Charity Challenge Day 6 - Chocolate Brownies save the day...

The brownies arrived in the nick of time: there was a sprinkling of dissent in the ranks, and I think the eldest was on the verge of a possible muffin mutiny. It appears you actually can have too much of a good thing.

Don't think he'd ever get sick of brownies though.

I know the internet is awash with brownie recipes, but sure one more won't hurt.
I make these a lot, probably the thing I bake the most. Perfect for cheering up grumpy kids/husband.

150g dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa)
150g butter
3 eggs
225g sugar
tsp vanilla extract
90g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Grease and line a 20cm square tin (or round if you want a brownie cake) Oven 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.

Melt the chocolate and the butter together, and while that's going on, beat the eggs, sugar (brown or white) and vanilla in a large bowl. When the choc/butter has melted, let it cool for a bit before adding it to the sugary eggs - then tip in the flour and baking powder, and mix. 
Pour into your prepared tin, and pop into the oven for 15-20 mins. Cool before cutting.

As we only had 100g of chocolate, I reduced the quantities by a third, but probably could have done with a bit more flour as they're extremely gooey - not that anyone's complaining.

There has been an increase in moaning though as the week's gone on - not about what I'm giving them to eat; more about the lack of variety, and that they can't have what they want. This is no bad thing, because these moments, when the kids are thinking about not being able to have crisps or custard creams or whatever it might be; they're good times to remind them about children who never have any choices; children who are grateful for every meal and every mouthful. But not in a lecturey way, because I know they'd just switch off if I did that. It'll probably make more sense when they watch a bit of Sport Relief tonight and see where the money we've raised will be going.

For me, the Challenge has meant a lot more planning, cooking and thinking ahead - it's been good to do,  but know I'm not organised enough to keep it going. I was thinking that yesterday morning when I made the kids pancakes for breakfast with the leftover batter from the night before: they loved them and it gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling - but I'm not usually on the ball in the morning and don't need to add any extra chores. Hard enough getting them out the door by 7.30.
And remembering to brush my hair.

I used Hugh FW's drop scone/pancakes recipe, but watered down the milk to make it go further. We've done quite well making our milk supply last. I only have one milk drinker though, and he's been on water rations.

The old bits of bread mentioned last time were whizzed up to make breadcrumbs. I fried them with some butter, a splash of oil, a chopped clove of garlic, and a little rosemary from the garden (chopped so finely no child would spot it). I added a little grated cheese from the rations too, and then sprinkled the toasted breadcrumbs on our tomato pasta (popular in some parts of southern Italy as a cheap alternative to parmesan apparently).  I really liked the garlicky crunch with the pasta, and even got a thumbs up from the fusspot! But the youngest wasn't so keen - always bloomin' one, isn't there.

Anyway, they all ate it up.

I bribed them with brownies.


I'm doing the £12 Challenge for Sport Relief - if you're interested, my donation page is here.

Charity Challenge Day 4 - The art of deception

The fussy one had eaten nearly all his Almost Spanish Omelette before he realised there was potato in it. I'd cut the potato really, really small. Needs must you see.

Another Charity Challenge highlight has got to be using a chef's ring for the rosti - honestly it's not been out of the drawer for aaages, and I'd forgotten how a bit of neat uniformity can magically make things seem more appetising. Appearance matters for kids - well it does for mine, and frankly I'll take all the help I can get.

So I'll be making round food more often, and have another go at rosti cakes, though next time I'll squeeze more of the starchy liquid out of the grated potato; pretty sure that's the key to a good rosti.

We're over half way through now, and not wanting to tempt fate or anything, but our £12 veggie week is going better than expected - I'd even say my fussy blighter has eaten more than he usually does.
This has probably got a lot to do with a ready supply of homemade bread. Last year I used Recipe Junkie's delicious bread recipe, and even made a bubbly, yeasty sourdough starter, but this time I've gone for speed and stripped my bread prep down to the bare bones.

500g of strong flour in a big bowl with a 7g sachet of yeast sprinkled on one side and 5-10g of salt on the other (so the salt doesn't kill the yeast), then mix in 300ml of warm water, plonk out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes.
Put the dough ball onto a very lightly greased tray and leave, covered with a tea towel, somewhere warm for one hour plus. Score the risen dough, and pop into a pre-heated oven at 220 degrees C for about 25 minutes. Should sound hollow when you tap the top, and seems to have worked fine so far, even with my old/new flour mixture.

I made some cider bread today, and know I've banged on about it before, At Length - but it really is the easiest bread EVER. No need to knead, and takes only a few minutes to prepare. If you've got some spare cider/lager/guinness knocking about do give it a go. I had the end of a bottle of cider in the fridge and cut back on the cheese and butter quantities so it didn't make too much of a dent in our rations.
It's best eaten on the day it's made, but that's never been a problem!

Also wanted to mention I've kept any spare bits of bread and ends of loaves for something I'm going to try tomorrow. I know I'm going to like it, just not so sure about the kids...
All will be revealed in the next post.