Brownies.

For anyone who is a chocolate lover Brownies has to be part of their sweet tooth.  I love the very chocolate recipes which seem hard to find.    I have just been given a recipe for the Ultimate Brownie made with chocolate and no cocoa as some have.

 I made these the first time and added quarter teaspoon of baking powder which gave it a sponge texture and must say we both enjoyed them.  They were even better the next day.  I made them again with less baking powder and put in some cocoa – different again and a little drier, maybe I should have baked them less.  Next time I’ll bake less and omit the cocoa.

 Right now I am off overseas – to UK to be precise and looking forward to some British foods.  Maybe I’ll pick up some interesting recipes.  At the very least we plan on having Tea for Two – perhaps a cream tea. 

So until I get back there will be a lull in writing and I’ll be gone over a month.

Rhubarb, love or leave it.

We have not had rhubarb in years, but some neighbours have it growing at the side of their house.  My OH commented on how nice it would be to have rhubarb again.  These folks are new owners of the home and so inherited the rhubarb which they don’t like and kindly told us to help ourselves.  We did just that and pulled a few sticks, giving some away.

 Now what?  I don’t have any rhubarb recipes and did not have time to go online to find any.  So I cooked it on the stove top.  Not bad, he enjoyed it with a cookie crumbled over the top and French Vanilla yogurt.

 Then we were chatting with another neighbour about rhubarb and she announced that she made jam – lots of it and made rhubarb and apple, rhubarb and plum as well the old trusty favourite of rhubarb and strawberry.

 Well, I had some apples in the house so I cooked those and added them to my previously cooked rhubarb.  Much better, we both enjoyed it.  Then I bought some plums and did the rhubarb and plum combination adding a little cornstarch to thicken and make it into a compote.  Delicious.  I certainly can take to rhubarb better with those combination of fruits.  You can keep the strawberry mix, that does nothing for me.  I’ll eat the strawberries on their own.

I then made a crumble topping separately, and sprinkled over the top with the yogurt.  All in all it was different and delightful.  There is plenty left at the side of the house, so we’ll be pulling some more in a few more days!