredients. I highly doubt that I will ever make it again for here it is, just in case. 

I have adapted this recipe to make approximately 12 standard muffins, because the amounts in the original one are for 16 which mean that if you only have a muffin tray, like me, you need to wait for your muffins to cool off, turn the oven off, then on, etc etc. Anyway, needless to say I was in the kitchen for 3 hours! So with my version, you can perhaps cut it to 1 and a half with baking time. Anyway, pretty sure will not make them again, although Kenton loved them, but jotting them down here just in case.

INGREDIENTS:

-1 and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.
-1 and 1/2 cups of wheat flour

-1 and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

-1/3 teaspoon of ground ginger.

-1/2 tsp of salt.

-3 eggs.

-1/3 cup of any brown sugar (70 grams)

-3 tablespoons of honey.

-1/4 cup of vegetable oil.

-1/4 cup of apple sauce.

-1 tsp of orange zest.

-The juice of 1 orange.

-2 medium carrots shredded.

-1 apple shredded.

-1/3 cup of raisins.

-1/2 cups of walnuts.

-1/2 cup of coconut flakes.

STEPS:

1, The steps are relatively easy to compared to the nightmare of ingredients above. Basically, reunite all dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet ones in another. Place the raisins in boiling water so that they swell up a bit and are not sadly dry.

2. Mix well all the dry ingredients and the same for the wet ones, then mix them and finally add the nuts.

3. Fill in the paper cups and turn oven to 22o degrees. Stick them in oven, fire of oven only down, never up in baking or things don't rise. Bake for 10 minutes to 220 degrees, so that they rise up, then turn down to 175 and let them bake for at least 30-40 minutes until toothpick comes clean.

That's it. This is a good breakfast to go, hearty and full. Also the amount of sugar is pretty good, not too sweet. My guess is that you can vary a lot in this recipe, and skip some sections, like the coconut the apple sauce, etc. Perhaps these should be called the most elaborate muffins ever.

Easy& Good Brownie Recipe

 This recipe is really pretty good. I say pretty good because I know there are better brownies out there! These are not the best of the best brownies I have eaten, let's be honest. But this recipe is pretty fantastic if you ask me, and it calls for normal ingredients, nothing fancy, and not even the american brown sugar that brownies have that you can only find in Taste of America, nope, just confectionary sugar. 

Okay so here it is. It is a recipe from the british chocolate store Thortons and I picked it up literally 20 years ago! So a classic.

INGREDIENTS:
.200 grams of 70% dark chocolate.
-3 eggs.
-250 grams of confectionary/caster sugar. 
-125 grams of walnuts.
-1/2 tspoon of salt.
-1/2 tspoon of vanilla essence.
-110 grams of flour.
-200 grams of butter.

STEPS:
1. Melt the butter in a pot and add the chocolate in pieces and melt altogether. Yum!  The best chocolate for baking is 70% dark chocolate you all, not too much not too little, remember that.

2. Now beat the eggs with a hand mixer adding air to it. Beat them for 3 minutes and then add sugar, continue beating them with the hand mixer or rod mixes, de varillas. And why is this? because you need add the air into the eggs, which is what will make the top of the brownies have that wonderful crinkly shiny top.

3. Now add the chocolate and fold gently. Do not over mix. If you overmix you will kill all that air.

4. Now add the salt and vanilla essence.

5. Now add the flour, but you need to sieve it. Why?? because it will have lumps otherwise, so sieving the flour makes it smooth and snowy. Now add the flour little by little and fold gently until it dissappears, not too much, did you hear me??? and keep adding the flour.

6. Now add the walnuts that you have chopped a bit before, but not too fine.

7. Now preheat your oven to 180 degrees only low fire, not top!!!!  and when it has been going for 20 minutes stick your brownies.

8. Let them bake for 25-30 minutes. My pan was 20x30. Keep checking and do not overcook. It is better to leave the brownies slightly undercooked than too baked, it is not a cake.

7. Make sure you pay attention to your oven!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So gooooood. Even Kenton, who has high standards, was positively surprised. I'd say these brownies could be easily served in a restaurant with vanilla ice-cream.

I freeze all my desserts, that is why you see that bag because if you eat a whole batch of brownies you are gonna be running for an entire week every day.

Corn Chowder

The world of soups will never stop to surprise me. Just when you think you have seen it all, there is another soup to leave you flabbergasted. This soup was a bit like this. An American classic but hey, not common in Europe. So easy and so so good.  So comforting. Tried it and I thought: how is it possible it's taken me 41 years to cook this recipe?

INGREDIENTS:

-450 grams of canned corn. 

-1 and 1/2 cups of water.

-1 and 1/2 cup of milk.

-1/2 onion.

-3 small potatoes.

-2 cloves of garlic.

-1 chicken stock.

STEPS:

1. Sautee diced onion and diced garlic for 4 minutes.

2. Add the diced potatoes and sautee.

3. Now add all the corn with the water from the cans. Stir for 5 minutes.

4- Now add the water and the milk, and stock and bring to a boil.

