Chocolate Gingerbread!

Sorry everybody for the lack of posting, theses highers are rather time consuming. You may begin to see that this distant posting may become regularm, apologies in advance. Anyway I hope we are all very well! I’m not liking this new wordpress layout very much though, I don’t adjust to changes as quickly as some others.

Today I have decided to share with you a recipe that I just had to try out at the weekend, Chocolate Gingerbread, I mean who would have thought eh? the combination of the dark fudgy, earthy cocoa compliments the rich, wintery wamrth of ginger, but it does and so be it! This gingerbread was a bit to cake like and moist for my liking although this weekend I shall be trying a damp sticky Jamican version and also some sea salted caramels.

Hope you enjoy this one, perfect with a cuppa late afternoon:

INGREDIENTS:

For the cake,
200g black treacle.
200g golden syrup.
175g unsalted butter.
175g light brown muscavado sugar.
1 tsp ground cinnamon.
2 tsp ground ginger.
1/4 tsp ground cloves.
1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda.
2 tbsp water, warm.
250ml milk.
2 eggs.
275g plain flour.
40g cocoa.

For the icing,
250g sieved icing sugar.
1 tbsp cocoa.
30g butter.
60ml ginger ale.

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to gas 3 / 160 C.
line a brownie tin with parchment paper.
Place the butter, sugar, golden syrup, black treacle, cinnamon, ginger and cloves into a pan. Melt slowly over a low heat.
Remove from the heat and beat in the eggs one at a time. followed by the milk, and the bicarbonate (mixed with the water). Now fold in the flour and cocoa (sift them together).
Pour into the lined tin and bake for about 45 mins.
When springy on top and a cake tester comes out clean remove from the oven. Cool on a wire rack.
Make the icing by heating the cocoa, butter and ginger ale in a pan before turning off the heat and beating in the icing sugar.
Pour over the gingerbread and once set, cut into slices and serve.

Enjoy,
Ryan!

Italian Roast Chicken with Peppers and Olives!

Hello again folks, this is officialy the start of my 5th year education, woohoo! Stressing already, but that is not what I’m here to share with you this evening, infact it is entirely the oppposite. I am here to tell you about the fabulous roast chicken I made yesterday for my lunch!  Superb, really fast and easy. Well I say fast (1hr) but it is minimum effort and yields maximum flavour. The lemony roast chicken with rosemary and soft fleshy leeks is just wonderful when served with the peppers and olives tumbled into the pan. This is my kind of cooking, one pan, wonders. Here it is for you to enjoy, and we must give thanks to Nigella for this wonderful recipe!!

INGREDIENTS:

1.5kg Cornfed chicken, organic and without giblets.

1 lemon, halved.

4 sprigs rosemary.

60ml olive oil.

salt and pepper to taste.

2 red peppers.

1 orange pepper.

1 yellow pepper.

3 leeks, trimmed,  each cut into 3 logs, then halved down the middle.

100g pitted black olives.

METHOD:

Turn the oven on to gas 6 / 200 C.

Take a roasting pan and add all of the veg and oilves to the pan. drizzle over some of the oil and pepper. NO salt as that will encourage the water to leak out the veg, we want the roasted not braised. add two of the sprigs of rosemary to the veg.

Toss to coat everything. Now take the chicken and pop the two lemon halves into the cavity along with the remaining sprigs of rosemary. Drizzle the chicken with the rest of the olive oil. Dust with salt and pepper and pop into the oven for 1 hour, until the juices run clear from the thickest part of the chicken, the thigh area.

Remove the chicken from the pan and leave to reast for 10 mins on a carving board covered with tin foil.

Return the veg to the oven for 10 mins, turning the oven off when they are placed inside.

Cut the chicken however you like and tumble the entire tray of veg on to a platter and dot the chicken in and around.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading,
Ryan.

 

End of Summer… Spanish Omelette

Hello there everyone, apologies for the lack of posting these past four days, I have been pretty busy out and about and getting everything ready for returning back to school tomorrow, which honestly I am truly not looking forward to.  Although I am grateful that my life will be restored in terms that I’ll have my routine back.

Yesterday was a rather bleak day of non-stop rain. I also faced the realms of shopping with my mum, which 98% of the time ends up us being so drained of energy and almost fainting, dreaming of food. Last night was no exception, and so as soon as we had arrived home we heated up the omelette pan and threw together one of my favourite Nigella recipes, her Spanish Omelette. Wonderfully light but filling, packed with roasted peppers and potatoes. I add a few extra ingredients that Nigella doesn’t use but anyway that’s what you should be doing in the kitchen, mixing things up, creating new spins on old classics or modern creations.

I also treated myself to a bottle of Molton Brown London’s Orange and Bergamot Enriching Hand Lotion yesterday. It is just utterly amazing, I have used two applications, and I can already see the difference, for a person that suffers from dry hands this product is a godsend. It is a tad pricey, a 300ml bottle comes in at £20. Well worth the expense!

INGREDIENTS:

225g baby new potatoes, halved.

4 eggs.

75g jar of flamed roasted peppers.

3 spring onions, finely sliced.

75g grated cheddar cheese.

1 tsp butter.

few drips of oil.

salt and pepper.

