Banana and Chocolate Muffins

MUNCH RATING: 2/5

I had two reasons for making these muffins:
1) I had two bananas that were quickly going past their prime but I didn't want to throw away.
2) Steve wanted something yummy to eat when he got his mid-morning cakey-pangs at work.

I had a recipe on the back of a bag of flour for banana bread, but I'm not a lover of it as I find it too banana-ry (funny that!) but I like chocolate and muffins are easy to make, so Banana and Chocolate Muffins had to be made! They're not very healthy but as Steve would say "It's got fruit in it so it's OK!"

I have to admit I wasn't that confident about making these as my 3 attempts at baking in SF haven't been that successful. But these were a great success as I've now got the hang of the electric oven, the cup measuring system and using the silicone pans Steve bought me.

• Makes: 12 muffins
• Oven shelf position: middle
• Oven temperature: 350F/180C/Gas mark 4
• Baking time: 20 - 25 minutes
• You will need: muffin pan and cases if appropriate

Ingredients:

• 1¾ cups (245g/9oz) all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup (30g/1oz) cocoa powder
• 1 cup (200g/7oz) granulated white sugar
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (85g/30z) chocolate chips
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 stick (113g/4oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 large ripe bananas, mashed (approximately 225g/8oz/about 1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  Optional: ½ cup (55g/2oz) toasted walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C/Gas mark 4 and place oven rack to middle position.
2. If using a normal muffin tin prepare it by greasing/placing paper cases inside.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.
5. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips (and nuts if using them).
7. Spoon heaped tablespoons of the mixture into your muffin pan until they are pretty full so you get a nice muffin top shape (the only type you'll want!).
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Mine only took 20 minutes as I used a silicone pan.
9. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove from the pan.

TIPS:
You can freeze your baked muffins by allowing them to completely cool, then wrapping them in foil and then popping them in freezer bags. To reheat, just take out of the freezer, unwrap and put them back in your muffin pan and pop into a 350F/180C oven until heated through.
You can also freeze the raw muffin batter by spooning into your muffin pan and then putting the whole thing in the freezer until the batter is solid. You then put these discs into freezer bags. To cook, just put the discs into your muffin pan and cook for about 5 minutes longer than usual.

STRANGE, BUT TRUE:

As my muffin pan is only for 6 muffins I had to cook 2 batches. I was a bit worried that the second batch wouldn't rise as much as the first, because I always thought you had to bake things ASAP so that the baking agents (powder and soda) didn't lose their potency. However, as you can see from these pictures, the muffin from the second batch on the right rose even higher than the first!

Double Chocolate Cookies

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

These cookies are really good as they taste like brownies and have the similar squidgy texture. In its raw state the texture is just like the cookie dough you get in Ben & Jerry's ice cream - yum! Might try crumbling it up into some homemade ice cream.

However they are pretty bad for you at just under 200 calories each, however you could reduce the amount of sugar and leave out the milk chocolate pieces but where's the fun in that?!

• Makes: about 20 cookies
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C
• Cook time: 12-18 mins
• You will need: a baking sheet lined with baking parchment or greased tin foil

Ingredients:

• 150g/5oz dark chocolate broken into chunks
• 50g/2oz butter
• 150g/5oz demerara sugar*
• 1 egg beaten
• 25g/4oz Plain flour
• 25g/1 oz cocoa
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 50g/2oz milk chocolate chopped finely (I used a crumbled up flake)

Directions:

1. Put the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl and sit the bowl over a pan of simmering water until the chocolate has melted, taking care not to let the bowl touch the water. Stir until smooth and put aside to cool slightly (Or nuke in the microwave for about 60 seconds on half power)
2. In a mixer beat the butter and sugar until creamy (you can do this by hand but the mixture is quite stiff so you can burn a few calories mixing before devouring these cookies!)
3. Add the egg with a little bit of the flour to prevent it from curdling.
4. Beat in the rest of the flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda, then add the cooled chocolate.
5. Stir until well combined and then add the milk chocolate pieces.
6. Put the mixture in the fridge to rest for 20 mins. You can preheat the oven to Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C whilst you're waiting.
7. Using a teaspoon form the mixture into balls about the size of a walnut, then lightly press onto the baking sheet, leaving space for them to spread a little.
8. Bake in batches for about 12 minutes for softer cookies and up to 18 minutes for firmer ones (I normally go for 15 minutes), until they've spread and slightly risen They will crack along the top which is supposed to happen.
9. Leave to cool for 5 mins on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack.

