Author: Alex

Chocolate Brownies

- Alex 3 Comments

IMG_0686

I’m lucky that, at present, I have more time for cooking (and thinking about food) than I would do normally. This means that most of our evening meals have become more interesting and more diverse.

It also means … more time to think about cake.

I have my favourite chocolate brownie recipe (thank you, Nigel Slater) but I’m not so loyal to it that I won’t try something else. I spotted this recipe for chocolate caramel brownies on taste.com.au in the run up to Valentine’s Day and decided it looked worth a go.

The first block of caramello chocolate was eaten so we had to have a second attempt (I bought the chocolate and made the brownies within 24 hours to prevent the same thing happening again). As you might expect, I also deviated from the recipe.

Begin by putting a 220gm block of caramel chocolate in the freezer (this is to make it easier to break/chop up). Grease and line (fully, not just base line) with baking paper a tin – I always use my smallish roasting dish for brownies and preheat oven to 160°C (fan, 180°C otherwise).

Melt 180gm of dark chocolate (broken up) with 150gm of unsalted butter (chopped). I used to be too scared to melt chocolate in the microwave but I braved it once and have never looked back. It’s a LOT quicker than standing over a double boiler, and because it takes less time I find I’m less likely to get distracted, start doing something else and end up with the chocolate seizing. Yes, you do need to keep an eye on it (I open the microwave and give the chocolate a stir every 30 seconds – 1 minute or so) but you’d be doing that in a double boiler anyway. So, give microwaving your chocolate a go!

I then tipped the chocolate and butter mix in to the KitchenAid and, using the flat beater, mixed in ½ cup of caster sugar. When that was well combined I left the mixture to cool a little (actually, at that point I went and helped bath the baby … you don’t need to leave it that long though!) before beating in 2 eggs.

Now, at this point the recipe adds in 1 ¼ cups of plain flour. That just didn’t seem right to me – plain flour and no raising agents? So I used self raising flour. Beat this in, along with 2 tbsp of cocoa.

When everything is combined (and I found the mixture to be very thick – almost dough like in the way it clumped together and came away from the edges of the mixing bowl) mix in the caramel chocolate, broken in to squares. It was because of the caramel chocolate that I used the KitchenAid rather than the trusty MagiMix.

Tip the mixture in to the prepared tin, smooth out as much as possible and bake for 20 minutes. The top of the brownie should be set.

Allow to cool before serving. The original recipe has you cool the brownies, cut in to heart shapes and decorate with extra cocoa powder. Trust me – you need none of that frippery!

These were very simple to make and, while they didn’t eclipse my current favourite recipe, I’ll definitely be making them again. Of course – you can substitute any flavoured chocolate you like for the caramel chocolate. A few ideas floated around the afternoon tea table were using Cherry Ripes, mint chocolate, orange chocolate and I reckon even adding KitKats might be interesting!

Mandoo

- Alex 2 Comments

Untitled

date of visit:  Tues 1 March 2011
most recent visit:  Friday 7 September 2012

We’ve been enthusiastic in the past about Grote Street’s Dumpling King. You get a huge pile of dumplings for not a lot of cash.

However, Andy and I are also keen on Korean food (in particular, I’m a big fan of kim chi) so Mandoo, on Bank Street, has been on our radar for quite a while.

Mandoo are Korean dumplings and this tiny restaurant focuses almost exclusively on just that (there’s bibimbap available, if you’re not in a dumpling frame of mind).

We arrived at 6pm and this early start made our booking somewhat redundant, but if you want to go at a later time or on a more popular night of the week, booking could well be prudent. The restaurant also seems to do a pretty sharp takeaway trade.

It didn’t take long for me to decide on the steamed kim chi dumplings, and Andy followed suit. Our dining companion ordered the beef bibimbap. Pretty much all the main courses are priced at $9.99, and the dumplings all come in serves of eight, accompanied by pickles, sauce, salad and cold mash (which tastes a lot better than it sounds).

The dumplings are made in front of you, while the bibimbap appears from a kitchen at the rear of the restaurant. I was impressed by my dumplings on several fronts. Although steamed they are well enough stuffed and sealed so that biting in to them does not risk a mouthful of too hot water (something I do find a problem at Dumpling King). Also, the filling is finely chopped but has not turned in to a paste so there’s plenty of texture. The heat of the kim chi dumplings was good – especially when dipped in the sauce. Additional sauces are available (including gochujang, if the food isn’t spicy enough for you). I found the eight dumplings a good size portion – far more manageable than portions at Dumpling King.

Both Andy and I were agreed that while the food is more expensive, and portions smaller, than at Dumpling King, Mandoo is a better experience – from the tables and service, through to the food.

I only wish I lived in the city because I suspect I’d be having takeaway from Mandoo quite a lot …

Mandoo
Shop 3, 23 Bank St
Adelaide, 5000
phone 08 8231 3303

Mandoo Korean Dumplings on Urbanspoon

Salad Dressings

- Alex Leave a comment

IMG_0672

Hmm, not sure it makes for the most exciting title but salads needn’t be boring and, with a bit of thought, they make a good (healthy) low effort meal.

Mostly a salad dressing is just some olive oil, vinegar, garlic, maybe some mustard but if I’m going to make a meal out of a salad I find I need a bit more inspiration.

This first dressing I like because it makes use of tahini. I buy a jar of tahini, needing a tablespoon of it for something or other, and then it hangs around the fridge for ages and ages – so I love recipes that use it. The original of this comes from Cuisine, but commits the culinary crime of using orange and the sugar is totally unnecessary. In fact, this is really a dressing which needs no recipe: just take olive oil, lemon juice, some mustard (I used grainy) and some tahini (when making salad dressing for two, I just use a teaspoon of tahini). Give it all a good shake and it makes a lovely creamy, rich dressing. This works perfectly well on a standard green salad but because it is creamy I don’t use it on a salad which includes feta cheese.

If you have a bit more time on your hands, then this dressing from Ainsley Harriott’s Friends and Family Cookbook.* This is a Caesar salad style dressing, so don’t bother reading on if you’re on some kind of low calorie health kick …

Crush two anchovies (I used a mortar and pestle to make this dressing), and add a clove of garlic. Make a smooth paste. Mix in 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise (I used bought – we had that lying around in the fridge too, left over from something a while back), 1 tablespoon of sour cream, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. Finally add Tabasco to taste and any seasoning you find necessary. I put in plenty of Tabasco so no pepper required and the anchovies were salty enough.

I used this dressing on a green salad, made with Roma tomatoes from the garden, a few warm, diced potatoes and chicken (marinated in olive oil, paprika, garlic and parsley before being fried up – also thanks to Mr Harriott). It was absolutely brilliant – loads of flavour, and certainly enough for dinner.

Just not particularly healthy!

*Also available from Amazon UK, Amazon US, and internationally through The Book Depository.