1 small red chilli, deseeded and chopped finely.

1/2 tsp sweet paprika.

METHOD:

Turn on the grill and let it heat up while you prepare the omelette.

Place the potatoes in a saucepan and boil in salted water for 15 mins, until cooked through. Drain and set aside.

Take the eggs and crack into a bowl add all the other ingredients apart from the butter and oil.

Add the potatoes to the mix and set aside.

Add the butter and oil to a small heavy frying pan. Add the omelette mix and cook for 5 mins. This will set the bottom.

Place the pan under the grill for a few minutes to set the top and then tip out onto a serving board.

Cool slightly, then cut into thick wedges.

Enjoy,

Ryan!

 

Warm Spiced Nuts!

Hello folks, oh what a lovely day it has been apart from the weather. I have been in Edinburgh today dining for lunch with a few friends and eating a rather stable diet of japanese noodle dishes and french macaroons. Just sheer bliss.. Lavender and Salted Caramel flavour, they were absolutely to die for. Anyway sorry for not getting round to writing this post for you last night, I was immensely tired and I had the world’s most ridiculous eye twitch which is just starting to disappear.

I write this post tonight, with tea in hand and the chilled out weekend playlist on my phone quietly fluttering away. The simple reason I have chosen these warm spiced nuts as my choice of recipe for today, is that I believe they are the sort of nible you would associate with a wet, miserable day. While the ongoers outside battle endlessly with there thin umbrellas (and will eventually succomb to the realms of cheap umbrellas), you are peacefully snacking on hot buttery nuts straight from the warmth of the oven. TV remotes are essential here (well I say essential, but it always seems to be a time when I’m watching TV and I crave these nuts.

The buttery coating is a sort of concoction of mine, and it is up for adaption, I am always trying to take new inspiration from restaurants and cafes I visit on my adventures and also from cookery books that I must admit, fill my bedroom to the gunnels! Ooops..

My spiced nuts are basically a selection of mixed nuts tossed in a spicy and sweet hot butter. I love the smooth creaminess of the butter, contrasting with the sharp, pungent aromas of the spices and musky dark sugar. The waxiness of the nuts requires this slick of flavoured butter to take away the heavy, oily texture.

INGREDIENTS:

500g mixed nuts (eg, walnuts, brazils, pecans, almonds)

75g unsalted butter.

Now I give precise measurements here for the spices according to my preference but do feel free to go as mad as you want!

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.

1/2 tsp smoked paprika.

1 tbsp light muscavado sugar.

1/4 tsp ground allspice.

1/2 tsp salt.

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper.

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to Gas 3 / 160 C.

Place the nuts onto a baking tray and pop into the oven for 10 minutes to warm through.

Meanwhile, into a saucepan melt the butter and sugar together over a low heat. Once melted add the rest of the ingredients and still to combine.

Tumble the nuts into the pan and coat liberally with the spiced butter. Tip into nibble bowls and serve!

Apologies for no image I haven’t had a chance to get into the kitchen to get these made for you..

Enjoy, Ryan!

 

 

Post Exam Result Blogging!

Hello there again everyone! I’d just like to apologises for the lack of posting these past few days, they have just been very busy as I have been expecting my qualifications which thankfully I received and are delighted with them. So this post was just to say I’ll have one conning for you tomorrow 🙂

Chocolate and Gold Fudge Cake!

What a title eh? Haha, certainly a recipe to satisfy and please your tummy in those times of desperation, yesterday was definitely one of those days! With the last few days of awaiting for exam results I felt that a rich fudgy chocolate cake was all that could solve the fear and re console myself back to harmony.

You may be wondering where the gold is taking it’s place in this cake, simply to add a more glitzy glamour effect to the cake I simply dusted the top with edible gold lustre powder, available at your local cake shop!

I don’t think I have to say anything else about this cake just bake and dive in with a spoon!

INGREDIENTS:

For the cake:

400g plain flour.

250g caster sugar.

100g light muscavado sugar.

50g cocoa (not drinking powder).

1 tsp vanilla extract.

2 tsp baking powder.

1 tsp baking soda.

pinch of salt.

3 eggs.

142ml sour cream.

175g melted unsalted butter.

125ml veg oil.

300ml chilled water.

For the icing:

250g soft unsalted butter.

275g sifted (yes I know) icing sugar.

175g, melted 70% dark chocolate.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

1/4 tsp of gold lustre powder.

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180C.

Line the bottom and grease two 23 cm sandwich tins.

Into a bowl, place the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa. Mix well to combine.

In a jug mix together the eggs and sour cream.

In another jug whisk the vanilla, oil and butter together.

Now combine the two liquids together and pour all at once into the dry mix. Sitr to encorporate everything evenly, before dividing between the tins and baking for 50-55 mins, or until a tester comes out clean from the centre.

For the icing, beat the softened butter to make it creamy, add in the icing sugar and beat till pale and fluffy. Add the melted cooled chocolate and beat in evenly.

Place one sponge upturned onto a serving board and spread 1/4 of the icing over it. Then place the other sponge on top and ice the top and all the way down the sides, before adornign with edible gold dust!

Enjoy,

Ryan!