Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone has their own favourite type of chocolate chip cookie – soft and chewy, thin and crispy – double chocolate, simple choc chip – the list goes on. These are one of my favourites – soft and thick with lots of chocolate. Don’t be afraid to throw in a bit if what you fancy – a handful of peanut butter chips – a bit of orange zest? Or see of you can find your own favourites – there’s a wealth of recipes out there and it worth experimenting to find your perfect one.

Makes 20 cookies

115 g of unsweetened baking chocolate - Like Bakers Squares or 70% upwards dark chocolate
170 g butter
300g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
320g plain flour
80g of chocolate chips – white, dark or milk - whatever your preference.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a pan over a low heat.
3. Measure out your sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter mixture to the sugar and mix well until combined.
4. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
5. Mix in the flour.
6. Mix in the chocolate chips.
7. Cover and refrigerate for a few minutes to make the dough easier to handle.
8. Remove from the fridge and shape dough into 2 inch balls on a lined baking tray.
9. Bake for 8-10 mins.

Classic Choc chip muffins

This is a Nigella recipe, but an American version. It is so quick to put together and completely fail-safe. The other great thing is that the muffins are not too sweet, especially if you use bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips. Make sure you fill the cases to the top - then you will get those ones with the big fat tops, a la the classic American muffin.








This recipe will get you 12 large muffins.

250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp cocoa powder
175g caster sugar
150g semi or bittersweet chocolate chips
250ml milk
90ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 200˚C and pop muffin cases into a 12 cup muffin tin.

1. Combine the plain flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, caster sugar and chocolate chips in a large bowl. Whisk the milk, vegetable oil, the egg and vanilla extract in big jug.
2. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix till the mixture just turns runny. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases.
3. Bake for 20 minutes or a toothpick inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean.

Oaty Anzacs

These have just gone down a storm on my cooking class - and now I am wondering weather to make them for my friday baking (though I get the feeling they all feel a bit short changed if they don't get something that's either sponge, or chocolaty). Anyway, these are a bit of a classic - coconuty, oaty biscuits always got down well and they take just 5 minutes to throw together. The huge bonus is that they're made in one bowl, so minimal washing up as well.

Makes 20

100g rolled oats
135g plain flour
110g caster sugar
65g desiccated coconut
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 heaped tablespoons of golden syrup
125g butter

1. Pre heat oven to 170C
2. Weigh the flour, oats, sugar, and bicarb and coconut into a bowl
3. Melt the syrup and butter in a pan over a low heat
4. Pour butter mix into dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon
5. Put tablespoons of the mixture onto a lined baking tray and flatten slightly.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes until starting to turn golden.

Elgin Street Dai Pai Dong

Up there with Mak's Noodles for won ton min - plus with the added ambiance of street eating - perched on the side of a very steep hill with rickety plastic stools at fold away tables.

Super cheap with generous servings - the soup base is rich, fishy and smooth, won tons and min with lots of bite, served at super speed. A must for cheap quite eats and a cert for me tonight before I meet with my blonde friend for what will invariably be too many drinks.

Baked Chicken Thighs

Dinners that can be bunged in the oven are always a god send - freeing up your time to do something more useful. So these were a bit of a revelation, spurred on by a mooch around Wellcome for something for dinner when I happened across some free-range chicken thighs.

Chicken thighs are cheap and very flavoursome - two big ticks in my book and makes a change from bland breast. Also, I was inspired by the kind of family cooking my Mum used make which involved a one dish in the oven, hearty type affairs. I rarely bake main meals during the week (firing up my oven used to be a bit of an issue) and the gas hob is great for fast meals, so it has been a long neglected cooking method that I am about to revive.

Give your chicken thighs a rinse under the tap and pat dry with some kitchen paper.
Cut a large peeled onion (red or white) into wedges.
Put the chicken and onion into a ceramic oven dish and add a few tablespoons of soy, and inch of finely chopped fresh ginger, a few cloves of mashed garlic, a crumbled star anise, 1/2 a heaped tablespoon of honey.
Mix with your hands, getting the mixture into all the creases of the chicken bits.
Bake at 190 for 20 mins until the thin edges are brown and a bit crispy.
When they are done, remove to a separate bowl and de-glaze the dish to make a little bit of shiny runny sauce to drizzle over the rice and chicken.

I serve these with brown rice and steamed greens such as broccoli or pak choi. A little chopped spring onion either stirred into the rice or sprinkled onto the chicken when serving adds to the presentation.

A note on brown rice: I use a brown long grain and wild rice mix (which you can buy quite easily) for a bit of texture and cook it in bouillon for a little flavour - it makes it less of a hardship.

Tomato Soup

Monday nights tend to be soup nights - or as is often the case - surprise soup nights.

