Reese's Pieces Chocolate Brownies

Once a month I spend the best part of a day (and evening) at a design agency we use to produce a particular project. We sit with the designers while they make our final changes, tweak the layout and so on – the last time I was there, we didn’t finish until late in the evening so a colleague and I went to grab a burger at Five Guys. This time around I was going prepared- with snacks! It’s always nice to find other people to bake for, as it can get a bit much taking cakes into work too often. But I was out until 10pm the night before on my cake decorating class, and wondered what I could possibly throw together in less than an hour, that would also be easy to pack into Tupperware and take with me the next day. The answer of course is chocolate brownies!

I’ve made enough brownies before that I wanted to do something a bit different this time. I had the idea of Mini Egg Brownies as we are coming up to Easter, but while the supermarket was full of Easter eggs, I couldn’t find a single packet of Mini Eggs. Perhaps I will make those a bit nearer to Easter! So I got home with the main ingredients for the brownies but nothing extra to add in, and cast my eye around the house – it fell upon a jar of Reece’s Pieces mini  peanut butter cups, nestling behind the Kitchenaid (out of sight otherwise I’m sure I would have eaten them by now!). I knew that would work and debated just throwing them into a basic brownie recipe but then decided to see if Hershey’s – the maker of Reese’s – had a recipe on their website. And they had plenty, some of which I have bookmarked to come back to!

I used this recipe but changed it a bit – I didn’t add the extra layer of peanut butter on top, as I thought it might be a bit much (I didn’t know if many people at the design agency were peanut butter fans – my boyfriend for instance doesn’t really like it) and rather than using the miniature peanut butter cups and sprinkling them throughout the mixture, I used whole ones pressed down in the tin in rows. I think with all those changes I can call this

Reese's Pieces Chocolate Brownies - an original recipe by Caroline Makes...

You need:

1/2 cup butter or margarine

2 cups caster sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

4 eggs

3/4 cup self-raising flour

approx. 16-20 Reese's Pieces peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a square brownie tin.

Melt the butter in a small pan over the low heat; add the sugar and cocoa powder and stir gently until the sugar has dissolved and you have a thick chocolate mixture. Remove from the heat.

Transfer to a bowl and beat in the eggs then fold in the flour.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Unwrap the Reese's Pieces peanut butter cups and gently press down into the mixture in rows.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes then allow to cool.

Use the position of the Reese's Pieces to show where to cut into squares. You can see they have roughly held their shape and you can definitely spot them inside the brownies.

These tasted very good - the peanut butter gave a salty yet sweet contrast to the rest of the brownie. These went down very well with the agency!

I'm sharing these with We Should Cocoa, as the theme this month is chocolate brownies. The challenge is hosted this month by Katie at Recipe for Perfection on behalf of Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog.

Slimming World Fakeaway Chinese New Year Meal

 

 

Happy Chinese New Year! It’s the year of the goat or sheep, which means it should be an important year for people born in 1979 such as myself!

 

I wasn’t specifically planning to celebrate Chinese new year but we were having some people over to dinner and it seemed a good opportunity to make Chinese food. At least, if you ignore the fact that one person doesn’t really like Chinese food (though he’s so fussy there isn’t much he likes, which makes dinner parties hard!), one was vegetarian, two don’t really eat vegetarian food (being big meat eaters and quite picky about vegetables) and the other two eat pretty much anything.

 

Despite all that I thought I could make a few variations on the same dish to keep everyone happy. I’ve got a great Slimming World recipe book called ‘Fakeaway’ – i.e. how to fake your favourite takeaways and make them much healthier. Chinese food isn’t as unhealthy as some anyway – there are a few dishes like duck which are fatty, and if you go to a takeaway that does deep-fried sweet and sour balls (yum!) that will rack up the calories, but a lot of Chinese restaurants do a more upmarket sweet-and-sour dish which doesn’t involve batter and the deep fat fryer. At the same time, you need to watch the oil and the fattening sauces when you are stir-frying (not to mention the prawn crackers!).

 

I picked a few recipes from the book and spent a good half hour chopping, preparing, mixing sauces and marinating meat. I lined everything up in rows so I knew which ingredients were for which dish – you can see here them all ready to go!

 

First of all I made chicken chow mein. Mix soy sauce, Chinese rice vinegar, garlic, ginger and five spice powder in a bowl and coat 1 chopped chicken breast per person. Leave to marinade for 20 minutes.

Stir-fry with Fry Light until the chicken is cooked, then add the vegetables to the pan: julienned carrot, sliced mangetout, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots (unfortunately I couldn't get hold of either of those so had to leave them out), sliced red pepper, baby sweetcorn (though the supermarket had sold out of that too), sliced spring onions, beansprouts and finally I added a whole bag of straight-to-wok noodles.

