WHEN ONLY CHOCOLATE WILL DO...Awesome chocolate brownies

Awesome Chocolate Brownies

“Are you ok?” asked my amazed teenager tentatively when, in a moment of tiredness, I agreed to make chocolate brownies.

Normally I come up with a million and one far more healthier options than brownies. Particularly ones that literally ooze chocolate!

But hey...my resistance was low and for once I felt the need of a chocolate brownie hit!

Chocolate and nut brownies

Trawling through the well thumbed recipes from Nigella to Delia I finally opted for one from a school charity cake book which is not high profile but always brilliant.

 It’s called Awesome Chocolate Brownie Recipe and over the years I have slightly modified it to include nuts and dried fruit on occasions.

So although this isn’t the healthiest or immune boosting of recipes I have ever posted, it is, as its name says, one of the most awesome and chocolatiest!

Let’s face it, we all need a treat sometime and if you’re going to go for it..

 As an aside, in my trawls for immune boosting foods to help with the Glandular Fever I read that dark chocolate can be quite good in small quantities..however the amount of sugar in this recipe probably disqualifies it from being a boost!!

Still it tastes delicious and is more for the carers and visitors than any patients!!!

Perfect with a cup of tea or dressed up with ice cream as a pudding.

AWESOME CHOCOLATE BROWNIE RECIPE

Preparation time 10 minutes

Cooking time 25 minutes

Makes about 25 squares

INGREDIENTS:

4 Tbsp of cocoa powder

125g margarine or butter (or ¾ of a cup)

50ml of sunflower oil (or ¼ of a cup)

225g of plain flour (or 2 cups)

260g of Caster sugar ( or 1 ½ cups )

2 eggs

150g of dark chocolate

50 g of walnuts

WHAT TO DO:

1.     Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c

2.     Melt the cocoa, margarine and oil in a saucepan.

3.     Remove from the heat then stir in the flour and sugar, then beat the eggs and stir in as well.

4.     Smash up your chocolate and nuts and stir into the mixture

5.     Grease your baking tin or line with baking parchment and then tip in the mixture and put in the oven for about 20 -25 minutes.

6.      When they come out they should still look a bit gooey but have a shine to them. Let them cool in the tin for 30 minutes and then cut into squares and ..enjoy

Brownies

Truly awesome and a cure for lots of things at this time of year I’m sure!

CLASSIC SPANISH OMELETTE RECIPE -light, nutritious and a hit with all the family!

Spanish omlette or tortilla espanola

In the wake of this week’s events (see my last post), I have been searching for immune boosting foods to help kick start Teen V’s recovery from Glandular Fever.

At the moment she’s not really interested in food, but I have been collecting a variety of interesting tasty things to tempt her.

Luckily there are some delicious things that aid the immune system including salmon and sardines as well as foods rich in magnesium like spinach, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate. 

So lots of options. Phew!!

Also, according to Phyllis A. Balch, author of the book "Prescription for Nutritional Healing, eggs are great as they are “rich in vitamin B-12, a water-soluble vitamin that can regulate the nervous system, ease glandular fever symptoms, improve immune system function and increase red blood cell production.”

 Fantastic!

 So a healthy egg omelette can help alleviate symptoms associated with glandular fever.

Eggs from my neighbours hens

Local eggs

On hearing this we decided that maybe a Spanish omelette would slip down nicely and the potato would add an extra helping of vitamin C.

The good thing about a Tortilla Espanola, or Spanish omelette, is that if anyone is craving meat you can easily add a bit of ham or chorizo for them and its is equally delicious.  It is a great light lunch or supper, adaptable and best of all highly nutritious!!

Eggs

SPANISH TORTILLA 

OR 

 TORTILLA ESPANOLA

Serves 4

Preparation time 10 minutes

Cooking time 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

4 Medium potatoes

1 whole onion

5-6 large eggs

2 lager dollops of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic sliced

Salt to taste

WHAT TO DO:

1.     Peel and cut the potatoes in half length wise then cut into crisp like pieces that are not too thick and slice the onions and garlic.

2.      Toss them all in the olive oil then tip the oil into a large pan fry and gently fry until cooked, soft to touch, this will take about 15-20 minutes depending on how thick the slices are.

3.     Whilst this is cooking crack the eggs and whisk in a bowl.

4.     Remove the potato and onion mix from the pan, drain the oil, then add them to the egg mix.

5.     Heat the remaining olive oil in a smaller pan then add the egg and potato mix and cook slowly until the bottom turns golden brown. This takes a few minutes. 

6.     When it is cooked the top will still be slightly runny but you need to turn it over for a final 3-4 minutes. Try using a dinner plate to help you turn the omelette.

Spanish tortilla

This is obviously a great recipe for the vegetarians, but should you fancy a meat hit you can add chorizo or ham at stage 5. We lightly fried chorizo in a separate pan and then poured the potato and onion mix over it all to cook. 

Just divide the mixture into the appropriate portions for the number of people wanting meat and cook in two separate pans.... nothing too tricky just means you’ll have 1 extra pan to wash at the end but all eating will be happy.

  It was a hit with all the family, not just the poorly, and was even asked for again 2 days in a row..

so must be good!