The top favourite chez moi is tomato (though this has a lot to do with E's obsession with tomatoes and intense dislike of anything " mushy" which rules out most other soups). Anyway, I always make an extra big batch and freeze it for the nights where cooking is either too much of a hassle or it's just for one.

However, a small oversight (read: laziness) on my part leads us to a bit of a soup lottery, you see, I often don't label what goes into the freezer and has all frozen food tends to look the same, we often have to guess what's what.

Currently we have a choice of frozen red (easy - tomato) or brown (turkey? vegetable? or if you're unlucky, stock?).

So, I'm opting for tomato, and this is how I make it - so quick, easy and low in fat (hence the stock - you need to use it for a little depth). For the tomatoes you can use either 3 good quality tins of whole plum tomatoes (chop them yourself before hand) or you can use lots of (1kg) fresh tomatoes (cherry, vine, plum, whatever) if you have a glut of ripe ones and don't worry about peeling and de-seeding - just chop them to small ish bits, or you can use a combination of both which is the most likely scenario.

Finely chop an onion and 4-5 fat cloves of fresh garlic
Add a teaspoon of olive oil to a heavy-bottomed pan (like a le cruset)
Saute your onion and garlic until the onions clarify
Add in your chopped tomatoes of choice
Mix well and bring to a simmer
Add a pint of stock (personal favourite is chicken, but for the veggies amongst us good quality vegetable or bouillon will do).
Bring to the boil then turn to a low heat, season with S+P - taste it - it it's a little bitter, add a small amount of sugar.
At this point you can either take it off the heat and freeze/eat it - this will give you a fresher flavour.
If you want a more intense hit, continue to cook over a low heat for 30 -45 minutes.

This is quite a vague recipe, but that's all part of the deliciousness of it - fresh or tinned, chunky or smooth - you can make it a million different ways to suits all demands. If I have them, I throw in tinned pomodorini for cute bites of flavour, or sometimes I puree it for a smooth and silky dinner party type soup, or chop up the tomatoes even more roughly for a more rustic charm.

To serve, ladle into soup plates and stir in a swirl of cream or creme fraiche and top with beautifully fragrant torn-up basil leaves.

Update: If your not doing the low fat thing, sautee your onions in a tablespoon of olive oil. Also, to serve, make a little basil oil (blend a few tablespoons of olive oil with a big handful of basil leaves either in a blender or with a pestle and mortar) and stir in on serving, for a more intense and aromatic flavour. Yum!

Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Lasagna

We have some friends staying this weekend, so I really want to cook something for a low key dinner - eating out all the time can get a bit much and it's nice to have the opportunity to stay in and relax. Especially as I don't want to drink too much again....

This is based on Delia Smiths vegetable lasagna. The trick is to get the vegetables cut up to roughly all of the same size for even cooking. To be honest, I have now dispensed with salting aubergines and courgettes - today's veggies have had most of the bitterness that once plagued them bred out. When adding your pasta sheets you may have to break up some of the sheets to fit the dish - you need to cover the entire thing. It always freezes like a dream, so if we are tempted by the city lights, I can always keep it for an emergency comfort food dinner.

All this needs is a lemony-dressed green salad so you can be healthy and opt for a big portion of the salad and a small of the lasagna if you fancy, though once you see it out of the oven with bubbling cheese edges with a crispy top and wafting it's roasted vegetable smell, this option is doubtful.

Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Lasagna

The filling:

8-10 spinach (green) lasagna sheets

1 small aubergine, cut into chunks
2 medium courgettes, cut into rounds
450g cherry tomatoes (skinned - place in just boiled water for a few mins and the skins will fall off)
1 large red onion, cut into squares
2 yellow or red peppers, cut into squares
2 fat cloves are garlic, crushed
2 big sprigs of basil, torn roughly
1 ball of mozzarella, chopped finely

The sauce:

35 g plain flour
40 g butter
1 pint (570 ml) milk
1 bay leaf
grating of fresh nutmeg
3 level tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
salt and freshly milled black pepper

The Topping:

2 level tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan

Pre-heat the oven 240°C. You will need a large roasting tin and a heatproof baking dish measuring about 23 x 23 x 5 cm.

Arrange the tomatoes, aubergine, courgettes, peppers and onion in the roasting tin, sprinkle with the chopped garlic, basil and olive oil, toss everything around in the oil to get a good coating, and season with salt and pepper. Now place the tin on the highest shelf of the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the vegetables are toasted brown at the edges.

Meanwhile make the sauce by placing all the ingredients (except the cheese) in a small saucepan and whisking continuously over a medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens. Then turn the heat down to its lowest and let the sauce cook for 2 minutes. Now add the grated Parmesan.

When the vegetables are done, remove them from the oven and turn the oven down to 180°C.