5. Now bring fire down and let it simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are soft.

6. Now scoop out about 8 tablespoons of the corn and place in bowl.

7. Now puree the rest with a hand blender.

8. Bring it to a boil and add the corn and serve.

I will definitely be making this soup next winter. The wonderful thing about this soup is that you can make it more brothy, more creamy, more cheesy, more bacony, more paprikay, whatever you fancy.

Roasted Tomatoes

 Do you ever have a bunch of tomatoes going bad? 

Wondering what to do? Roast them and freeze them! Why did I never think of it? But of course Britanny had the idea. But what the heck to do with them next, you are probably asking. It will make a great great sauce for your next pasta dish trust me, charred tomatoes are so delicious, sugary and acidic and just super complex flavour.

INGREDIENTS:.
-1 kg of tomatoes (or whatever you have).
-a drizzle of olive oil.
-a good pinch of salt all over.
-3 or 4 garlic cloves that you have to remove later.

1. There are no steps in this recipe, simply put the tomatoes in quarters in a tray and drizzle them with olive oil, salt, place the garlic and let it roast at full speed, both high and low fire at 250 degrees, max temperature. 

2. Let them cool, bag them and freeze them. No need to worry about peels or anything, it all goes inside but hey NOT the garlic cloves! 

They are so so good, you won't regret it.

Seven Layer Salad

 I made this salad yesterday and it was an utter total success. It is perfect for a picnic and the flavours are all very soft, I would say all kids would love it.  Thank you Britanny! I miss your blog and recipes.

INGREDIENTS:
-2 bags of salad. 
-4 boiled eggs.

-200 grams of bacon.

-3 tomatoes.

-1/2 red onion.

-2oo grams of frozen peas.

-200 grams of grated cheese.

STEPS:

1. Cook the bacon in a saucepan until it is crispy and very brown, let it cool off and absorb the grease with paper towel.

2. Boil the eggs and cut them in quarters.

3. Cut up the onion in very small pieces and the tomatoes in bits.

4. Now that you have all the ingredients ready, begin to layer up in a transparent bowl. Begin with the salad, creating a bed. 

5. Now add the tomatoes, then the onions, the peas, the cheese, the eggs and the bacon.

That's it! Make sure the ingredients are well put around the edge of the bowl so that it looks pretty.

Now serve with ranch sauce! this is salad is not just pretty, it is sooooo good! You can see my photographer helpers. 

This is the other variation, bring a bowl of lettuce and salad and then in a tupperware bring the rest.

  

How to make Ranch Sauce

This ranch sauce is so so good. I mean there are zillions of recipes out there, but I wanted one with dried herbs. I mean, who has 4 different types of fresh herbs? So I found this one, and it did not have sour cream or something really fattening and it has worked like wonderfully. I could not find dried chives so I bough them fresh and it was wonderful...but next time I will try to find them dried. Be careful with the salt, do not put more than the quantity there.

INGREDIENTS:
-1/2 cup of mayonnaise.
-1/2 cup of buttermilk.
-1 tablespoon of fresh chives.
-1/2 teaspoon of dried dill.
-1/2 teaspoon of dried parsley.
-1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder.
-1/2 teaspoon on onion powder.
-1/4 teaspoon of salt.
-1/8 teaspoon of pepper.

STEPS:

1. Mix the mayonnaise with the spices.
2. Stir in the buttermilk and mix it all really well. 

 

How to make your own Pumpkin Pie Spice

I know it's Spring, not fall! But I found this simple recipe and needed to try it. I have Pumpkin Spice that I got from Taste of America but I cherish it, and try to use it sparingly.....but I know I won't because boy it's easy to recreate it. Thanks Britanny! 

INGREDIENTS:
-1/2 tsp cinnamon.
-1/4 tsp. nutmeg
-1/4 tsp of ginger
-1/8 tsp of cloves or allspice.

No steps to this recipe, mix it all together in a jar and shake!

Indian Fish Curry

 This is another recipe of Steamy Kitchen I had been after for years but never got round to it.It is so good you all. This curry Garam Masala is quite the mix of spices, trust me. When you think you know pretty much know all Indian spices, there are more and more and more.

INGREDIENTS:
-400 grams of diced tomatoes.
-1/2 onion.

-2 garlic cloves.

-1 teaspoon of ginger grated.

-400 grams of fish (any hard fish)

-1 can of coconut milk.

-2 teaspoons of garam masala.

-1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper.

-1/2 tsp of salt.

-a bunch of basil leaves.

-a cayenne pepper (optional)

STEPS:

1. Grate the garlic, onion and ginger. Yes, grate them! This makes this cool paste that becomes your base. 

2. Now sautee in wok for 5 minutes in low fire.

3. Now add the diced tomatoes and sautee another 5 minutes, you will see it becomes a paste.

4. Now add the spices and seasonings, altogether. 

5. Now add the coconut milk and stir together. Bring to a boil and then reduce fire.

6. Now add fish that you have cut in pieces and bring to a boil again. 

7. Let it all come together and add the basil leaves.

Serve with rice. It is real good you all. You can make it with any hard fish, that is a fish that will not crumble. I have enjoyed eating fish once a week you all.