Coconut carrot cake recipe, mmm... scrumptious!

I had some almonds and hazelnuts leftover from the chocolate cake I made almost a month and a half ago so I'd been thinking of baking another since then. Those of you who are following this blog and my Twitter account would probably have heard of (and seen) my healthy carrot cake recipe, so I thought I'd try to vary it a little and make it somewhat naughtier!

So, here goes.

Ingredients:

200g corn oil (you can use any vegetable oil or if you can handle the cholesterol, butter)

200g brown sugar (you can reduce this a little if you wish, to about 150-175g)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

4 small eggs (approximately 55g each)

200g wholemeal flour

2 teaspoons (10g) baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

50g dessicated coconut

200g carrots, grated

1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves

150g almond-hazelnut mix, grounded

Procedure:

1. Heat the oven to 180ºC and grease a cake tin with butter or oil.
2. Pour the corn oil into a large bowl. If using butter, melt it gently and leave to cool before pouring it in.
3. Stir in the sugar, vanilla essence, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and the dessicated coconut.
4. Mix it well.
5. Add in the grated carrots, spices and the nuts.
6. Blend it all thoroughly.
7. Pour the mixture into the greased cake tin.
8. Bake on a lower rack at 180ºC for about 40 minutes.
9. Turn off the oven and leave the cake in there for a further 10 minutes.
10. If an inserted skewer comes out clean, it's done.
11. Leave to cool.
12. When cool, slide a thin spatula along the edges to loosen the cake before attempting to remove it from the mould.

This turned out really good. My son thinks it's the best carrot cake I've done!

Enjoy!

  

Broken legs in Andorra, aka To Hell with Cholesterol!

Broken legs in Andorra? Yeah, that's Cockney rhyming slang for broken eggs with chistorra, and yeah, I've just invented that, the slang, I mean. :-)

Cheese-toh-what? Well, that's a type of sausage that hails from Navarre, in the north of Spain. Wikipedia tells the story better than I can, although my images are better. And the Spanish will tell you I haven't got a grandmother. :-)

Broken eggs is a literal translation of "huevos rotos"; the recipe being "Huevos rotos con patatas y chistorra". The recipe I'm publishing here wasn't copied from anywhere else; I've sampled (or stuffed my face with, depending on who's saying it) the dish in restaurants several times, and it doesn't look too complicated. The advantage of doing it yourself is that you can do it the way you like! This post is dedicated especially to Phil Wade, a sucker for fry-ups!

Ingredients:

Measurements are approximate (I use my eyes more than the scales) and are given for 1 abundant portion (with leftover for supper); multiply accordingly by the number of portions you want to prepare for.

600g potatoes

50g chistorra

3 eggs

oil for frying and 1 tablespoon of olive oil

sea salt

1.   Prepare all the ingredients. Slice the chistorra thinly. Wash, peel and cut the potatoes into long pieces (chip-shaped). Soak them in water. Drain them before frying.

2.  Place the sliced chistorra on the frying pan without any oil. Heat it over a small to medium flame and watch the fat ooze out! Lovely! Tip: Occasionally, scoop the excess oil and pour it into your deep-fryer. I like the sausage really well done, i.e. melt as much fat away as possible.

3.  Heat abundant oil in a deep frying pan, or a deep-fryer, if you have one. When it's hot enough (when you see steam floating up), put the potatoes in. Watch your hands! Occasionally, turn them over. You'd want the chips to be done, but not too done, or they'll be too dry.

4.  At the same time, heat a tablespoon of olive oil (if you can afford it) over a small frying pan. Heat it on a lowish flame (on my glass ceramic induction hob, I do it on mark 4). Break the eggs into the pan gently, avoiding breaking the yolks. You want them sunny-side up, and you want them slightly under-cooked. The heat of the chips will cook them further.

