Flourless chocolate cake, the fotos!

Take a look :

Here's the tin, greased and dusted

The filling in the tin, ready for the oven

Out of the oven, leave to cool

A slice of cake, with raspberries

Here are the bits, pieces, hints and tips!

Once the cake has cooled use a round bladed knife and ease around the edge to loosen – take your time – if you don't you'll tear the edges of the cake – that would be a shame since you've achieved a brownie type crusty edge. If the cake won't budge then repeat the edging with the knife. Have a large sheet of foil ready to receive your cake, turn it - with care, then wrap and fridge.

The cake serves 8 – you may think the portion size isn't very generous – take my word for it – it's a rich cake.

Now for the choices – this cake is dense and intense. You can serve the cake cold with ice cream and/or cream or even clotted cream.

If you prefer soft, warm and squidgy then microwave for 20 seconds – take it from one who isn't bothered about chocolate, this is very good indeed.

It freezes well … don't forget to portion and wrap in cling film, then bag together.

You won't be sorry.

Now back to the everyday stuff …

Flourless chocolate cake, the fotos!

Take a look :

Here's the tin, greased and dusted

The filling in the tin, ready for the oven

Out of the oven, leave to cool

A slice of cake, with raspberries

Here are the bits, pieces, hints and tips!

Once the cake has cooled use a round bladed knife and ease around the edge to loosen – take your time – if you don't you'll tear the edges of the cake – that would be a shame since you've achieved a brownie type crusty edge. If the cake won't budge then repeat the edging with the knife. Have a large sheet of foil ready to receive your cake, turn it - with care, then wrap and fridge.

The cake serves 8 – you may think the portion size isn't very generous – take my word for it – it's a rich cake.

Now for the choices – this cake is dense and intense. You can serve the cake cold with ice cream and/or cream or even clotted cream.

If you prefer soft, warm and squidgy then microwave for 20 seconds – take it from one who isn't bothered about chocolate, this is very good indeed.

It freezes well … don't forget to portion and wrap in cling film, then bag together.

You won't be sorry.

My flourless cake mission continues

I said I was on a mission – here's a flourless chocolate cake recipe I found – you want easy – this is it – it does exactly what it says – in the tin!

Here it is :

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Serves 8

120g dark chocolate – choose a cocoa solid

of 50%

120g unsalted butter

150g caster sugar

50g cocoa

3 eggs

½ tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 tsp vanilla essence

You will need a small sandwich tin -

measuring 20cms/8” x 3cms/1¼”

a butter wrapper for greasing

an extra heaped teaspoon of cocoa

for dusting

a sheet of foil big enough to wrap the cake

Grease the tin with the butter wrapper and then sprinkle cocoa into the tin and carefully tilt the tin until the bottom and the sides of the tin are covered. A small tip – unless you are practised at this art you might want to tilt the tin over the sink!

Pre-heat the oven 130fan/150c/Gas 2.

Set a glass bowl over simmering water and melt the chocolate and butter – when melted, wearing oven gloves and with care, set aside on a heatproof mat or board. Stir in the sugar, cocoa, eggs and vanilla, mix well. Tip into your prepared sandwich tin and bake for 30 minutes.

Let the cake cool, in the tin for 15 minutes.

There's more …

MiamMiam Musings

MiamMiam

Musings

Welcome to MiamMiam Musings, or – I'm fed up with being confined!

Not sure how this will go but for the moment I'm winging it.

I don't mind my own company but, as is always the way, when it's enforced it's a different kettle of fish – you know what I mean – you decide to give up cheese or chocolate and immediately you crave whichever is your guilty pleasure.

Here are my musings to date … I'm sick of food – having to queue to buy it and then to cook it – every day, it's enough to send a person doolally tap (translated - “to lose one's mind from boredom”).

For me it's one shopping trip each week – M&S Food and then Waitrose. M&S is great at 8.30a.m on a Wednesday – Waitrose thereafter sometimes good, sometimes not.

