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Coco-Cocoa Brownies from Emma Of The Poires Au Chocolat Blog

June 6, 2013 by Zizi

Let me introduce you my second guest, Emma who writes the wonderful dessert blog Poires au Chocolat.  I’m amazed by her recipes, photos and videos.  She has a degree in English Language and Literature but she also studied pâtisserie at Le Cordon Bleu in London. She offered to share a sweet recipe with us.  Here is Emma…

“These are tender cake-style brownies with a little crisp crust. I usually make them with butter but I thought it’d be interesting to see how coconut oil worked – I’m so glad I tried it out. Feel free to throw in some nuts or any other add-ins (probably around 100 g would be right) – though I like these plain.”

Coco-Cocoa Brownies
(adapted from Alice Medrich’s recipe in Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy)

Ingredients (makes 12 brownies)

– 200 g light brown sugar
– 130 g coconut oil
– 65 g quality unsweetened cocoa powder
– 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
– 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
– 2 eggs, cold from the fridge
– 65 g plain flour
– 1 tablespoon of toasted shredded coconut or handful of toasted coconut strips

Method

Preheat the oven to 160C/325F. Line an 8″ square tin with greased foil or baking parchment.

Place the sugar, solid oil, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt into a bowl and suspend it over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir together as it melts and keep heating until the mixture is uniform and hot to the touch. Sit aside to cool until the mixture is lukewarm.

Once the mix has cooled, beat in the eggs one by one, then stir in the flour. Beat for forty strokes – when you’re done, it should be silky, thick and generally glorious. Pour into the tin and sprinkle with the toasted coconut. Bake for 20-25 minutes until set and risen a little. Leave to cool then slice into bars.

*****

Interview to get to know Emma a bit more…

Where are you from? Where do you live?
E: I grew up in the countryside in Devon, England. I now live in Oxford, where I went to university. My mum has lived in the Swiss Alps since I left home (I’m the only child of a single parent, so she wanted a change of scene at the same time and we’d spent several winters there already) – so I also spend a lot of time there.

What is the name of your blog?
E: Poires au Chocolat.

How long have you been blogging?
E: I’ve been blogging for four years, since I was 19.

When did you start cooking/baking?
E: My mum taught me to cook and bake from a young age. I was always allowed to play in the kitchen (there’s a funny story from when I was three about a perpetually hungry house guest who used to sneak food from the fridge in the night and a pot of vegetable scraps I’d been cooking for my doll…). I also spent a lot of time cooking with my grandma as I grew up – making jam and that sort of thing.

Who (where) did you learn cooking/baking from?
E: As I said above, I learnt most of my savoury skills and basic baking skills from my family. I’ve since augmented my baking knowledge by reading, lots of practice and attending culinary school for six months.

What is your signature dish?
E: I’m not sure I have a signature dish to be honest – I guess baking and desserts in general.

What is your favourite vegetarian/vegan meal?
E: I’ve been craving ratatouille with couscous recently (perhaps an odd pairing, especially as we usually add cheese such as gruyere or strong cheddar on top).

Where do you get inspiration from?
E: From books (old and new, recipe and reference, fiction and non fiction), blogs and the ingredients themselves.

What was the most memorable food you have eaten during your travels?
E: I ate some really wonderful food when I spent six weeks in California last year – there were so many fresh, delicious dishes and interesting ideas. Other than that, I’m addicted to gelato.

Name three things you always have in your fridge!
E: Butter, milk and homemade jam.

Is there a food that always reminds you of home?
E: My mum makes an amazing fish pie with salmon, any firm white fish, a little bit of smoked fish, scallops and prawns in white sauce with a crisp herby-cheese-breadcrumb topping that always reminds me of home (though I guess this might not be the place to talk about that recipe!). It’s one of the few dishes she makes that I don’t seem to make myself.

What would people be surprised to find in your kitchen? Is there anything you want to share?
E: I’m not sure, really. Perhaps that I’m not a particularly adventurous savoury cook? I tend to make the things I’ve eaten all my life (and, contrary to my insistence on their use for baking, I never use scales to make them – I was taught by eye, not recipe).

