Week 43: Nutella and Peanut Butter Brownies

The Recipe
225g melted butter
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa
a dash of salt
½ tsp baking powder
1/2 cup Nutella
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 175C.

Sift flour and cocoa into a bowl. Add baking powder and salt.

Melt the butter and stir in sugar and vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each. Whisk into the flour/cocoa mixture until fully combined.

Add Nutella and peanut butter to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 20 second intervals until it reaches a runny consistency (took about 1-2 minutes for me) and stir it into the mixture.

Pour into a greased 24x34cm ovenproof dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until a pin comes out clean. Let the brownies cool completely and sift icing sugar on top before cutting.

The Verdict
REALLY good! They didn't taste as much of peanut butter as I had expected, but they were rich and creamy and mushy-mushy. Super easy to make and VERY good. YUM!

Week 41: Raspberry Cheesecake

The Recipe
220g digestive crackers
200g butter

400g cream cheese
200g sour cream 38%
100g sugar

250g raspberries
Juice from ½ a lime or lemon

½l whipping cream, whipped

Melt butter. Crush crackers. Mix and press firmly into the bottom of (GREASED!!!) spring form pan. Bake 15-20 minutes at 200C.

Mix cream cheese, sour cream and sugar until smooth.

If using frozen raspberries, boil them briefly (1 min) and set aside to cool. Crush raspberries and mix with lime juice until even paste. Add to cream cheese mixture and fold in whipped cream. Spread over cooled digestive cracker crust and freeze for several hours or until firm.

The Verdict
NB: the measurements given above result in waaaaay too much "filling". I couldn't use all of it or my spring form would overflow. If I were to try it again, I think I'd double the measurements for the crust and cut down on the whipping cream to perhaps just 2.5dl. That would have the added benefit of giving the cheesecake a more cheesy taste. As it was, it tasted more like raspberry cream than raspberry cheesecake. I liked it, it just wasn't the result I was going for.

It was really easy to make though, so it's definitely got that going for it :)

Week 40: Oatmeal Cookies with white Chocolate and Raspberries

The Recipe
(Makes ~50 cookies, depending on size)
150g butter
165g brown sugar
3dl white sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
2 eggs
6.5dl oatmeal
3 dl flour
A pinch of salt
1tsp baking powder
~200g white chocolate, chopped (optional)
2tbsp freeze-dried raspberries (optional)

Melt the butter in a pot and pour it into a bowl together with brown and white sugar and vanilla. Mix thoroughly (use a spoon rather than an electric whisk - you won't be able to use it for long anyway).
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thorough after each. Add oatmeal. Add baking powder and salt and mix in the flour a little at a time.
Add chocolate and raspberries.

Form into "marbles" of about 1.5-2 teaspoons each and put them on a baking sheet with a few cm between each - they'll spread! Bake them at 180C for 8-10 minutes.

Let them cool a bit on the baking sheet (they're VERY fragile right out of the oven) and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

The Verdict
My sister made this for the last readathon and they were AWESOME! Came close to rivaling my love for M&M cookies. So of course I had to try to make them myself. They were really easy to make (although I didn't chop the chocolate finely enough - lesson learned for next time) and taste amazing! The freeze dried raspberries add a tartness that work really well together with the sweetness of the chocolate. And if you want a "healthier" version, you can replace the filling with something else or just leave it out altogether! They taste great even as-is.

Definitely a new staple in my repertoire, although I need to try adding chopped hazelnuts as well - DEFINITELY think that would go down a treat!

Week 39: Chicken Parm-Stuffed Bell Peppers

The Recipe
(Serves 4)
450g chicken, diced
1 tsp each of salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder and onion powder
2 eggs, beaten
Flour and breadcrumbs
4 bell peppers, halved lengthwise.
Mariana sauce
parmesan cheese
~150g fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Set a wire rack over a baking sheet to cook the chicken on (you can reuse the baking sheet for the bell peppers afterwards.

In a bowl combine salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder and onion powder. Add chicken and toss until evenly coated.

Prepare three plates - one with flour, one with eggs and one with breadcrumbs. Coat the chicken in first flour, then eggs, then breadcrumbs. Transfer to wire rack and bake for 25 minutes.

Arrange the bell peppers on the baking sheet. Add a spoonful of mariana sauce and some parmesan cheese to each, and divide the chicken evenly between the bell peppers. Top off with another spoonful of mariana sauce, more parmesan cheese and the mozzarella slices. Bake for another 25 minutes.
Serve with rice.

The Verdict
I added a teaspoon of thyme as well, and it ended up being too much. Don't know if it was the oregano, the thyme or the mix of the two, but I think next time I'll leave the thyme out.