 

 

Pour over 1 tbsp. oyster sauce mixed with 2 tbsp. soy sauce and 1/2 tsp oil and stir-fry until the vegetables have softened to your liking.

 

At the same time I made a dish called speedy vegetable noodles with tofu. Again make the sauce first, mixing soy sauce, garlic, ginger and five spice powder. Spray a wok or large frying pan with Fry Light and stir-fry mangetout, mushrooms (which I forgot to buy - not doing well here!), red pepper, spring onions, pak choi (left out as the vegetarian doesn't like it so I added courgette instead) and cubes of tofu. Add noodles, 1 tbsp. sweet chilli sauce and 2 tbsp. soy sauce and stir fry until cooked.

 

 

I cooked extra noodles and also decided to do egg fried rice, though this was less of a success. I used microwave rice to make my life easier so cooked that, then placed it in a saucepan with peas and spring onions, soy sauce and a beaten egg. But I got sidetracked speaking to my guests and the rice started to stick a bit on the bottom of the pan! It wasn't too bad when it came to serving at least.

 

 

 

Finally for my boyfriend who doesn't like stir fry I made chicken satay, from a recipe on the Slimming World website. Marinade one diced chicken breast per person in a mixture of soy sauce, sweetener, garlic and ground cumin and when you are ready to cook, just fry the chicken in Fry Light.

 

 

Make the sauce in another pan: you need peanut butter, water, garlic, sweetener, soy sauce and fromage frais. Simmer until the mixture thickens and serve with the chicken - I thought this tasted really good and luckily so did my fussy boyfriend!

 

I had some lovely sets of chopsticks I bought in Kuala Lumpur and some fan-shaped paper napkins; the prawn crackers were put out in bowls for the guests to nibble on while I finished cooking and we had quite a feast!

 

 

 

 

 

 

As this is a really healthy meal I'm sharing this with the Spice Trail challenge, which has as its theme this month 'temple food'. The challenge is hosted by Vanesther at Bangers & Mash.

 

As I used courgette in the vegetarian dish I can send this to Anyone Can Cook, this month hosted by Catherine at Cates Cates as the theme is zucchini and marrows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Restaurant Review: Formal Hall, Christ's College Cambridge

Christ's College Cambridge

This is a bit of an unfair review since the vast majority of my readers will not be able to go to this particular restaurant – it’s so exclusive it doesn’t take bookings from the general public. No, it’s not the Chiltern Firehouse – in fact it’s technically not a restaurant at all, but the formal dining hall at my Cambridge college.

 

I had probably the best three years of my life at Christ’s College, Cambridge, where I studied modern and medieval languages and spent most of my free time at bops (basically discos – the one at Queen’s college was particularly good as it played cheesy music whereas the Ents (entertainment) manager at Christ’s at that time had a preference for drum and base), in the Late Night Bar (the second of two bars in my college – for reasons I won’t go into here, one closed at 8.30 and the other opened at 9), in my room reading and writing essays, or in the offices of the student newspaper which we launched as a rival to the long-standing Varsity – I’m pleased to say The Cambridge Student (TCS) has won awards and is still going strong today.

The Cambridge Student newspaper

 

As a graduate and lifetime member of the college, I’m allowed to go back to formal hall a couple of times a year, and dine at High Table with the Fellows. Formal hall was a fairly raucous affair when I was an undergraduate as you were permitted to take a bottle of wine (each – though that was later changed to one between two). The college had a normal self-service canteen, but also the formal dining hall. Seated below  portraits of the college’s founder and other dignitaries, we were treated – for a measly sum – to pretty much the same food we’d have got in the self-service canteen, but three courses and coffee and with waiter service. And, as I said, the wine.

 

If ‘boatraces’ and ‘pennying’ mean nothing to you then you’ve obviously never had dinner in a Cambridge college. But we’re all grown up now and wouldn’t dream of such a thing ;-)  As my boyfriend had never been to Cambridge, I thought it was about time I took him back to the city where I spent such important years of my life – the student rag turned into a job on a national daily newspaper and some of my closest friends today are from Christ's – and show him around.

 

He often jokes about me having attended Hogwarts and asks if I chose Christ’s or the Sorting Hat chose it for me, so I couldn’t wait to find out what he thought of the college and its traditions. Certain things which I took for granted at the time strike me as highly unusual now – after all how many of my friends at other universities would toast the Queen after dinner?

 

I'm Batman! My college gown

Gowns are worn in formal hall – the black robes you see students at other universities only wearing on graduation. We had to wear ours quite a lot, formal hall being one place where they were mandatory. As a college member I was expected to wear my gown when going back to dine – luckily I had thought of this a little while ago and dug my gown out of the spare wardrobe in my parents house where it had been living.