5.  What you're aiming for is for the three ingredients to be ready in about the same time. Practice makes perfect! When they're done, place the chips onto a deep bowl. A mini-wok is great. Sprinkle a little (only a little) sea salt over the chips. Add the chistorra. Tip the eggs over this mix, oil and all.

6.  With two forks, start breaking the egg yolks roughly, and toss the mixture. Serve immediately, straight from the bowl with some warm sliced baguette, if you wish.

7.  However, if you're one of the finer creatures on this earth, or your guests are, you can dish it onto a plate, like this.

Enjoy! The photos are available from ELTPics, or with a reasonable fee, you can have the higher resolution versions to adorn your greasy café! ;-)

Banana and Walnut Cake Recipe

It's been quite some time since the last recipe; so, taking into account this, plus thousands have gone to the IATEFL event in Brighton, plus I had been given more bananas than I could eat, I came up with this recipe.

Ingredients

250g flour

100g walnuts

5g baking soda

pinch of salt

125g butter

100g brown sugar

2 large eggs

5-6 bananas (about 300g)

Procedure

1. Pre-heat oven to 175ºC.
2. Ground walnuts coarsely.
3. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, walnuts, baking soda and salt.
4. Soften the butter (a few seconds in the microwave will be sufficient or, if you prefer, do it au bain-marie.
5. Add the sugar and mix with a whisk.
6. Add the eggs, and carry on whisking.
7. Add the bananas. If they are firm, mash them prior to adding; if they're ripe, you can mash them with the whisk. Mix well.
8. Add a little flour to this mix, and stir well. Carry on this process until all the flour has been added.
9. Now, add the dry ingredients. Mix again.
10. Pour the mixture onto a greased baking tin (I like to use the rectangular one for this recipe).
11. Bake at 175ºC for about 45 minutes. As usual, baking time much depends on your oven. It's ready when you poke a cake tester through the centre of it, and it comes out clean.
12. Remove and leave to cool.
13. Eat and enjoy with a nice cuppa!

Related posts:

Cooking Verbs

Devil in Disguise

Soft & Fluffy Chocolate Mousse

Succulent Brownies

Tender Roast Lamb with Baked Apples

It's been quite some time since I published a recipe, so today's a good time as any. I'd originally wanted to do it over Christmas, but since I didn't have a computer then, I put it off.

 

Ingredients:

2 shoulders of lamb (about 2 kg)
Rosemary sprigs
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
1 teaspoon cornflour

You can use leg of lamb, if you prefer. Legs have more meat, but shoulders are tastier.

The first thing to do is to heat the oven to maximum (normally about 230ºC).

Place a few rosemary sprigs and some garlic cloves at the bottom of an oven tray. Make sure the tray is deep enough to collect the juices which will be formed - see image below. Roughly slit the fatty side of the lamb. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Place more rosemary sprigs and garlic cloves on top of the meat.

Completely cover the tray with aluminium foil. Place it in the oven, reducing the temperature immediately to 175ºC.

Then, you can put your feet up, watch a film, read a book, or even take a walk!

Come back 4 hours later, and you will find incredibly tender and succulent lamb that melts in your mouth.

 

Remove the rosemary and the garlic from the lamb, and transfer the latter to a serving dish. Strain the juice onto a saucepan. Place a teaspoon of cornflour in a cup. Pour in a little cold water and stir to dissolve. Pour in this mixture into the saucepan, stirring constantly. Serve it with the lamb.

If you need more gravy, you can add some stock (chicken or vegetable) or, if you prefer, red wine. I generally find there to be enough gravy, without needing to add more liquid.

As a side dish, I usually roast some potatoes and sweet potatoes, as seen in the picture below. 

Sometimes, I include a baked apple.

Baking apples are easy. For baking, green apples are better than red.

Scoop out the core of the apples. Try not to cut all the way through. Put a pinch of brown sugar, a little butter, and a dash of brandy or apple liqueur into this "hole". Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 175ºC for about 25 minutes.

Another excellent way of serving this lamb is with couscous. Try it!

