Jamie Oliver's Bloomin' Brilliant Brownies

It was quite last minute when i decided to make something to bring to Sharlene's house last Saturday. I only had about 2 hours of preparation and cooking available after arriving home after work. I did not have time to go shopping for ingredients. I ruled out chicken pies because the dough needs time to refrigerate. Cookies are not a good idea because you see cookies everywhere especially during this chinese new year. So what to make? Good thing i have a block of cooking chocolate and butter in my fridge. Shu Vun highly recommended this brownie recipe from Jamie Oliver.

I added a little alcohol in my brownies. I do not have any Tia maria or brandy so i used this lychee wine i have call Kui Fei. There is a slight fruity taste in the brownies which i think is just fine.

I didn't have enough time to take a picture of my brownies. But it was really really chocolatey.
So I will use Shu Vun's brownie pic.


Ingredients
• 250g unsalted butter
• 200g dark Fairtrade chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken up
• optional: 75g dried sour cherries
• optional: 50g chopped nuts
• 80g cocoa powder, sifted
• 65g plain flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 360g caster sugar
• 4 large free-range or organic eggs
• optional: zest of 1 orange
• optional: 250ml crème fraîche

Methods

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Line a 25cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth. Add the cherries and nuts, if you’re using them, and stir together. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate, cherry and nut mixture. Stir together well. Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.

Pour your brownie mix into the baking tray, and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. You don’t want to overcook them so, unlike cakes, you don’t want a skewer to come out all clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle. Allow to cool in the tray, then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into chunky squares. These make a fantastic dessert served with a dollop of crème fraîche mixed with some orange zest.

**note: i found that 360g of sugar is too much so i only used 50g. The sweetness is just right for those who are not too fond of sweetness.

Baked Rice

It's holiday today! Happy National Day!! ~

I was planning to make spaghetti today but i was too lazy to drive out to buy the ingredients so i decided to make this baked rice instead. The recipe is from HappyHomeBaking.

I was drooling at this dishes for a while now. So upon checking my fridge, i found out that i still have some cream left from the last cheesecake i made and left over rice from last night's dinner. However, i don't have mozarella cheese so i use cheddar cheese instead. The colour doesn't turn out to be as pretty as the dish made by HappyHomeBaking. But the taste is good.

I don't have fresh chicken stock so i used half a cube of chicken stock mix with about 1/2 cup of water. The rice doesn't turn out to be too wet or too dry. I like the texture just fine. =)

Below recipe is copied from from HappyHomeBaking.

**Thanks for sharing the wonderful recipe~

Ingredients:
(serves 4)

1.5 cups uncooked rice
2 chicken thigh
100g fresh mushrooms of your choice , sliced thickly
some minced garlic
1 cup cream (dairy)
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt (adjust according to taste)
some black pepper
some grated mozzarella cheese
dried parsley

Method:

1. Wash and cook rice with rice cooker.

2. Bring a pot of water to the boil, put in the chicken thigh and boil till the chicken is almost cooked. Let cool and shred the chicken into bite sizes. Reserve half cup of the chicken stock.

3. Heat up a deep pan, with some cooking oil (or butter) stir fry minced garlic and mushrooms. Add in the shredded chicken meat. Add pepper and salt to taste. Continute to stir fry till the mushrooms become soft.

4. Add in the cream, stir well. Add in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. (Note, always add cream BEFORE the chicken stock, otherwise the mixture may not be smooth.)

5.Add in the cooked rice. Stir and let it cook for a few mins or until the sauce is almost fully absorbed by the rice.

6.Place rice into a heatproof baking dish. Cover top with grated cheese.

7.Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 degC, till the cheese turns golden brown. Sprinkle with some dried parsley. Serve immediately.

Enjoy this wonderful dish~