Brandy & Marshmallow Brownies

We love brownies here, and this makes the 5th brownie recipe I have blogged, though there has been lots of experimental's in between! This one took inspiration from my Banana and Rum Brownies, though I had run of out rum this time and had to borrow my boyfriends rather lovely imported Brandy and due to lack of brown bananas's I upped the butter quantity a bit. Fortunately the experimentation worked and it resulted in a heavenly batch of brownies that didn't make it past the day! They were made for my friend M's birthday and were very well received at the party!

You will need a lined 8"square cake pan.

Ingredients:


100g butter
150g golden caster sugar
50g light brown muscavado sugar
115g plain chocolate, broken up
2 eggs
2 tbsp good brandy
1tbsp golden syrup
100g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
100g dark chocolate chunks
1/2 tsp baking powder

2 heaped tbsp mini marshmallows
1 large very ripe banana  mashed up


Pre-heat oven to 180o

1) Melt in a saucepan the butter, syrup and sugars. Stir in the cocoa and baking powder and remove from the heat.

2) Meanwhile mix the flour, egg, brandy and banana together. Fold into the melted chocolate mixture. Scatter over the chocolate chunks and stir lightly so they start to melt into the mixture.

3) Spoon into the lined pan, sprinkle over the mini marshmallows and press into the cake batter lightly and bake for 35-40 minutes - my oven is quite slow but modern ovens are faster! A skewer should come out fairly clean, not as clean as cake mix but enough to show its just cooked! It should be cracking slightly on top.

4) Leave to cool in the pan for ten minutes then transfer on the liner to a cooling rack. Place in an airtight container when cool.

The brownies were moist, chocolaty and are a definite keeper! Plus you can pretend they are healthy-ish with the banana addition! You can't really taste it but it just adds to the texture in a good way!

Monday Meal Plan

Last week simply flew by! We managed to keep fairly on track with the plan though Thursdays Polish sausage became German Bratwurst instead, oh and Friday night when I attempted to set off the smoke alarms for the local vicinity! I was simmering the pork, got carried away talking and boof the kitchen was like a thick fog!! Oops! Don't think I impressed the chap downstairs by screaming don't open the door like a loony!! As it was I had eaten too many crisps and biscuits (So healthy right?) so dinner was abandoned and B ended up with hotdogs! Ooops!

This week I have realised I have let the food bill go up more than normal...so a more determined effort at using fridge stuff this week! I normally pride myself on frugality but its totaled £145 so far this month, though we did do a big cupboard stock up so might explain some of it..and we have had a few family meals here, so it all adds up...!

I am trying to upload a photo of tonight's dinner - which was sooooo good but my phone is playing silly buggers..think iTunes is doing yet another update...will try later! Have not checked boyfriends plans either so I might swap Tuesday for Wednesday instead...we shall see!

This weeks plan:

Parmesan crumbed basa burger, new potatoes and greens 

Sausage and mustard baguette, roasted tomatoes 

Quiche, green beans and potato salad 

Macaroni cheese with bacon, greens 

Garlic sausage noodles 

Baked Egg and Potato Wraps

I've been umming and arring over typing this recipe up...on one hand it was delicious..on the other it does not win any beauty prizes! In the end I obviously have if you are reading this far but may I suggest you tweak to your own liking? My boyfriend enjoyed it but wanted meat to make it complete, Saying that I do think a sneaky bit of ham would be most pleasant but for me it was tasty on its own... I think they would make a tasty breakfast wrap too, maybe folded more into a parcel shape to be more transportable. Definitely going to explore that option more as I ate my second one cold the next day and was equally tasty hot or cold!

Overall this dish mostly consisted of leftovers and bargains - I picked up a lot of eggs reduced to 25p and as a result have been making lots of egg-citing recipes! I think August might be an egg free month....! The wraps had been loitering in the fridge far too long but still passable when baked, and the potatoes were left from the previous night. I always like to cook a few extra to help form the next meal, saves time especially on a busy evening!

Talking of busy life right now seems busy but good busy. Its been a hellish few months in all honesty with family, friend and work issues but it all seems to be smoothing over at last, and I hope normality is on the horizon! My blog as a result has been just about simpering along, mainly as I needed to focus my energy elsewhere, plus its also given me some breathing space, I have been blogging so long I think get lost along the way at times, I love making recipes and that's all I want to do and share with you all along the way, and hopefully I will ease back in the blogging saddle.

Serves 2-4 depending on hunger

Ingredients:

4 wholemeal wraps

500g leftover cooked potatoes, diced

75g good quality mayonaise (I love Waitrose's one with extra virgin olive oil)

2 boiled large free range eggs, diced up

2 tsp wholegrain mustard

80g grated extra mature cheddar + 1 tbsp

1/2 tsp Italian herb mix or dried mixed herbs

4 tbsp ready made tomato based sauce (I used a special edition balsamic ketchup)

Pre-heat the oven. Line a 26cm tray bake/ roasting tin and pre-heat oven to 200o.