The image of the cooked lamb you see above was actually taken after 3 1/2 hours of cooking - it was getting too late for lunch!

Soft & Fluffy Chocolate Mousse Recipe

Image by Chiew Pang

It's quite amazing how much terrible Chocolate mousse I have tasted considering it is such a simple recipe! At least mine is. A good mousse should be soft and fluffy, yet firm, not runny.

Ingredients:

Egg whites (one to one-and-a-half egg per person)

30-40g of dark chocolate (50% cocoa) per person

And, that's it!

1. Melt the chocolate in a medium-sized bowl (au bain-marie or in the microwave). If you're doing it in the microwave, 30-40 seconds ought to be enough. Don't overdo it. It should be slightly lumpy - stir the warm chocolate to dissolve the lumps. In any case, I like to leave traces of small lumps of chocolate.

2. Mount the egg whites until soft peaks form.

3. Fold the whites into the melted chocolate, a little at a time.

4. Scoop the mixture into ramekins or wine glasses. If you wish, garnish the mousse with a walnut or hazelnut in the middle.

5. Leave them in the fridge to cool, preferably overnight.

See? No cream, no yolks, no sugar, no frills and fancy! Just whites and chocolate for the perfect mousse. The simple test for a mousse is to invert the ramekin. If the mousse stays in place, it's ready. If it makes a mess, ouch!

In Livebinders:    Death by Chocolate
    

Dying for chocolate? Here's one cake to die for!

I'm surrounded by chocoholics, so every now and then, I like to come up with an invention or an adaptation or two. I baked this for my son's 12th birthday and christened it 'Devil in Disguise'. It's similar in taste and texture to my brownies, but yet subtly different. For one thing, it doesn't use flour. Here's the recipe.

Don't forget to look at this post, too: Cooking Verbs

Ingredients:

(Note that weights are approximate as my weighing machine has gone a little loopy!)

5 eggs

200g dark chocolate

150g sugar

200g butter

100g hazelnuts

100g almonds

Procedure:

1. Melt the butter together with the chocolate in a bowl. Mix it well and let it cool.

2. Separate the egg whites from the yolk.

3. Whisk the yolks with the sugar until it's creamy and almost white.

4. Ground the hazelnuts and almonds together. I like to leave them a little coarse, so I can feel my teeth grinding into them!

5. Add the nuts to the yolk mixture. Mix well. Pour and mix in the melted chocolate.

6. Mount the egg whites in a bowl until stiff. Remember to avoid any fat (including the yolk) from getting into the bowl. The presence of fat will prevent the whites from ever mounting.

7. Fold the whites into this mixture, little by little.

8. Grease a cake mould, and pour the mixture into it with TLC.

9. Now, here comes the trick of the devil. Cover the mould with aluminium foil. Place the mould on an oven tray and pour a couple of glasses of water onto the tray. What we're doing here is effectively baking it à la bain-marie. The foil keeps the moisture in, so you won't end up with a dry chocolate cake, like most are.

10. Bake it in a pre-heated oven at 175ºC for about one and a half hour.

11. Remove it to cool.

12. Enjoy it!

If you do make it, let me know how it went, and send me some photos!

Tip: When having it from the fridge, take it out about an hour before consumption, unless you like yours hard. ;-)

Food, Glorious Food: Cooking Verbs - do you know the difference between bake & roast?

So, do you know the difference between roasting and baking?

It actually hasn't got a straightforward answer. Traditionally speaking, we use roasting for meats such as pork, beef, lamb, chicken, etc. and baking for foods such as potatoes, cakes, and fish.

In the old days, fatty meat is cooked on a spit over an open fire, while the drier stuff can be baked in a bread oven, hence the usage of these different terms.

It could also be related to the origins of the words. If you look at the origin of many English words, you'll find that food associated with poor people have their origins in Old English, while those associated with the rich originated from French (the upper class spoke French). Likewise, roast comes from the French word, rostir but bake comes from the Old English word, bacan.

