Chocolate Macaroons - April 10th 2011

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites
• 125g ground almonds/ almond meal (approx 1 cup)
• 125g icing sugar (approx 3/4 cup)
• 25g cocoa (approx 1/4 cup)
• 125g caster sugar

Method

1. Pulse almond meal, icing sugar and cocoa in food processor to a fine powder
2. Sift mixture into large bowl
3. Place egg whites and half of caster sugar into mixer and beat on low/ medium 
4. After 2mins increase speed and gradually add the rest of the sugar until dissolved
5. Gently fold almond mixture into egg whites until smooth and glossy and lava like consistency
6. Fill piping bag with mixture and pipe into rounds from centre onto lined baking trays
7. Tap the trays on bench to get rid of any air bubbles
8. Leave to sit on bench to form skin for 30mins, mixture should spread out into smooth and glossy consistency
9. Bake at 160 degrees celcius for 12-14mins (more like 20-25mins) or until glossy and firm to touch
10. Cool slightly before removing and piping filling

Ganache Filling Recipe

• Add dark chocolate and some cream to bain marie and melt together until smooth (approx 2 parts chocolate to 1 part cream)
• Allow to cool on bench and then use to fill macaroon shells together
• Place a small dollop of ganache into centre of macaroon and place macaroon shells together and twist to spread ganache evenly

Pumpkin Risotto* - 9th of April 2011

Ingredients

• 1 cup arborio rice
• Half a pumpkin, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• Garlic Cloves, crushed
• Thyme (dried or fresh)
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock (Gluten Free Vegetable stock)
• Grated parmesan
• Parsley, chopped

Method

1. Heat stock and keep warm

2. Fry onions with garlic on low heat

1. 3. Add rice and finely chopped rosemary and stir 'til rice is opaque

1. 4. Add wine and stir until absorbed

5. Add a ladleful of stock, wait 'til absorbed and continue adding until all stock is absorbed (approx 20mins)

6. Meanwhile, dice up pumpkin and fry in pan with some garlic, and sprigs of rosemary and thyme, put in oven to continue to cook

7. Add pumpkin to risotto once all stock has absorbed and stir through

8. Add lemon juice

9. Turn off heat and add parmesan and stir through 'til melted and stir in the parsley 

10. Serve with extra parmesan and a garnish of parsley

Tzatziki - 2nd of April 2011

Ingredients

• 2 x 175g tubs natural no-fat yoghurt
• 2 Lebanese cucumbers, deseeded, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 lemon, rind finely grated, juiced
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Handful of mint, chopped

Method

1. Combine yoghurt, cucumber, garlic, lemon rind, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, lemon pepper, mint and salt in a bowl. Cover. Refrigerate until required.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/7953/tzatziki
   
   
   
   

Hummus - 2nd of April

Ingredients

• 600g canned chickpeas, drained, rinsed
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 100ml olive oil
• 2 tbs tahini paste
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Juice of 1 lemon 

Method

1. Put all ingredients in food processor and pulse until combined
2. Add some water and pulse again
3. Serve with bread

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/5103/hummus

Raspberry Spiked Chocolate Brownie - 2nd of April 2011

Raspberry Spiked Chocolate Brownie

from Donna Hay's Chocolate, Simple Essentials 

Ingredients

• 200g (7 oz) Dark Chocolate, chopped
• 250g (8 oz) Butter
• 1 3/4 Cups (250g/ 7 1/4 oz) Brown Sugar
• 4 Eggs
• 1 1/3 Cups (200g/ 7 oz) Plain Flour
• 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/3 Cup (40g/ 1 1/2 oz) Cocoa Powder, Sifted
• 1 1/2 Cups Raspberries, fresh or frozen

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius

2. Melt chocolate and butter in small saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth

3. Place in a bowl the sugar and eggs

4. Sift over flour, baking powder and cocoa and mix to combine

(or mix through the raspberries)

5. Pour mixture into 23cm (9 inch) greased and lined (baking paper) cake tin

6. Top the mixture with raspberries (If using frozen raspberries, there is no need to defrost them)

7. Bake for 45mins or until set (Brownies should be very fudgy in the middle)

8. Slice and dust with icing sugar to serve

Elise's Famous Double Choc Chip Cookies

Double Choc Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

125grams of butter, cubed, salted

1/3 Cup Crunchy Peanut Butter

1 Cup lightly packed Brown Sugar

1 egg (at room temperature)

1/2 Cup Plain Flour, Sifted

1/4 Cup Baking Cocoa

3/4 Cup Self Raising Flour, Sifted

250grams Nestle Dark Chocolate Bits/Chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 Degrees Celcius

Cream Butter (I usually soften it in the microwave a bit, but do not fullt melt it), peanut butter and brown sugar together until combined.

Add egg and mix well. (I always take the egg straight from the fridge it doesn't matter).

Stir in combined, sifted, baking cocoa, plain and self raising flour. Add the chocolate bits and mix well.

Use spoon to make cookies on cooking tray (you can make them small, mum likes them smaller, but I like the larger cookies)

Bake for 12 mins

Donna Hay Double Choc Chip Cookies

Double Choc Chip Cookies
From Donna Hay's "Simple Essentials: Chocolate" Cookbook

Ingredients:
110g Unsalted Butter, softened
3/4 Cup (130g) Brown Sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 cup (150g) Plain Flour
1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder, Sifted
1 teaspoon Bicarbonate Soda (Baking Soda)
125g Dark Chocolate, melted
280g Dark Chocolate (Chips or Block, chopped), extra, roughly chopped

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius
2. Beat butter and sugar in electric mixer for 8-10mins or until light and creamy (approx 5mins)
3. Add egg and vanilla and beat for a further 3-4mins
4. Stir through flour, cocoa, bicarb, and melted chocolate
5. Add chopped chocolate or choc bits in and stir through
6. Put teaspoonfuls of mixture onto baking paper lined trays (approx 3 trays)
7. Bake for 10-12mins (14mins approx), or until slight cracks form
8. Cool on wire racks

Makes approximately 24 average sized cookies

Note:

This recipe is designed to make giant sized cookies, so there is a lot of mixture, so you can make either giant sized cookies or lots of normal sized cookies