—

All photos are courtesy of Emma Gardner.

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Filed Under: guest post, ovo Tagged With: baking, cocoa, coconut flakes, meals around the world, sweet

Peas And Broad Beans Salad from Regula Of The Miss Foodwise Blog

May 30, 2013 by Zizi

Ricotta-pea-bean-salad_Regula02

Life has been hectic for me since I have become a mom! 🙂 I am getting back into the swing of things and should be back to regular posting soon but until then I asked my food blogger friends to share their favourite vegetarian or vegan meals with me & you and answer my questions in a short interview.

The first guest on my blog is my dear friend, Regula from Belgium who writes the beautiful Miss Foodwise blog (did you know that her blog is Jamie Oliver’s favourite one? :)). If you haven’t visited yet, I suggest heading over right away for stunning, mouthwatering recipes, amazing food photography and great, historical stories about British food and culture. Regula is sharing a fresh, spring-summer salad recipe with you all. Here is Regula…

“I’m very excited to be on Zita’s blog today. We met two years ago at Food Blogger Connect and have been friends ever since. It’s so lovely to have friends all over the world, you learn about everyone’s culture and food. I bring you one of my favourite salad recipe that is very easy to make.”

Ricotta-pea-bean-salad_Regula03

Peas and Broad Beans Salad

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

– a bunch of fresh mint
– 2 cups fresh or frozen peas
– 2 cups broad beans
– 250 g Ricotta
– pepper and salt
– olive oil
– 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Method

Take the broad beans out of their pods and cook them for 10 minutes (not any longer!), then peel them. Blanch your frozen or fresh peas for 20 seconds (longer if you don’t like a pea al dente).

Take the leaves of the mint and dress them on the plate. Toss the peas and broad beans over the mint leaves and combine with your hands sprinkle over the lemon juice. Tear the Ricotta and arrange over the peas, broad beans and the mint. Season generously with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Ricotta-pea-bean-salad_Regula01

*****

Interview to get to know Regula a bit more…

Where are you from? Where do you live?
R: My name is Regula and I was born in Belgium where I still live.

What is the name of your blog?
R: Miss Foodwise is my blog about British food and culture.

How long have you been blogging?
R: I have been blogging almost every week for 1,5 years. It started out as a blog collecting all my pictures of food finds in Britain and Italy, my two favourite foodie nations. I then decided to focus on my biggest passion: Britain and its culture, of course this means food and I put it all to paper – or screen – with my camera.

When did you start cooking/baking? Who (where) did you learn cooking/baking from?
R: I started cooking thanks to ‘The Naked Chef‘ -I must have been 12 – making notes of every episode in my little red book.

What is your signature dish?
R: I don’t really have a signature dish as I think cooking constantly evolves. Ask me again in ten years! 😉

What is your favourite vegetarian/vegan meal?
R: My favourite vegan meal is a cauliflower couscous we made in Tuscany with friends, you know as you were there. 🙂

Where do you get inspiration from?
R: Where do I get my inspiration from… my love for Britain of course, and the travels I do around the country.

What was the most memorable food you have eaten during your travels?
R: The most memorable food I’ve ever eaten during my travels was a fish meal on the coast in Tuscany. We first went on a boat to catch mackerel and then had a gorgeous dinner watching the sun set over the golden beach.

Name three things you always have in your fridge!
R: Eggs, butter and cheese so I always have a simple meal.

Is there a food that always reminds you of home?
R: My mums Moussaka, I’ve tried to cook it myself but it never tastes the same as she cooks it. So when I think of home I think of Moussaka and the family sitting around the table and my dad making silly jokes.

What would people be surprised to find in your kitchen? Is there anything you want to share? 
R: I always have a can of vegetable macedonia tucked away to create a post war salad with my grandmother used to make. I’m not a fan of canned verggies but this salad has to be made with it as my nan made it like that too.

—

All photos are courtesy of Regula Ysewijn.

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Filed Under: guest post, lacto Tagged With: meals around the world, pea, salad

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