Musing VI

Howdy, how are you?

It does seem that things are beginning to change although how we'll adapt to queuing to shop on the “High Street” or your nearest Shopping Centre remains to be seen. We're all nervous of dipping our toe in the water …

I'm beginning this week following on from the “dive in” stir fry in Musing V.

It feels appropriate to serve a retro revival “dive in” weekend dessert treat too – the old ones are the best and this is years old.

A “Pizookie” is a cross between a pizza and a cookie – I've never understood the pizza bit – I know it's possible to buy and make sweet pizzas - you might want to try this after the “dive in” stir fry – keeps the washing up to a minimum!

It's a flexible pud – take it straight from the oven to the table and then spoon scoops of vanilla ice cream into the middle and away you go.

You'll get a crisp “crust” that cracks to reveal a gooey underneath, a molten centre.

Pizookie

Serves 10-12

125g unsalted butter, room temperature

150g light soft brown sugar

100g golden caster sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

200g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp bicarb

½ tsp salt

250g plain chocolate, broken into chunks

Pre-heat oven 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

Put butter and sugars in a bowl and beat (you can use a hand mixer – or, if you want a workout use a wooden spoon and some good old fashioned elbow grease) for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, following by the vanilla bean paste.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients – the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt. Tip it into the butter mixture, beat until combined, then stir through the chocolate. Tip into a 20cm ovenproof frying pan or a shallow cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. 25 minutes will give you a molten centre, 30 minutes a more set version.

Cool for 5 minutes, then add scoops of vanilla ice cream in the middle – dig in!

The ultimate sharing indulgence.

You can make ahead if you prefer, let it cool and then cut into portions. It freezes well too.

Take out portions as required, pop into the fridge and then when you're ready to serve microwave on high for 20 seconds for the gooey version, incidentally the crispy outer edge becomes chewy – perfect with the goo.

Yet again this treat is filling so you might want to think about cutting small portions to freeze.

Here's the proof :

 

Straight from the oven

It actually looks like a slice of pie made

from pastry – pastry it is not

20 seconds later it looks like this

It might be an idea to hide it in the freezer!

I hope that has made your mouth water – definitely another candidate for the “crowd pleaser” and “lip smackingly good” categories. You'll be very popular with the family!

Okey dokey, down to business – here's the menu for this week :

Spaghetti with home-made meatballs and

tomato sauce – or Alfredo if preferred

Fish pie, with a mornay sauce

Tarragon chicken, cheese and

onion mashed potato, griddled asparagus

and roasted fennel

Chilli – meat or veggie

using braising steak for the meat eaters

and Quorn pieces for the veggies

Serve with rice and/or wraps with

sour cream on the top

Veggie roast

Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, roasted

carrots and cauliflower cheese (from the freezer)

Home-made burgers in brioche buns with

a relish and a slaw and wedges on the side

Pork loin steaks with Calvados Cream Sauce

roasted beetroot, peppers and carrots,

sauté potatoes

By now I must have a certain reputation for “rant of the week” - I wouldn't want to disappoint so here it is! Actually it's a continuation of a previous rant – remember Sicilian Lemon Curd replacing the alien abduction of the Marmite Peanut Butter Smooth? The shelf remains bare.

As is my usual plan I mentioned it to Whizzer – hold the front page – there isn't any in her neck of the woods either! I'll make my own, there are after all more important things to worry about. I'll keep you posted.

A little light relief up next ...