I popped into the plodge (porter's lodge) as we arrived then went to the Senior Combination Room where the Fellows gather before dinner. We were dining with three Fellows, one of whom had taught two of my friends who were there as well, so it was a nice reunion.

Formal hall was just as I remembered but we had a different perspective looking across at the students - and, it turns out, the Fellows eat different food to the students. We had parsnip and apple soup to start, beef wellington for the main course and a trio of chocolate desserts, and then a cheeseboard as well. Grace was said in Latin at the start, but before we got to the port, the Fellows filed out of the back door of the hall and we followed. I vaguely remembered as a student that the Fellows would leave before we had finished dinner at which point the noise level would increase; what I didn't realise was that they were only in the room next door!

One of Christ's most famous alumni - no not Ali G... Charles Darwin

Port, soft drinks and then coffee was served while we were seated around a large table chatting to the Fellows about everything from the issue of student mental health to which rooms we had lived in college. And of course we did toast the Queen as well. It was a very enjoyable evening and great to be able to show my boyfriend what college life was like. If anyone reading this is thinking of applying to Cambridge, I can't recommend it enough! The traditions do seem a bit strange at times but they are just that - traditions. College life is more about learning, making friends, writing essays and discovering what you enjoy, be it a sports team, the student newspaper or in the case of one friend bellydancing - and whether you go to formal hall only once when your parents are visiting, or every week (they did a good Sunday roast!) it's up to you. And trust me, when you visit your old college 15+ years later, you'll be amazed at the things you took for granted and grateful you had the chance.

There's nothing I've written here that isn't already in the public domain but I didn't take photos inside formal hall to protect students' privacy.

Get Well Soon Hot Water Bottle Card

I made this for a friend who has had an operation on her foot; I also sent her these cookies in the post. I wanted to make a jazzy, fun card that would cheer her up and had previously bought this pack of Alphabet stickers from The Works for only 99p.

 

I used a dotty background as it was quite colourful but not overpowering and also had some plastic hot water bottles, meant as card toppers, which I had bought from Ebay a long time ago. Finally I used a hole punch in the shape of a foot to punch out some feet from coloured paper and stuck these on the card as well.

Meal Planning Monday 2015 - Week 8

We had a lovely long weekend in Cambridge - as well as a restaurant review I'm planning to tell you what it's like to eat at a formal hall in one of the university colleges. I missed my weigh in on Saturday so am going to have to be good this week, but I also missed the day I do my weekly supermarket shop! I'm going to pick up a few fresh things after work but don't want to have to carry groceries home every night so am also going to use up some of the stuff in the freezer.

Monday - giant filled Yorkshire puddings

Tuesday - Shrove Tuesday, and I'm not at my cake decorating class tonight as it's half term. I'm planning to make savoury pancakes for dinner and if we fancy it, sweet ones for dessert as well!

Wednesday - having guests for dinner but as I don't get home from work til 7 I needed something quick to cook. It's Chinese New Year soon so I'm using that to inspire a few different dishes, and using recipes from Slimming World.

Thursday - pizza from the freezer as it's quick and I need to make a birthday cake

Friday- again need something quick as I will be decorating the birthday cake, maybe gammon and chips or something my boyfriend can put in the oven and look after

Saturday lunch - sausage and egg McMuffins
dinner - at a friend's for her birthday

Sunday lunch - pub lunch with the Aston Martin Owners Club
dinner - not sure what time we will be back, so probably something from the freezer depending on what we have for lunch

Back on Your Feet Get Well Peanut Butter Cookies

 

 

One of my friends has had an operation on her foot and will be off work for some time. While she’s working her way through TV box sets I wanted to send her a ‘get well soon’ gift – and had the idea of cookies shaped like feet as a message that she will be back on her feet soon!

 

Cookies are also easier to package and post, and likely to keep longer, than sending cake or muffins.

 

Last year I came across a hot drink called Peanut Hottie, which is like hot chocolate, made from a powder – but it tastes of peanut butter! It is very sweet and not something I’d want every day (or even every week) but if you like peanut butter then I highly recommend it. I’m planning to try mixing it with cocoa powder to make a Reece’s Pieces style drink!

 

Because it’s a powder I immediately thought it would be good in baking, particularly in cookies where the addition of peanut butter would change the texture. If you are making sugar cookie dough to roll out and use with a biscuit cutter, it’s important your mixture isn’t too sticky. But I was bored with making plain biscuits; I was going to flavour them with matcha powder but realised my matcha was a year and a half out of date (and since it’s supposed to be green, I wouldn’t be able to tell if it was mouldy!) so threw that out and decided to make peanut butter flavour instead.

 

I used a basic sugar cookie recipe and added the Peanut Hottie, so this is

Peanut Butter Cookies - An original recipe by Caroline Makes

 

2 cups self-raising flour

pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup caster sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp. Peanut Hottie

 

 

 

      Preheat oven to 180C.