COOK’S TIPS:

• You can really use any kind of brown sugar, but I wouldn't substitute brown for white sugar as you won't get the lovely caramel flavour that you get from brown unrefined sugar. In the past I have used a mixture of demerara and muscovado as I didn't have enough of one kind. I have also used all soft brown sugar and the results are pretty much the same.
• When they come out of the oven (even after 18 minutes) they will still feel very soft. Don’t worry, they will harden up as they cool down.
• You can freeze the raw dough after you’ve made them into balls and flattened slightly. Just bag them and tag them. Cook from frozen at the same temperature, you’ll probably need to cook for around 18 minutes.

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I made these in America and used the cup measurement method so here's the quantities:

• Approx 1 cup dark chocolate broken into chunks (but as most chocolate bars are sold in 100g, just use 1 and 1/2 bars)
• 1/2 stick or 3.5 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup demerara sugar*
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 cup All purpose/Plain flour
• 1 Tablespoon cocoa
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• Instead of the chopped milk chocolate I added a handful of Nestle Butterscotch chips (photo shows result of original recipe)

Lazy Sunday Roast Dinner with Roasted Broccoli

Back in the UK Steve's mum always cooks us a lovely roast dinner on Sundays and then we usually spend the rest of the day being complete coach potatoes. So even though the food out in SF is great and special ingredients are easily obtainable, nothing quite beats a Roast Dinner for pure comfort food (although I could quite happily sit and eat a big bowl of mashed potatoes!).

The first time I made Roast Dinner in the apartment it was a bit stressful because we only have 1 shelf in the oven, so I had to juggle a few different baking trays to get everything to be ready at the same time. But I now have this great new method which is so much easier and I can sit back and relax whilst it cooks away in the hotbox.

Also, here is a fantastic recipe for Roasted Broccoli (yes really!) by Alton Brown. It's perfect to serve with roast dinner as you've already got the oven on, you just need to crank it up once everything else is cooked. Being Chinese I've grown up with my parents cooking vegetables perfectly al dente in stir fries etc, so I find nothing worse than overcooked broccoli which has no flavour and the texture of a soggy sponge. This method of roasting broccoli ensures you have perfectly cooked broccoli and none of the vitamins are lost through boiling - bonus! OK so dumping a load of cheese on top probably negates any of the health benefits, but trust me the cheese really makes this so good! I haven't tried it with the panko breadcrumbs yet so will let you know if it's any good!

• Serves 2
  
• Oven temperature: Gas 6/200C/400F
• You will need: Large baking dish/tray about 13 x 9 inches and a baking sheet
  
• Prep time: 10-15 minutes
• Cooking time: 45-50 minutes plus 8-10 minutes for the broccoli
  

Ingredients:

• 2 large Chicken Thighs, bone in and skin on
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into sticks
• 2 or 3 large floury potatoes, peeled and cut into walnut-sized pieces (Russets or Maris Pipers are good)
• 5 or 6 garlic cloves, peeled and slightly smashed
• Salt and pepper
• Herbs & spices of your choice (I used a ready-made Italian Seasoning mix grinder)
• Some olive or vegetable oil
• 2 small heads of broccoli, florets cut into bitesize pieces and stalks cut into batons
• A large handful of grated cheese (I used Monterey)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to Gas 6/200C/400F.
2. Season the chicken and arrange in the baking dish skin side up.
   
3. Mix the oil and your seasoning in a large bowl, add the potatoes and thoroughly coat. Add the potatoes to the baking dish in their own section. Do the same for the carrots.
4. Evenly distribute the garlic around the chicken, potatoes and carrots.
   
5. Put the dish in the hot oven and roast for 45-50 minutes, occasionally turning the potatoes and carrots, until the chicken is completely cooked. About halfway through cooking you might have a pool of oil in the dish as the chicken skin renders the fat, so collect this and save it to use on the broccoli.
   
6. Remove from the oven and cover with foil to keep warm.
7. Now crank up the oven to Gas 7/220C/425F to cook the broccoli.
8. Place the broccoli into a mixing bowl and toss with your reserved oil from the baking dish (or drizzle with some olive oil and seasoning) and then spread the broccoli out on a baking sheet.
9. Roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until just tender. (Whilst this is cooking you can make your gravy). Sprinkle the cheese on the broccoli and melt under the grill/broiler (I usually turn this on so I can make the chicken skin and roast potatoes even crispier!).

TASTY TIP:
Serve up the garlic! Even though it has imparted a lot of flavour to the chicken, carrots and potatoes during cooking, it has a lovely flavour when eaten whole and isn't too strong - trust me I ate some thinking it was potato and was pleasantly surprised!