I've gone back to basics and actually it works. I write my menu for the week and then paper clip it to my wall calendar – a glance in passing each morning tells me if I need to pull anything from the freezer or for that matter any prep that's required. The point being it's done, dusted and organised then move on!

From my wall menu I make my weekly shopping list – for once I pay attention – I've no intention of going out more than once so it's worth a few extra minutes and checking the store cupboard. Here's my menu for this week :

Prawn and smoked salmon salad – my “salad” is

a mixed bag of cabbage, carrot, lettuce, pepper and sweetcorn -

baby silverskin onions, beetroot, boiled eggs, grated cheese, tomatoes and

part-baked sourdough bread (and butter of course)

Lamb fillet, already cooked, from the freezer

Parrots – leftover carrots and parsnips, mashed and seasoned

Sautéed cooked, baked potatoes

butter beans

Redcurrant jelly

Ham hock

poached egg

Seasoned potato wedges

The ham hock came from the Waitrose shop this morning – not been able

to get it for ages – one pack for tonight, the other into the freezer!

Sweet and sour chicken

Rice with vegetables – frozen from M&S

Slob night – Croque Monsieur – minus

meat for me with a side of fries

beetroot relish

Chicken pie – made from slow cooked chicken

already in the freezer and a mushroom sauce, again the base

is in the freezer – haven't decided yet whether it'll

be a pastry top or a sliced baked potato version

Prawn curry with

rice and flat breads

At the bottom of my menu for the week I've written three ideas for next week – if I don't write stuff down I'll forget – if I decide to cook something else who cares!

At this moment in time I'd kill for fast food – in particular a veggie burger from McDonald's or, the best, a Mexican Bean Burger from Burger King. At a push I'd even settle for Fish and Chips – it has come to this. Believe me when I say I'll be at one or the other when they re-open. In the meantime I'm treating myself to a pizza – that I haven't had to make!

Now for my “rant of the week”.

I know we've all suffered with “loo roll gate” and “who stole all the tinned food” not to mention “where did all the flour go” - thankfully the Supermarkets have now taken some control, after making a shedload of even more profit – I digress – here comes the rant.

It's confession time - since I was a teenager I've loved salad cream and always put it on chips – once a slob … it was years before I discovered that the Belgians invented it – with posh mayo of course! I had salad cream on my list last week – imagine my surprise, she says light heartedly, to find the entire shelf empty in Waitrose. To say I was “cross” puts it mildly.

All was not lost … I've had deliveries from Derbyshire and Southport – needless to say I have enough salad cream to sink a battle ship with a great lifespan. It gives me great pleasure that I will not be lining Waitrose's pockets any more than I need to since now I have my own personal salad cream supply.

I feel so much better for that!

That's the end of my musing for this week but before I go a reminder – check your store cupboard, your fridge and your freezer – you'll have forgotten what's in your freezer already – then decide on your menu and then make your list! Not forgetting a bottle of your favourite tipple – a person has to have a treat!

I hope my musing has made you smile, stay safe and well.

With love xxx

The nugget and burger sides

The list is endless!

Make your own coleslaw – see the Salad label 15th April 2017 for The coleslaw conundrum – the raw slaw principle.

Make your own mayo – see the Sauce label Matt's mayonnaise - Stick blender mayo recipe 7thSeptember 2019.

Do you like heat – if it's a yes then you might like this onion salad. You can make it as per the recipe below or slice the onion into thin rings, combine the ingredients marked * then coat the rings and leave to marinade.

Here goes :

2 medium onions, finely chopped -

weight 150g per onion approximately

*celery salt and black pepper

*2 tbsp fresh orange juice

*1 tbsp lemon juice

*1 tbsp tomato paste

*pinch of chill powder or chilli flakes

Place the onions in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Place the salad in sealed airtight containers and store in a cool place.

The secret to this side is that you should not serve it for at least a day, preferably two after making it. It's important that the orange and lemon juice and the tomato paste are allowed to “mature” - leaving it to infuse takes away any harshness from the onion and the tomato paste. If you're an onion fan this side is perfect to serve with strong cheddar cheese and cold meats too.