 

In a large bowl cream the butter and the sugar then beat in the egg. Fold in the flour, salt and Peanut Hottie and combine until you have a dough.

 

Refrigerate for half an hour then roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter and place on a lined baking sheet

 Bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes depending on the size of your cookies.

 

 

I used a foot-shaped cutter that came in three different sizes and decided that rather than decorate the cookies I would sandwich them together using a thin layer of Biscoff Lotus Biscuit Spread which is really yummy.

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then packaged up the cookies to send to my friend and happily they arrived in one piece, though she said the box was a little squashed!

 

 

I'm sending this to SupergoldenBakes for her Cook Blog Share linkup.

 

 

 

Lady and The Tramp-Inspired Oven-Baked Meatballs with Goat's Cheese

This month's Food 'n' Flix is a lovely Disney film: Lady and the Tramp. It was chosen by Elizabeth at The Lawyer's Cookbook and is perfect for Valentine's day. I must have been quite young when I first saw this film and thought it was lovely, and was particularly taken by Lady (less a fan of the scruffy Tramp!) but I remember cringing when they kissed, in a 'boys are icky' sort of way!

But the scene where Lady and her beau eat the plate of spaghetti and meatballs, and find they are sucking up the same strand of pasta when their mouths meet in a kiss, is iconic. It's been parodied so many times but is actually very sweet. So I couldn't really make anything else for Food 'n' Flix!

I have made spaghetti and meatballs before so wanted to do something a bit different this time. I found a recipe in Slimming World magazine for oven-baked meatballs with cheese melted over the top, which was something I hadn't tried. I adapted the recipe, leaving out the courgette and aubergine as I don't like them.

To serve two, you need:
1 onion, finely chopped
250g lean beef mince
1 tsp dried oregano
1 garlic clove, crushed
salt, pepper
200g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sweetener
200g passata
75ml vegetable stock
100g goat's cheese
pasta to serve

Preheat oven to 180C. In a large bowl mix half the onion, the mince, oregano, garlic and seasoning and roll into balls. In another bowl mix the tinned tomatoes, sweetener, passata and vegetable stock. Place the meatballs in an oven proof dish, pour over the tomato mixture and top with goat's cheese. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes depending on how big you've made your meatballs.

While the meatballs are cooking, boil the pasta according to pack instructions. Serve the meatballs and the sauce over the pasta. I used fusilli but for a true Lady and the Tramp experience you should of course use spaghetti!

As mentioned above I'm sending this to Food 'n' Flix.

Restaurant Review: Shoreditch Street Food Market

Every other Tuesday lunchtime last year I was going to a school in Tower Hamlets - a generally underpriviledged borough of London - as a volunteer. I helped a ten-year-old boy with his reading; there are a few of us volunteers, each partnered with a child who needs additional support. I think it's a great programme and hopefully makes a difference to the children. This year I'm about to start at a different school and don't know what age child I will be partnered with yet.

 

On my way there I always passed the Shoreditch street food market and looked in longingly, but I've already had my lunch at my desk. At the end of term when I didn't have to go to the school I decided to go to the market for lunch instead.

 

 

I know street food markets are really trendy and popular, and a great way to try new flavours or combinations, but to be honest they were never really my thing. First of all, I want to be able to sit down while I am eating, and secondly if I'm going to paying more than £7 or £8 for a meal, I want it to come on a plate with cutlery and preferably be served by waiters! I know this is missing the point of street food a bit but I'm about as far removed from a Shoreditch market as you can get - I always feel rather out of place in Shoreditch.

 

 

I decided that wouldn't stop me enjoying some good food from the likes of Yalla Yalla, a Lebanese and Middle Eastern restaurant with two London locations that also has a pop-up at this street food market, or Street Kitchen, a metal Airstream motorhome serving seasonal street food. When I arrived I was pleasantly surprised to see the market was partly under cover, but best of all had chairs and tables - so no having to worry about juggling your purse and a paper plate and dropping half the relish out of your hot dog as you try and eat one-handed.

 

There weren't all that many food stalls, if I discounted the ones that were predominantly ice cream or cocktails (though that would make for a lovely summer's evening). After an initial recce, and deciding not to have a burger if I could help it, I settled on a burrito from Freebird Burritos. I had it quite plain just with sour cream so I guess it was a little bland but I didn't like the other options that came with it as I'm really fussy! I enjoyed it but wanted something else too and then spotted this:

A stall selling churros, which were pumped out on demand into the hot oil. They were really good but the portion was far too large for me to eat by myself so unfortunately some of it went to waste!

The good thing about street markets is that they are fast and give you the opportunity to try different types of foods at low prices, but for me, I will always prefer a restaurant or café where you can sit indoors and have waiter service!