easy brownies

I often make and bake these brownies with M., she loves make them because she is in charge of every thing and she loves eating them!
It is a recipe from Jamie Oliver "30 minutes meal" but I have adjusted it to my and M's taste.

(20 people serving)
100 gr of dark choccolate (70%)
100 gr of milk choccolate
200 gr unsalted butter
6 table spoons cocoa powder
4 table spoons self raising flour
4 eggs
100 gr caster sugar
sprinkles for decoration

Smash the chocolate and chop the butter into rough chunks- you can put the chocolate and butter in a water bath to melt completely if you don't have a food processor.


M. is smashing the choccolate.



When they have both melted and soft, add 100g caster sugar, 6 level tablespoons of cocoa powder, 4 heaped tablespoons of self-raising flour, a pinch of salt. Mix together in a food processor. Crack in the eggs and whiz.
Grease a non-stick baking tray (approx. 32x26cm) and drizzle with some olive oil. Use a spatula to spoon and spread the brownie mixture evenly into the tray of about 2.5 cm thickness. Bake for about 15 mins at 180 deg C. The brownies should still be soft. Leave it to cool outside the oven in its bakig tray. Once cool sprinkle all over your chosen sprinkles, press them a little with you finger so that they stick to the brownie. cut the cake into little bite size brownies. enjoy


For this recipe M. is able to take control over most of the process: smashing the choccolate, cutting the butter, cracking the eggs and adding flour and sugar. I only supervise, give her instruction, use the food processor and spoon the mixture in the baking tray.

dolce salame

This is a recipe from my childhood. I remember it was almost always in the freezer during summer, but there were also good occasions to eat it in winter. It is also linked to my dear grandmother who passed away a year ago, it was her doing it for us, her grandchildren, as a treat.
It is really easy, there is no need of baking and it takes minutes. Older children can managed to do it almost completely by them selves, younger one can have fun helping with some stages.
M. helped mummy breaking the biscuits and cleaning the bowl with her fingers!




INGREDIENTS:

150 gr rich tea biscuits or digestive
70 gr butter
100 gr dark choccolate
50 gr sugar
1 egg

Leave the butter at room temperature for few minutes to become soft. In a large bowl break the buiscuits into small pieces. Melt the choccolate over a bowl of hot water, mix it untill is smooth and then leave it to cool down.
Work the butter with a spoon untill smooth, then add the sugar,the egg and the cool choccolate.
Add the mixture to the broken buiscuits and mix all together.
Put all the mixture onto a sheet of foil big enough to cover it, and with your hand give it the form of a long sausage.
Still in the foil, put your choccolate sausage in the freezer and leave it to rest for at least three hours.
To serve, slice the cake with a knife.

EASY PIZZA

INGREDIENTS

250 g self raising flour
7 g dried yeast
125 ml water
25 g olive oil
5 g salt
6 spoons of tomato sauce
1 mozzarella sliced

Dissolve the yeast in warm water (125 ml). Sift the flower with the salt on a the kitchen work top and add slowly the yeast and the oil. Knead until you obtain a smooth and elastic dough. Make a ball with the dough and let it rest on a bowl, covered and in a warm place, for 2 1/2-3 hours.
Put some flour on the work top and flatten the dough with your hands and then with a rolling pin. Spread the dough to 1 cm. Prepare an oven dish with baking paper and put the pizza base on it. Spread the tomato sauce on the pizza with the back of a spoon and then arrange the mozzarella slices. You can add other toppings of your choice.
Baked for 15-20 minutes at 200 C

Maroccan style lamb cous-cous

This is a very special dish because today M. helped me preparing it by adding the spices, the water, the raisins and the chick peas.

INGREDIENTS:

Lamb dieced
vegetable oil
1 tin of cooked chick peas
1/2 a tea spoon of tumeric
1/2 a tea spoon of cinamon
1/4 tea spoon of ceyen papper
a pinch of saffron
20-30 gr of raisins
2 onions quartered
1 tea spoon of salt
2 eggs
cous-cous


Diece the lamb and I prefer discarging any fat. Heat up a spoon of oil in a large pot and add the lamb, cook it untill brown. Put the quartered onions and all the spices, mix for 1 minute. Add 3 glasses of water and salt. Bring to the boil. Cook for 1 hour or untill the lamb is soft (the smaller you cut it the quicker to cook). Open the chick peas tin and rinse them with cold water. Add to the pot together with the raisins and with another 2 glasses of water. At the same time you can cook the eggs in another pot or cook them in the same pot as the lamb.
Let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile cook the cous-cous as for manufacturer instructions.

Pile the cous-cous on a plate, then put the lamb mixture on it and moisten with some broth.
Peel the eggs and cut them in quarters and add to the plate.

salmon noodles

INGREDIENTS

1 or 2 salmon fillets
rich soy sauce
sesame seeds
honey
egg noodles

Marinate the Salmon in a mixture of soy sauce and 2 spoons of honey for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile toast the sesame seeds in saucer on a low fire until golden, then put a part. Lift the salmon from the marinade and put it on the same saucer to cook (you can start flaking it when it's half cooked to speed the process).
Cook the noodles as for manufacturer instructions.
Once the salmon is cooked, add the sesame seeds and mix well; add the cooked noodles and some more soy sauce. Serve

mushrooms risotto

I recently discovered how M. loves mushrooms! I used to cook mushrooms risotto before, but now I started adding a lot more mushrooms for M.

INGREDIENTS:

Risotto rice (Canaroli or Arborio)
mushrooms (any kind) chopped
1 garlic clove
stock cube
water,
salt
pepper
nutmeg
Parmesan cheese grated
butter
2 table spoons sunflower oil


Heat the sunflower oil in a pot on a low heat, add the whole garlic clove and let it fry for 30 sec. Add the chopped mushrooms and stir. Let them cook for 2 minutes then remove and discharge the garlic. Then add salt, pepper and a grating of nutmeg. If the mushrooms start sticking to the pot put the lid on. Let them cook until soft. On a separate container prepare the stock with boiling water and half a stock cube.
When the mushrooms are ready, add the risotto rice to them and stir constantly for 1 minute. Then add enough stock just to cover the rice and stir constantly until all the stock is absorbed. Add some more water just to cover the rice once again and wait until it is absorbed. Continue in this way until the rice is cooked. Add some more salt to taste.
Once the risotto is ready, put a bit of butter and some grated Parmesan cheese in .
Serve immediately.

Risotto is good as soon as it is done, it can't be re-heated.

easy chicken cous-cous recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1onion/half if big finely choped
2-3 pieces of chicken with bones
3-4 carrots cut into big chunks
1 courgette cut into big chucks
1 tin of cooked chick peas
2 spoons of sunflower oil
1 tea spoon of cumin
1 tea spoon of paprika
1/2 tea spoon of cinamon
salt
water

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the chicken and let it brown on all the sides. When it is half cooked add the choped onion and let it soften. then add the spieces and mix for a minute. Add salt and a glass of water. leave to boil for 5 minutes.Add the carrots and 2 glasses of water. When the carrots are half cooked, add the courgette and the chick peas and another glass of water. Leave to cook for a further 15 minutes.

In a separate pot cook the cous-cous as instructed by the manifacturer.

Spoon the cous-cous onto a plate and on top put some of the vegetables and the chicken, then a little of the stock.

Enjoy