Combine the eggs, potato, mayo, cheese and mustard.

Lay out the wrap, spoon a quarter into the middle, fold up the bottom, tuck over the mixture and roll tightly, place in the baking tin, tucking in the ends and repeat with the remaining three. 

Spoon over the tomato sauce, sprinkle with the cheese and herbs, bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

Serve with a lightly dressed salad.

Whilst the wraps were not intended for breakfast originally, the leftovers did indeed become my breakfast and this dish would work easily for breakfast, brunch or dinner so I am sneaking in to

Belleau Kitchen's Simply Eggcellent #5 - how do you like your eggs in the morning? round-up:

Also as they used up my reduced eggs, the last of a jar of mayo, abandoned wraps and leftover potato I have put them in Fuss Free Flavours Credit Crunch Munch round-up too, held by Fab Food 4 All this month:

Disclaimer: Happy Eggs sent me a voucher to cover the cost of the Eggs, though the supermarket over charged me and then refunded me more than I had originally paid, so they are super free-free range eggs if that makes sense!

Weekly Meal Plan

Last weeks promised blog post didn't happen, instead we were out every night last week and all weekend, so my laptop has barely had a meaningful glance of late! I have in been in two minds about blogging a concoction I made last week, involving tortilla wraps, eggs and potatoes.. it was pretty tasty but thinks needs some work on its presentation! I picked up 4 packets of eggs for 25p reduced so its lots of egg dishes right now!!

It was also a super busy week in that my boyfriend successfully passed his class 2 driving test and I have a new job lined up! Lots of change going on! So this week I have scaled back our evening plans, I need some rest! I really struggle if I am on my feet all day, by the time the evening comes they are screaming so I have kept the meal plan relatively easy, without needing long periods of standing just in case they misbehave!

Tonight's dish of Tortang Talong has already been eaten! I started writing this up in between eating as I have to go to my pilates class soon! If you have not heard of Tortang Talong before or are wondering what it is, I am not surprised! Its a delicious and super easy Filipino dish, sort of an aubergine eggy coated fritter, that my bestie taught me to make, well verbally at least! I have pinged her over a picture to see what she thinks of it! It doesn't photograph too well! We enjoyed it though, the silky aubergine flesh and sort of omelette coating are very tasty together, I steamed the aubergine in the microwave and it worked a treat and far quicker than roasting!

Tortang Talong, stir fried courgettes, basmati rice 

Tuna quesadillas, salad and sweet potato wedges 

Cheese n bacon Omelette, roasted tomatoes and green beans

Polish sausage, bubble n squeak 

Teryaki pork stir fry, noodles 

What are you all planning this week? Anything new or tried n trusted?

Meal Planning Monday

My laptop is finally back home! Oh how I have missed you! It turned out the battery was not to fault after all, somewhat reassuring considering I only bought it in January, and instead it was the charging cable which had a bent pin. I have no idea how it happened (though I have my suspicions) but at least it was an easy fix but two weeks without my pc felt like a lifetime! This follows on from not having a working phone for most of June after its car park floor party for one! Lets hope nothing else breaks now as my blog has been completely neglected bar a post I tried via my iPad- I wish blogger would make a better app for it as its very poorly designed!

As a result of the pc's absence, my meal planning has not been brilliant and the food bills went up unsurprisingly - I keep lists of our freezer contents, which helps with the planning rather than rummaging through getting cold - so now I need to do a reconciliation as I am not entirely sure what went in or out of it! Fortunately everything is labelled but I did manage thaw carrot instead of sweet potato chunks last week but at least was still usable in the intended dish!

In June my cooking mojo also went out the window somewhat - we had a super stressful time with my partners employment changes, causing untold stress, my aunt's also been poorly which has been a huge worry and time has simply flown by! Food is definitely back on the menu other than instant noodles jazzed up, and the experimental side is resurfacing! 

This pudding was one of those rummage through the cupboards and see what can make puddings! Its crust is made of graham crackers - not overly sure how much I liked them though, give me a digestive any day- topped with a can of chocolate filling (definitely a worthy cupboard cheat!), slices ripe bananas and whipped vanilla cream! Oh and mini marshmallows and a grated chocolate Easter bunny that still needed eating!

So this weeks meal plan - its a busy week with lots on outside of work, so its relatively simple - and using up odds n ends in the fridge! I roasted a gammon joint yesterday which is feeding us a few lunches this week and whatever's left gets used in Wednesday's dinner! It definitely pays off to cook a bigger weekend joint of meat to cover a few days eating! I also don't need to go shopping all week - my boyfriend now takes the car every day for week so I have to plan military style at the weekend!

My computers on holiday ....

Apologies yet again for my awolness... Since my holiday in May, the laptop has been playing up to the point it's now had to go back to the repairers! I only bought it in January, so it's hugely frustrating and I am reliant on my iPad to type and do general internet stuff.. Anyone who uses The blogger app will understand my frustration I hope...! I've been promised the 12th for its return... We shall see!