Oreo Brownies

Oreo Brownies

For the brownies:
125g lightly salted butter
45g cocoa
2 eggs
225g caster sugar
60g self raising flour
1/2 pack of oreo cookies

For the icing:
230g icing sugar
55g butter (room temperature)
4 tablespoons extra double cream
1/2 pack of oreo cookies

Preheat the oven to Gas 4/350 F/ 180 C

Grease and line a 20cm/8inch square cake tin.

Gently melt the butter. Take off the heat and stir in cocoa until blended. Set aside to cool.

Whisk eggs until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar, then stir in the chocolate mixture. Sieve the flour into the mixture and gently fold in.

Crumble the oreo cookies (crumble all the cookies; you will need the rest later for the icing). Add half of the crumbled oreo cookies to the brownie mixture and gently fold in.

Pour the mixture into the tin. Bake for 30-35 minutes oruntil just cooked thin and springy.

Set aside to cool.

For the icing, beat the butter until soft and add the icing sugar and cream. Mix together until light and fluffy. You may add extra cream if necessary.

Mix in the rest of the crushed oreo cookies with a spoon and spread over the cooled brownies.

Makes 15 - 20 oreo brownies

Churros (a spanish doughnut)

Introduction

Churros is a bit like doughnuts, in that the recipe is very similar, but instead of a pre-formed shape, Churros is piped into hot oil and thus takes the profile of the piping nozzle. Churros is traditionally served hot at breakfast and made to order, with thick hot chocolate. For those like me, it will fill you up and you are likely to leave lunch until the late afternoon.

Ingredients

Olive oil for frying

Vanilla caster sugar and icing sugar for dusting

Dough:

100g self-raising flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

55g butter

3-4 eggs, beaten

Method

Gently heat the butter in 175ml of water until the butter has melted, then bring quickly to the boil. Immediately remove from the heat and quickly add the flour in one go and beat vigorously until smooth. Return to the heat for around 30 seconds, still beating. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Gradually beat in the eggs until mixture is a smooth, thick glossy paste.

Using a deep fat fryer or a deep frying pan, heat the oil to the point that a drop of dough mixture, when dropped in, will rise to the top and fry rapidly (around 190 oC).

Spoon the dough mixture into a piping bag, with a nozzle of choice (ideally no wider than 1 cm) and pipe a length of mixture into the hot oil, using a knife to cut off the mixture at the required length. Be adventurous in the shapes formed with each length: spirals, rings even horseshoe shapes. Fry for about 3 minutes, turning over once, until golden brown. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to drain off the excess oil and dust with the sugar mixture. Serve hot.

Arroz con Pollo (Chicken and Rice)

Background

Arroz con Pollo is a typical spanish dish, you could say it's a staple dish for a spanish family, and is commonly found in spanish restaurants. This dish should really be seen as the foundation on which to build up on, adding a wide range of ingredients to create ever exotic dishes. Spain's best export, Paella, shares this same foundation adding various seafood like squid, mussels and prawns, but the composition can change depending on the region.

It goes without saying that the perfect accompany with this dish, and dishes derived from it, is a good ice-cold Jerez sherry, a dry Fino or an amontillado. If sherry is too much for your palette, it is around 20% alcohol by volume, then a regular dry white wine will suffice.

Ingredients

1 Spanish Onion (finely chopped)

2 Cloves of Garlic

4 Large Chicken Breasts (halved) or Chicken legs

1 Large Red Peppers

1 Tablespoon of Paprika (smoked or normal)

1 Teaspoon Turmeric

1 Can of chopped tomatoes

350g Risotto rice (paella rice, arborio rice)

1/4 Teaspoon Saffron threads, crushed

1 1/2 Chicken Stock

150g Frozen Peas

Method

Using a large flat frying pan, cook the chicken in a little oil for around 10 minutes, until golden brown all over. Remove and set aside. Add the onion, garlic and pepper to the pan and gently cook for around 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft but not burnt. Stir in the paprika and slowly add the tomatoes over a medium heat.

Add the rice to the pan and on top of the rice add the turmeric and slowly pour in the stock. Quickly bring the mixture to the boil and add the saffron. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer until the rice is just tender and the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Add the peas. Once cooked, remove for the heat and cover and leave for about 5-10 minutes for the rice to re-absorb the liquid.

Variations

This dish works particularly well with spain's finest meats, like Chorzio sausage and Serrano ham. For a seafood variation, prawns and other things that swim in the sea can be added. Because these ingredients are quite delicate and so could become ruined during the cooking of the rice, its best to add them after the rice has been added and when the dish is simmering.

Experiment! try different ingredients like broad beans and different seasoning.

If you are drinking a good Jerez sherry to accompany this dish, then one common variation that works well with seafood, is to add a splash of sherry to the stock during cooking. The salty taste in the sherry adds that 'seafood' taste to the dish.

WANTED!

I have had a particular request for cup cake recipes from a friend who got a cup cake maker for Christmas. Any out there, especially if unusual...

Tea Loaf

this is a weightwatchers recipe which can be adapted to normal, non calorie counting members of the population with the addition of a thick layer of butter on each slice...

take
125g brown sugar
125g mixed fruit
250 ml cold tea
soak the above overnight (or, if in a hurry, just stir together)
add 
300g self raising flour
1 beaten egg
and mix well together
bake for 1hour, 15 mins
at 160 degrees C/320 degrees F/433 Kelvin/Gas Mark3 in a 2lb loaf tin (silicon one is best)

This freezes very well, but if in the vicinity of any bods, won't last long as very more-ish. It can be easily adapted by adding different fruits, nuts etc.... If any STU readers do this please add variations in the feedback. That is asuming there are people out there reading? Still looking for contributors...

New postings

Good films corner. You know fairly wholesome ones that aren't kiddies but not an 18.

Breakfast Munching Muffins

useful if you always end up going out the door without breakfast in your tum cos you're running late...

100g/4 oz ready to eat apricots, chopped
4 tbs orange juice
2 large eggs
142ml carton soured cream
100 ml/3 1/2 fl oz sunflower oil
85g/3oz golden caster sugar
300g/10oz self raising flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
50g/2oz crunchy muesli
12 heaped tsp marmalade

FOR THE TOPPING
50g/2 oz light muscovado sugar
2 tbs sunflower oil
50g/2 oz crunchy muesli

1) preheat oven to 190 c/gas mark 5/ fan oven 170 c
2) beat eggs, mix in soured cream, oil and sugar. stir into the apricot mixture. put the flour, baking powder and muesli in a large bowl, then gently stir in the apricot mixture. don' t overmix.
3) spoon into 12 muffin cases.dip thumb in a little flour, then make a deep thumbprint in each muffin. fill with marmalade.
4) combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over top of muffins. bake for 25-30 mins until well risen and golden.