So, while the rich ate beef, the poor ate bread and potatoes. And, did the poor eat fish? Well, that's for you to find out, and post your findings in the comments section below!

Now, listen to Weird Al Yankovic's parody of Michael Jackson's Beat It, and try to fill in the missing gaps. Then, do some, if not all, of the various activities (including crossword, word search, labelling game, and quiz) which follow.

"Eat It"

How come you're always such a fussy young man
Don't want no Captain Crunch, don't want no Raisin Bran
Well, don't you know that other kids are starving in Japan
So eat it, just eat it

Don't want to argue, I don't want to debate
Don't want to hear about what kind of ____ you hate
You won't get no dessert 'till you clean off your plate
So eat it

Don't you tell me you're full
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Get yourself an ____ and ____ it
Have some more chicken, have some more pie
It doesn't matter if it's ____ or ____
Just eat it, eat it, just eat it, eat it
Just eat it, eat it, just eat it, eat it, ooh

Your table manners are a cryin' shame
You're playin' with your ____, this ain't some kind of game
Now, if you starve to death, you'll just have yourself to blame
So eat it, just eat it

You better listen, better do what you're told
You haven't even touched your ____ casserole
You better chow down or it's gonna get cold
So eat it

I don't care if you're full
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Open up your mouth and feed it
Have some more ____, have some more spam
It doesn't matter if it's ____ or canned
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Don't you make me repeat it
Have a banana, have a whole bunch
It doesn't matter what you had for ____
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it

Eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
If it's gettin' cold, reheat it
Have a big ____, have a light ____
If you don't like it, you can't send it back
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Get yourself an ____ and ____ it (oh lord)
Have some more chicken, have some more pie
It doesn't matter if it's ____ or ____
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it

Click on the image below to start the labelling game.

Cooking Verbs Crossword

View more documents from Chiew Pang.

Cooking Verbs Word Search

View more documents from Chiew Pang.

Nathan Grimm from Guide to Culinary Schools told me about an article his site has just published: 101 Best Cooking Videos. So, if you want to try some new recipes or learn some new tricks, check it out!

It's been brought to my attention that I haven't uploaded the keys. That has now been rectified. The keys are available in both Slideshare and Scribd.

How to make Finger-Licking Succulent Chocolate Brownies!

Each time I make this, I get inundated (well, I do like a bit of exaggeration here and there!) with requests for the recipe, so I've decided to publish it here. It's a very simple recipe, and doesn't need much elaboration at all. If you follow my instructions to the letter, I'll guarantee that you'll be the toast of the party!

Don't forget to look at this post, too: Cooking Verbs

Ingredients:

200g dark chocolate (I use Nestlé dessert chocolate)
150g brown sugar
150g butter
150g wholemealflour (can be 75g white & 75g wholemeal)
150g walnuts, coarsely grounded
4 eggs
pinch of salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
vanilla essence (optional)
icing sugar

Procedure:

1. Melt chocolate together with the butter (à la bain-marie or in the microwave) in a fairly large mixing bowl. Let it cool a little.

2. Add sugar to this chocolate mixture, followed by the eggs and the salt. Mix well with a spatula. There isn't any need to beat or whisk the mixture.

3. Add the bicarbonate of soda to the flour and sieve them into the bowl, mixing continually. Add the walnuts and the vanilla essence.

4. Pour into a greased rectangular mould y bake in a preheated oven @ 175ºC for 30 mins.

Tip: maintain moisture in the oven by adding a small bowl of water.

5. Remove the mould from the oven and let it cool for several hours.

6. At this stage, the outside will be crusty, but the inside will be soft, almost uncooked. So, wait till it has cooled down sufficiently, then place it in the fridge. I normally leave it in the fridge overnight, but if you're in a hurry, several hours of refrigeration ought to be enough to solidify the middle a little.

7. Remove the cake from the mould, cut into small squares & sprinkle with icing sugar. Serve and bask in your newfound glory!

