Chickpea and bulgur salad with mint

  

            Chickpea and bulgur salad with mint

Ingredients:

Fine bulgur, rinsed 150g
Chickpeas, drained and rinsed 400g
Red onion, finely chopped 100g
Toasted sesame seeds 30g
Cloves garlic, crushed 30g
Olive oil 75ml
Lemon juice 40ml
Parsley, finely chopped 60g
Mint, coarsely chopped 30g
Sea salt 10g
Black pepper 10g
Paprika 10g

Preparation:

1. Place bulgur in a bowl and pour in boiling water and leave it to soak until it doubles in volume. Place chickpeas in a bowl with the onion, sesame seeds and garlic, and mix with olive oil and lemon juice.
2. When bulgur is cool, remove any excess water and add to the chickpeas. Add the chopped parsley and mint to the bowl. Toss well, season with salt, pepper, and sprinkle the paprika over before serving.

Kids Chicken Nuggets

                 Kids Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:

1  cup water  
1  cup flour  
1/4  teaspoon pepper  
1/8  teaspoon garlic powder  
2  teaspoons salt  
1  egg  
1  teaspoon onion powder  
1/2 kilo chicken breasts 

Directions:

1. Beat the egg and water in a bowl and set aside. Combine all the dry ingredients in a zip top bag. 
2. Pound chicken to 1/4 inch thick and cut into bite-sized pieces. Coat chicken with flour. Soak in egg mixture and return to flour. Shake to coat and place bag in freezer. Freeze 1 hour. Refrigerate egg mix. Repeat coating process after the 1 hour is up. Deep fry chicken nuggets in oil heated to 375 degrees. Drain on paper towels

Chocolate

Chocolate

Method:

These are deconstructed chocolate truffles and if you arrange this nicely on a table, put a few cocktail sticks next to them and let people get stuck in and make their own, I’m telling you, you’ll have some excited guests. It’s interesting, it’s different and to be able to make your own truffle is really quite cool, not to mention delicious. It’s worth remembering that chocolate is friends with lots of different types of booze so, if you prefer, you can swap out the brandy here for rum, whiskey or red wine.

Put the cream in a pan over a medium heat and let it heat up. You don’t want it boiling, just hot. As soon as tiny bubbles start to appear, add the knob of butter and the clementine zest. Once the butter has melted, pour this hot mixture over the chocolate pieces, whisking as you go, so the chocolate melts nice and slowly. If the mixture splits slightly, don’t worry, you can bring it right by adding a splash of boiling water.

Add a pinch of salt to the mixture; it may sound bonkers, but the smallest pinch of salt actually makes chocolate taste even chocolatier! Stir in a splash of brandy.
Once completely melted and smooth, pour your melted chocolate mixture into a nice little serving dish or bowl. Pop this in the fridge for about 2 hours to set. Christmas is a busy time so you can always do this a few days before you need it if you want. About 30 minutes before you’re ready to make your truffles, pull the bowl out of the fridge and let the chocolate warm up to room temperature.

Put your mixed nuts into a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to bash them up quite finely. Get some little saucers or bowls and put the nuts in one and your cocoa powder in the other. Put a teacup filled with boiled water on the tray and pop a few teaspoons in there for scooping the chocolate. Get everyone around the table to spoon their own truffles out of the serving dish and roll them in cocoa powder, crushed nuts or anything else you fancy. Or, you can let them smear their truffles over a biscotti like some posh Nutella! Serve with a few glasses of your chilled Vin Santo.

Ultimate Chocolate Cake

Ultimate Chocolate Cake

1. Butter a 20cm round cake tin (7.5cm deep) and line the base. Preheat the oven to fan 140C/conventional 160C/ gas 3. Break 200g good quality dark chocolate in pieces into a medium, heavy-based pan. Cut 200g butter into pieces and tip in with the chocolate, then mix 1 tbsp instant coffee granules into 125ml cold water and pour into the pan. Warm through over a low heat just until everything is melted - don't overheat. Or melt in the microwave on Medium for about 5 minutes, stirring half way through.
2. While the chocolate is melting, mix 85g self-raising flour, 85g plain flour, ¼ bicarbonate of soda, 200g light muscovado sugar, 200g golden caster sugar and 25g cocoa powder in a big bowl, mixing with your hands to get rid of any lumps. Beat 3 medium eggs in a bowl and stir in 75ml (5 tbsp) buttermilk.
3. Now pour the melted chocolate mixture and the egg mixture into the flour mixture, stirring just until everything is well blended and you have a smooth, quite runny consistency. Pour this into the tin and bake for 1 hour 25- 1 hour 30 minutes - if you push a skewer in the centre it should come out clean and the top should feel firm (don't worry if it cracks a bit). Leave to cool in the tin (don't worry if it dips slightly), then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. When the cake is cold, cut it horizontally into three. Make the ganache: chop 200g good quality dark chocolate into small pieces and tip into a bowl. Pour a 284ml carton of double cream into a pan, add 2 tbsp golden caster sugar, and heat until it is about to boil. Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
5. Sandwich the layers together with just a little of the ganache. Pour the rest over the cake letting it fall down the sides and smoothing to cover with a palette knife. Decorate with grated chocolate or a pile of chocolate curls. The cake keeps moist and gooey for 3-4 days.