There are the old favourites of course, fresh shredded lettuce, sliced tomato and a burger bun of your choice – in my case brioche, lightly toasted.

Now back to my recent mission – to produce another cake without flour …

The nugget alternatives!

There are other alternatives that spring to mind – for the grown-ups you could have a whole breast per person - prepared in exactly the same way as the nuggets i.e. bashed flat and coated. This version is called an escalope and is traditionally made with veal.

Here's my useless bit of information for the day … the technical culinary term for coating with breadcrumbs is “pané”. If you like extra crunch you can use panko crumbs and blitz them so you have a finer texture and then “double pané” your coating.

If you want extra flavour, try adding a seasoning to your crumb – as a guide – roughly speaking a tablespoon is equivalent to 25g ergo the 4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs mentioned in the original recipe is approximately 100g. Add a tablespoon of seasoning to 100g of breadcrumbs for extra zing. Tip the crumb into a food bag, add the seasoning and shake to combine.

The other alternative is to make chicken burgers, coated in the crumb. They don't have to be a perfect circle, random and rustic is good, think of it as serendipity – a happy accident! Slice a chicken breast in half, place between two sheets of cling film and then bash and turn as you go.

There's another benefit here – all that bashing is a stress buster releasing the lockdown frustrations.

I can't leave this without giving a veggie option and in fact my own weekend treat. Check out the Mushroom label for the Miso Mushroom Burger 9th September 2018 using Portabello mushrooms – yum!

Then there's the sides …

Chicken nuggets … a step by step guide

Before we begin, the same tip as always – set your stall out, get all your ingredients ready – if you're organised it'll be fun :

Step 1 :

Pat the chicken dry with kitchen roll. Place a sheet of cling film on your board. You can place the chicken breast whole and cut afterwards or cut into small nugget sized pieces before you begin bashing – bear in mind that the chicken is to be flattened and will therefore be larger than the cut piece. Try and keep the nuggets a similar size. Arrange on the cling film making sure you leave sufficient space between the nuggets. Cover with another sheet of cling film and bash with a kitchen mallet (or rolling pin) to flatten. Set aside.

Step 2 :

Place the flour, egg and breadcrumbs in the foil trays.

Step 3 :

A tip before you begin – make sure you have a baking tray lined with kitchen roll ready to receive your breaded nuggets.

Now for the production line and another tip - wear gloves!

Step 4 :

Coat each piece in flour, then coat in beaten egg and finally in breadcrumbs.

If you are cooking the nuggets later, cover with more kitchen roll and then double cling film and “fridge” until required.

When ready to serve you have two options :

Pre-heat oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Heat a glug of rapeseed oil in a large frying pan on a moderate heat. If you wish to check whether the oil is ready to use drop a breadcrumb into the oil – if it sizzles and begins to colour you're ready to roll. Seal the nuggets on both sides and transfer them to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or you can continue on the hob – turn the heat down low and turn the nuggets frequently until cooked through and golden brown. This will not take more than 15 minutes since the chicken is bashed thinly. If you want to be certain take one and cut it in half, it should be thoroughly cooked before serving.

As a guide you should get 4-6 nuggets per breast depending on how large you want your nuggets – it's not an exact science.

Coming up – other alternatives!

Are the kids fed up yet ...

… are they suffering from fast food withdrawal?

Staying with the “time on your hands” mantra and may be even answering both of the above, here's a weekend treat for the kids – big and little alike and they can help too!

One of their favourite fast food choices has to be chicken nuggets, here's my version :

Chicken Nuggets

but not as you know them

4 chicken breasts (weight 500/600kg)

Cling film

Kitchen mallet or other suitable implement

for bashing i.e. rolling pin

3 x foil trays

kitchen roll

2 tbsp plain flour

1 egg, beaten

4 tbsp/100g breadcrumbs

You can use ordinary breadcrumbs or use Panko

crumbs if you can get them – they are larger – blitz

them for a finer texture

A “double whammy” - getting the kids involved and supper ready too!

Next - a step by step guide and some “variations on a theme” of the chicken nugget.