Do let me know of the outcome when you've tried it!

Recipe time! Family favourite - butter chicken with orange sauce

We all know recipes are an enriching way to learn imperatives, so here I'd like to share a recipe of a simple dish which everyone who has tried it has told me how much they liked it. Then, it's your turn to practise your imperatives by emailing me one of your favourites and who knows, it may get published here!

Butter Chicken With Orange Sauce

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 tablespoon cornflour
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
Juice of 2 oranges
some butter
some olive oil
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
some raisins or other dried fruit

Instructions:

- Cut the breast lengthwise, about 3cm wide. Here, in Las Palmas, Mercadona sells it pre-cut (they call it "solomillo de pollo").
- Season the pieces with salt and pepper.
- On a plate, mix the 2 types of flour together.
- Coat the pieces of chicken with this mix.

- In a frying pan, heat a knob of butter and some olive oil.
- Dip the chicken pieces, one by one, into the beaten egg and shallow fry them in the pan on a medium-low heat (as a guide, mark 4 / 9). If the pieces are quite thick, you may have to fry them on the side a little to make sure the inside gets cooked.

- When they are golden brown, turn them over.
- I've never timed it, but I guess it'll take about 3-5 mins per side. Cooking is an art, so go with your gut feeling!
- While the chicken is being fried, grate or thinly cut some peel of an orange. Avoid the white part (called pith), as this will make the sauce bitter.
- Chop the peel into small pieces.
- Cut the oranges into halves, and squeeze them for juice.
- In a small saucepan, heat a little butter on a slow flame.
- Add a teaspoon of brown sugar.
- Since orange juice is rather sour, to avoid putting too much sugar, I normally add some dried fruit. I often use raisins as they are cheap and I always have some in the kitchen, but you can use your favourite, or leave it out altogether.
- Stir for a few seconds, then add the juice, but keep a little of the juice aside.
- Don't forget the chicken!
- Keep the juice on the fire while you tend to the chicken.
- Put 2 teaspoons of cornflour in a small cup. Add the remaining juice, a little at a time, stirring constantly.
- When the flour is completely dissolved, add it to the juice in the saucepan, again stirring it constantly. If you don't, it may get lumpy.
- Keep it on the fire until it thickens to a consistency you like.
- By now, the chicken ought to be cooked. Remove them to a plate.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken.

- You can serve it with a refreshing salad, some boiled potatoes and carrots, or whatever takes your fancy!
- Wallow in the compliments your guests will shower you with!

Giant stuffed courgettes

Have you seen a courgette (US: zucchini) of this size?

Pilar, my wife, brought it back the other day, saying that Chago had given it to us.

Must be the biggest I've ever laid eyes on!

So, what do I do with it?

Well, those who know me know that I'm the kind who opens the fridge and see what's in there, then decide what to cook! So, here is what I came up with.

Ingredients:
1 giant courgette
250g minced pork
100g mushrooms, washed & drained, diced
50g breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
some cheese
olive oil
salt & pepper
fresh coriander leaves, roughly cut
Procedure:
Put some oil in a frying pan.
Stir fry the onion, red pepper and garlic with some salt. I like my onions and red pepper well done, so I cook it until they're tender.
Add the minced pork. Toss it before adding the mushrooms.
Cut the courgette through the middle, lengthwise.
Scoop the flesh from the courgette and add it to the frying pan.
When the mix is fairly done, add the breadcrumbs, then the egg.
Turn the fire off.
Add some cheese (roughly broken up) and the coriander.
Add salt & pepper to taste.
It's advisable to salt the shells slightly because they're somewhat bitter.
Scoop the mixture into the empty courgette shells.
Top with some grated mozzarella cheese.
Place the courgette on an aluminium tray (greased with a little oil), and bake in a pre-heated oven @ 175ºC for 30 mins.

I served this with some spaghetti, which I tossed with some olive oil, chopped garlic and mushrooms.

Try it, and let me know!