I didn't add enough mariana sauce to each bell pepper, so some bites were a bit too dry. Next time I should use the entire jar - as it was, I had about 1dl left over.

Otherwise I liked it though. But it's a lot of work for something that didn't wow me, so while it tasted good, I'm not sure there'll actually be a next time.

Week 38: Mushroom Risotto

The Recipe
(Serves 1)
1dl risotto / Arborio rice
3/4dl dry white wine
~5dl chicken or vegetable stock
1 small onion
1-2 cloves garlic
~100g mushrooms
Butter
3-4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Fresh basil or parsley for garnish

NB: you cannot make risotto with any odd rice, as they won't get the right creamy texture. You can substitute pudding rice in a pinch, but it's worth getting the real thing

Chop mushrooms, onion and garlic. Bring the stock to a boil in a separate pot. Add extra spices if you want, but remember that everything will be boiled down and SUPER concentrated, so a little goes a loooong way.

Melt a bit of butter in a pan and roast the mushrooms until done. Add pepper to taste. No salt though! The stock will make it plenty salty enough. Once done, remove mushrooms from the pan.

Add saute the onion until fragrant. Turn the heat up to high and add garlic and rice. Toast them for 2-3 minutes while constantly stirring, to get the outside starch off and allow the rice to soak up the liquid better.

Pour in the wine while stirring. This will be absorbed quickly and once it's almost all gone, start pouring in the stock a little at a time. I did about 1dl at a time at first, going down to ½dl as I went on. Turn down the heat to where the rice is just simmering, to keep the outside from being done too quickly compared to the inside. Keep stirring between each addition of stock until it is absorbed. I used all 5dl for the 1dl rice, and it's possible I could even have added more! This will take awhile and you cannot leave it alone! So this is really a "for the love of cooking" dish. After about 20 minutes, start tasting the rice - wait for that magical al dente moment. If you run out of stock before the rice is done just add boiled water instead - you'll have added plenty of stock for taste by this time.

Once the rice is done add the cooked mushrooms, extra butter, parmesan cheese and basil/parsley. Stir until the butter and cheese has melted. Serve piping hot.

The Verdict
Oh, Yum!!! I absolutely love risotto (when done well, anyway), but this was my first attempt ever at making it myself. However, I'd been having a craving lately, so I let myself be inspired by MadLori's tumblr and gave it a shot. It wasn't perfect, but pretty darn close (you know it's good when you eat all alone and still exclaim "YUM" every 3-4 bites! 😄 ). I made this two days in a row to fiddle with the recipe and adjust the measurements.

I'll definitely be making this again! I also want to experiment with adding other things to it instead of the mushrooms.

Week 37: Texas Dry Rub

The Recipe
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp sea salt
1/2 tbsp ground pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cumin

Mix everything together and rub on meat of your choice before cooking it. This amount fit ~900g chicken perfectly (4 breasts, each cut in halves). Can also be made in advance and stored in an airtight container.

The Verdict
Rather spicy, so if making this for people who don't deal well with heat, cut down on the chili to 1 tsp or less (or even leave it out completely). All the spices mesh together really well, so it would work just as well without/with less chili. Personally, I loved it though. Just the right amount of kick for my tastes. Now I want to try it with other types of meat as well! I served the chicken with the spicy penne from last week and the two dishes went really well together :)

Week 36: Spicy Penne with Bell Pepper

The Recipe
Three large bell peppers in different colours if possible (just for looks)
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
400g penne
0.75dl olive oil (~5 tbsp)
2 tbsp sweet chilisauce
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
fresh basil
parmesan cheese

Cut the bell peppers into quarters, removing stem and seeds. Grill skin-side up for 10-20 minutes or until the skin starts to blacken and bubble up. Remove from grill/oven and leave until cool enough to handle. Remove as much of the skin as possible (there'll always be some left - that's alright) and cut into thin slices.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package.

Mix together oil, chili sauce and vinegar and add salt/pepper according to taste.

Add everything to the pasta. Add fresh basil and shredded parmesan cheese for serving.

Can be served either as a main or as a side dish.

The Verdict
'Spicy' is a bit of a misnomer. Though the red wine vinegar smelled really overpowering as I was tossing the salad, but at the end of the day you could hardly taste it - same went for the chili sauce, so I might add more of the latter next time. Otherwise I really liked it - it was a nice touch to grill the bell pepper first, rather than just leave them raw. A bit more work to be sure, but worth it. Definitely something I'll make again. I'll probably use a bit less pasta though. Even here I used less penne than the recipe called for (originally 500g) and the ratios still seemed weird - far too much pasta for the veggies. Easily remedied though.