Recipe: Chocolate and Peanut Butter Brownies

These are very very nice. My friends at college was just saying like, i've told them all I'm a chef and everything, but i STILL havent baked anything for my classes at St Brendans yet! Considering we only have 2 and a bit weeks left of college left before study leave, and then our exams (i think the appropriate words are: AHHHHHHH!!!PANIC!!!) I thought I would make a big batch of brownies. I LOVE the combination of peanut butter and chocolate- particularly those really nice "Reeses Cup" chocolates from America. When i went to Calafornia i must've eaten my weight in them, which is worrying when you think they are 120 calories per chocolate! Lol! So i thought i'd essentially make some "Reeses Brownies"- these are very simple to make, don't use too many complicated ingredients, and makes a lot- so are good for a party.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Brownies (makes 36)

250g good dark chocolate (70 %+)
50g milk chocolate
300g crunchy peanut butter
500g golden caster sugar
½ vanilla pods, seeds scraped out (or ½ tsp vanilla extract)
5 eggs
200g self raising flour

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. In a saucepan, mix together and heat up the chocolate, peanut butter and sugar. You want all the chocolate to have melted and all the ingredients should be well combined. Remove from the heat and allow for cool for a few minutes.
2. Mix in the eggs and vanilla thoroughly (a bit of elbow grease is needed here!). Now mix in the flour. Line a 7 by 7 inch baking tray with greaseproof paper. Bake a third of the brownie mix in the lined tin for 35 minutes, and repeat for another two more batches. (Try to get the amount in each batch the same- weighing the brownie mix ensures this).
3. Cool, slice each batch into 12 brownies, and place in a baking tin to keep fresh. Serve!

Pimple Scars

Home remedies are great when you don't want to spend money to buy those over the counter expensive products. 

Get rid of Pimple Scars

• Apply cocoa butter
  
  
• Apply Vitamin E

VITAMIN E
Easily available in market ( best to remove any kind of scars )

Skin Care

• Remedy for oily skin:
  
  Make a homemade mask by combining one egg white and a teaspoon of lemon juice. Apply mask and rinse with warm water after 20 minutes
  
  
• For softer skin, steam your face over boiling water (drape a towel over head to hold in steam); remove dead skin with a loofah, drink lots of water
  
  
• To rid blackheads, mix cornstarch with vinegar, plaster on the area for 15-30 minutes; wash off with washcloth and warm water.
  
  
• To help skin glow, place hot towels on skin for 10 minutes, then splash face with cold water 10 times
  
• Rub cucumber peel (wet side up) on your face and leave on overnight to cure acne

Recipe: Baked Bean, Sausage and Cheddar Pasties

Ok, this recipe sounds slightly "chavvy" perhaps, but it's good old comfort food favourite, and tastes absolutely marvellous! They are large pies for people like me and my brother who have a big appetite, and infact I normally serve these with piles of creamy mash, steamed broccoli and gravy! I dread to imagine how many calories all that comes to! I use "350g" baked beans, and i am aware theres about 410g in a normal tin of baked beans- but lately i have been using those neat 1kg Heinz beans plastic tubs that you keep in the fridge. They are really useful actually. These are nice cold too, a nice handheld lunch for when you are in a hurry!

Baked Bean, Sausage and Cheese Pasties (makes 2 large pasties)

4 sausages, skin removed and meat squeezed out into little balls
100g grated cheddar
350g baked beans
1 sheet ready rolled Shortcrust pastry
1 egg, for egg wash

1. Preheat the fan oven to 180 (200 if not using a fan oven). In a large frying pan, fry the sausage pieces until well browned (about 6 minutes). Remove the sausages with a slotted spoon into a mixing bowl.
2. Mix in the baked beans and grated cheddar. Halve the sheet of Shortcrust pastry, and spoon the baked bean mixture equally onto each one. Fold over the rest of the pastry and seal.
3. Line a baking tray with greaseproof, and place the pasties on it. Brush with egg wash and cut a couple of little holes in the top, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove and serve!

Recipe: Spinach and Walnut Stuffed Mushrooms

These are the lushest stuffed mushrooms I have EVER tried. I mean, my mum makes some mean garlic and herb butter stuffed mushrooms- but this is a killer recipe man! Very quick to make, delicious and healthy. Nice with a fresh side salad, or actually I reckon one of them would be a nice side for a steak. It would also make a fantastic vegetarian starter for a dinner party. If you can't get wild garlic, add 10g more frozen spinach, and 2 cloves crushed garlic.

