Chocolate Brownie Recipe

I didnt write a post about Valentines day on the day as that is what every man and their dog seems to do. My logic on the situation is that you should treat your better half with food and surprises all year round instead of when the marketing people deem it right! You could shower people with presents, take them on holidays or splash lots of cash on them but I have never seen people happier than when they receive food unexpectadly as a gift. Think of a surprise meal somebody has cooked for you, a home made birthday cake, friends cooking you a BBQ or a surprise breakfast in bed and they are all bring back fantastic memories. Food has a way of bringing people together and most of our fondest memories will involve some form of edible treat! I am going to put what I preach into practice this week and make these brownies and share them around friends. I learnt this recipe from an American family who came onboard one of the botas I worked on. They are completly and utterly delicious and couldn't really be any easier to make! The recipe is below and for those of you who struggle with cooking the video demo is here.

Chocolate Brownies

* 340g Unsalted Butter
* 340g Bitter Sweet Chocolate
* 175g All Purpose or Cake Flour
* 140g Coco Powder
* 600g Sugar
* Salt
* 6 Eggs


Step by step



1. Set up a bain marie or double boiler (a bowl over a small pot of simmering water);

2. Keeping it on a very low heat add the butter and chocolate to the bowl;

3. In a separate glass bowl sift the flour together with the cocoa powder;

4. Pour the melted chocolate and butter into a large glass bowl as soon as it has melted;

5. Grease an oven dish with a little bit of melted butter using a pastry brush and then sprinkle with a liberal dusting of flour;

6. Add the eggs in one at a time to the chocolate mixture while continuing to whisk constantly;

7. Combine the dry ingredients with the chocolate mixture and fold them together using a spatula;

8. When the mixture is smooth and velvety fold the sugar and a pinch of salt into the mixture;

9. Pour the mixture into the greased oven dish and use a spatula to spread it around the tray evenly;

10. Bake the brownies in the oven for 40 minutes at 180C/360F;

11. Remove the brownies from the oven and place the dish on a wire rack to help cool them down;

12. Make sure they are cooked by inserting a cocktail stick or skewer, if it comes out clean without any wet mixture they are cooked;

13. When the brownies cool down flip them out of the tray and portion them up making sure to serve with a glass of milk.

10,000 Euros coming our way?

One of the first things a business needs is a good business plan and we drew ours up when we launched last summer. We always knew that we would have to follow it to the letter if we wanted to be a success and now it turns out that the business plan itself could be bringing in a nice wad of cash! We are down to the last 3 in the prestigious Bolton Trust award that is taking place this Thursday infront of Venture capitalists, assembled media and business leaders. I had to do a photoshoot for the awards this morning which sadly meant I had to put my list of best food countires on hold for a couple of days! The good news is that we could win 10,000 but the bad news is that I have to make the presentation infront of 100 people! I'll be nervous but there could be one hell of a party Thursday night!

World's Best Food Country (3rd Place)

3rd Place
America

This is a selection that I know before writing is going to cause a lot of debate especially from people who have not travelled to the USA before! America is one of the most stereotyped countries in the world and that doesn't change when it comes to food with most people probably thinking about burgers, chips and hot dogs as they read this! The reality I am happy to report is totally different with some of the world's best food coming from the states these days. Yes you will find burger joints and junk food easily but you will also find these in the other countries on the list. America is like a huge melting pot of cultures and what that produces is some of the most unique and diverse culinary treats that you are ever likly to find.

Forget the burgers! When i think of America I think of the great diversity of New York and it's 1000s of restaurants, or the clean and vibrant cooking happening in Los Angles, or the rich and souful food of the south, or quality Tex Mex at it's best, or the trendy food in Miami etc etc. See America is like 10 countries rolled into one with lots of different flavours mingling together to create a huge variety and choice of dishes. If you add to that mix some of the world's best produced ingredients along with some very highly trained chefs you have the perfect mix for a country to make it in at number 3 on this list! I just know a lot of people are going to disagree with this and have a preconcieved idea of American food all being served in Hooters but I also know that the people who are thinking that are the people probably have never been to the country to sample it's delights!