Whats cooking

I've been cooking just a bit longer than I have been sewing. 

I cooked a lot as a kid - in retrospect it must have been a good way of keeping me occupied, no DVD/ computer games back in the late 70's early 80's in our house. 

I remember owning a video copy of the 'Life of Brian" and watching it over and over again then a few years later down the track it was "Pretty in Pink" "Sweet Sixteen" "Breakfast Club" and The big blue, Im sure there are many others but they stuck in my mind. 

My Kids own every DVD under the sun as well as PSP/PS3/DSi/Wii/Ipod Touch/digital kids TV and the computer. Bring back the good old days.

I went through fads with cooking - my poor family had months of choux pastry and lemon delicious pudding. I generally don't bake so much anymore, I have learnt not to - basically because I'm the one that eats it. Today with the cold and rain I went into baking mode and whipped up some choc hazelnut brownies, I haven't made them in years, the smell was sooo good - It also feels good to bake something - a bit like sewing or making anything I presume. Watching others enjoy it is a double pleasure.

I was very impatient and shot the pics at night in my kitchen with fluro lights - hence the yellow hue :)

Over the years I have sort of combined a few recipes together, I have it scralled on the back of some junk mail and safely in my recipe file, This recipe is gluten free.

Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie

(gluten free)

380g Dark eating chocolate

180g Butter

1cup Brown Sugar

3eggs

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/ cup Hazelnuts

150g Hazelnut meal

1tsp Baking powder

Heat the oven to 180C fan forced, and line a 

20 X 30cm tin with baking paper.

Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl, leave for ten minutes to cool. Beat sugar and eggs until pale in colour and creamy, fold through the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture add vanilla and mix through hazelnuts. 

Add in hazelnut meal and baking powder mix gently. 

pour into tin and bake in the oven for 35 - 40 minutes. Its ready when the skewer comes out moist but not wet. Leave the brownie to cool completely in the tin (it will continue to cook once out of oven), then cut into squares and sift icing sugar over the top.

any nuts can go into these brownies, Macadamia nuts or walnuts make a nice change - what ever is on hand, Also the hazelnut meal can be changed to almond meal.

I like my Brownies crusty on the outside and gooey on the inside 

and with a nice warm milky coffee

Xx Siobhan