Spinach and Walnut Stuffed Mushrooms (serves 2 with salad)

4 large field mushrooms
150g frozen spinach, defrosted, and then most of the moisture squeezed out of it
1 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
10 wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped
40g walnuts, roughly chopped
Some grated fresh nutmeg
30g Philadelphia
10g wholemeal breadcrumbs
40g finely grated cheddar
Salt and pepper
Some sort of herb garnish (mostly for appearance really)

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Remove the central stalks from the field mushrooms, and finely dice these stalks. Place the mushrooms, face up, on a baking tray, with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
2. Heat up the 1 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan on a medium heat. Fry the finely chopped mushroom stalks and wild garlic for about 5 minutes. Add the defrosted spinach and fry for 3 more minutes, and remove from the heat.
3. Mix in the Philadelphia, chopped walnuts, some finely grated nutmeg into the spinach mixture, and season to taste. Stuff this mixture equally into the 4 cooked flat mushrooms. Top with the cheddar and then the breadcrumbs.
4. Bake the stuffed mushrooms in the oven (at 200C) for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve!

Recipe: Banana and Strawberry Smoothie

The guys at Corsham Football club gave me like a dozen bananas after the race! Loadddds of em! I had a couple after the race though, cause apparently eating a banana straight after you go on a run is really good for muscle repair and energy. Something to do with the potassium I believe. So every day since the race i've been making myself this smoothie, cause it makes me feel so healthy and energetic- and it's very tasty too. I have frozen most of the bananas,chopped, into individual plastic bags- and you can put the frozen banana straight from the freezer into the blender with the rest of the ingredients- making you a super cold fruity drink! Oh, the reason why theres a slice of toast in the picture is because I came up with this recipe as part of a peice I wrote upon the importance of eating a healthy breakfast.

Banana and Strawberry Smoothie (makes 2 glasses)

1 banana, sliced
75g strawberries, quartered
25g blueberries
150ml orange juice
100g natural yoghurt
1 tsp honey

1. Put all ingredients into a blender or food processer and blend until you have a nice smooth mixture. Pour into glasses and it's ready for drinking!

Competition: Epicure/ Creative Cooks Monthly Recipe Competition

Hey everyone. Good news- i won another recipe competition!! I didn't win that Delia Online/New Zealand Lamb recipe thing. Well at least i think i haven't, to be honest their PR company couldn't run a piss up in a brewery, so i really have no idea what's going on. Aaaanyway, with my "Sweet potato and feta salad" and my "Spaghetti with Courgettes and Almonds" recipe (both of which are on this site), I won "Creative Cook's" (an organisation that is ran by the well known/renowned food company Epicure) monthly recipe competition!

I won £150 worth of "Joseph Joseph" Cookware- some really nice looking modern colourful cooking equipment. The digital kitchen scales are really cool too- i really needed some new ones to have at Nick's place. Well chuffed i am!

Thought I would just pat myself on the back a bit, and then say "thanks very much Epicure!"

Recipe: Creamy Garlicky Gnocchi, with mushrooms and bacon

This was just what I needed- I made this for myself on saturday night as a nice carbohydrate rich, starchy meal, to have before my race on the sunday morning. Because i heard that's what experienced runners do- they tend to have starchy foods such as rice, pasta or potatoes the night before a race, to keep their energy levels going. Yesterday I completed a 10k run in Corsham, which was in aid of "RUH prostate Cancer", and I also raised extra money for my charity of choice WSPCA (World Soceity for the Protection of Animals). I completed it in 1 hour, 9 minutes, and 30 seconds. I am very proud of myself, as that is a very good time for my first 10k race, and i'm also very proud of myself because i've wanted to do a 10k for so long, it's always been a "New Year's Resolution"- and this year I actually did it!

This dish is a simple and quick dinner for one, very comforting and creamy! You'll find my wild garlic pesto recipe is on my asparagus soup recipe, if you fancy making it. If not, I think that any other type of pesto would work well in this dish.

Creamy garlicky gnocchi with mushrooms and bacon (serves 1)

130g pre-packaged gnocchi
1 tsp olive oil
75g button mushrooms, quartered
1 rasher smoked bacon, diced
35g wild garlic pesto (or use any flavour you fancy!)
50g Philadelphia
Salt and lots of black pepper
Basil leaves for garnish.

1. Fry the bacon and button mushrooms in the olive oil for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the gnocchi according to packet instructions.
2. Drain the gnocchi, reserving 60ml of the starchy water you have boiled it in. Add the cooked gnocchi, pesto and Philadelphia to the mushrooms and bacon. Stir until well combined and the sauce is nice and thick. Season to taste, garnish with basil and serve!