Now in the baking dish, line the bottom with layer of lasagna sheets, then pour one quarter of the sauce, followed by one third of the vegetable mixture. Then sprinkle in a third of the Mozzarella and follow this with a single layer of lasagna sheets. Repeat this process, ending up with a final layer of sauce over a top layer of lasagna sheets and top with the grated Parmesan. Now place the dish in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is crusty and golden.

Friands

Another huge success on the baking front - I can never make enough of these - deliciously sweet and moist, with a tart berry centre.
A recent discovery was the bags of frozen berries in the freezer section of the supermarket which saves a few pennies in comparison to seeking out the fresh ones and it always means you have them to hand in the freezer.

Fruit Friands - makes about 12

125g unsalted butter
210g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
100g plain flour
110g ground almonds
5 egg whites
about 85g berries - blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries (my favourite)

Preheat oven 180c and pop paper cases into a 12 cup muffin tin.

Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat until golden.
Sift the icing sugar and flour into a bowl. Add the almonds and mix everything between your fingers.
Whisk the egg whites in clean bowl until they form a light, floppy foam.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, tip in the egg whites and fold, then lightly stir in the butter to form a soft batter. Divide the batter among the muffins cases.

Sprinkle 2 to 3 berries over each cake and bake for 15-20 minutes until just firm to the touch and golden brown. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.

To serve, dust lightly with icing sugar.

I know this recipe means you have a lots of unused eggs yolks, so I'm trying to come up with another recipe to counteract this (or freezing them). Currently thinking ice cream or custard....

Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps

These are quite summery, but I think the whole ritual of making them yourself adds to the whole eating experience - you would hardly realise they were low fat. Also, in emergencies I have used dried mint, Thai basil, lime leaves and lemon grass and, if I have some in, I sometime throw in a bit of chopped ginger and a big squeeze of lime juice. As you can see, most of the ingredients need to be finely chopped so don't be afraid of throwing then into the food prcessor for a quick whizz.

Although you don't always need it, you can serve with a dipping sauce such as sweet chilli sauce or a touch of soy/nam pla/sugar/lime mix

Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps

200g minced lean pork
big spring of Thai basil, finely chopped
2-3 kaffir limes leaves, finely chopped
1.2-1 lemon grass stalk, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
big sprig of mint, finely chopped
a few spring onions, sliced
3 tablespoon nam pla
2 tablespoons light soy

Mix all of the above together and leave to marinade if possible.

1/2 iceberg lettuce
8-10 rice paper wraps

Take your pork mix and fry it it a medium hot pan until cooked and crumbly - you can add a bit of sesame oil if you desire. If it looks at all dry, add a little extra soy. Remove to a bowl and cover with foil.

Half your lettuce and pull out the leaves without breaking them so you have lots of lettuce cups. Wash and drain them.

Take your rice paper sheets and plunge them into a bowl of hot water (or bouillon stock if you fancy it). When soft (20 seconds) remove them and blot dry on kitchen roll. Lay a wrap into each lettuce cup.

Arrange your wrap-lined lettuce cups on a plate and serve with the bowl of pork on the side. The trick is to spoon a small amount of the pork into the lettuce cup roll it up and eat it.

When I can't be bothered with the wraps I use rice noodles - cook as per the instructions (normally a few minutes of boiling) drain and blanch in cold water. Pop into a bowl and attack briefly with a pair of scissors, dress in a few splashes of nam pla and soy and let people make up thier own wraps using the noodles and pork.

Chili Beef Ramenish

Having been back and forwards to the UK recently (hence the terrible lack of updates) all I feel like I've eaten is fried food and certainly not enough vegetables. So, first night back and we're having some yummy chilli soupy noodles. Just what I fancy.

It's surprisingly cold here as well, so this type of wintry food is perfect for a blustery evening,

Chili Beef Ramenish

150g bean sprouts

250g rice noodles

200g beef - a steak cut is best


a few drops of sesame oil

a little teriyaki sauce (optional)


1litre of no fat chicken stock

chilli sauce mix - 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce, 1.5 tablespoons nam pla

4 spring onions trimmed and sliced

1 red chilli, trimmed, deseeded and sliced finely

1/2 red onion peeled and very thinly sliced

6 sprigs coriander

a pinch in dried chilli flakes for extra heat (optional)

Make up a quick chilli sauce by mixing 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce, 1.5 tablespoons nam pla.

Blanch bean sprouts in boiling water for 10 seconds. Drain and reserve liquid. Cook noodles in reserved water until tender.

Put a few drops of sesame oil in a frying pan. Finely slice the beef and flash fry with the sliced chilli until medium rare. Remove and brush with teriyaki sauce if you fancy it and keep warm.

Divide noodles between 2 bowls. Heat stock, stir in the chili sauce and ladle over noodles. Top with beef, bean sprouts, spring onions, red onion, and chilli flakes and coriander.

I'm serving it with a side of steamed pak choi for the crunchy greeny goodness. And if I'm feeling flash, a wedge of lime to squeeze over the noodles.