Cheesy easy pasta bake

With the new year coming, I've been rushing around and upon realising I had not even begun to think of dinner, I found this recipe and adapted it to what I had to hand.

I used any old pasta I had lying around, with various cheeses left over from the fridge. It was just the thing I needed after a long day. Cheesy and creamy with a lovely tomato flavour.

You can make this with a lot of cupboard staples and it takes about 45 minutes in all, 20 of those minutes in oven cooking time.

Ingredients


Pasta 
200-300g pasta (fusilli, penne, macaroni or whatever you have to hand)

Cheese sauce 
600ml milk
110g cheddar cheese, grated
40g plain flour
40g butter
I added a tiny pinch of nutmeg, but I'm a nutmeg fiend.

Tomato sauce 
2 x cloves of garlic, diced up or sliced
1 onion, diced
2 x tinned plum tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp basil

To top 
1 cup of grated cheese. Mozzarella, a little parmesan, whatever cheese you have available. I used up some edam and cheddar, with a small sprinkling of parmesan for a lovely flavour.

Directions


Tomato sauce 
Preheat oven to 180C.

Slice or chop up some garlic into small pieces. Dice an onion up and add some olive oil to a pan. Heat to medium-high and add your vegetables. Cook until soft.

Add two tins of plum tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of sugar and about 1 teaspoon of basil. Bring to the boil and turn down to a low simmer to cook whilst you make your cheese sauce.

Cheese sauce
Put 40g of butter in a pan and slowly melt on low, add 40g plain flour and keep stirring for about 3 minutes.

Take off heat and very gradually start adding your 600ml of milk little by little, stirring the whole time to avoid lumps.

Once smooth and glossy put it back on the heat, stir continuously otherwise you'll get a lumpy sauce. Bring to the boil slowly and simmer on low for about 4 minutes.

After 4 minutes it should be lovely and creamy. Start adding your cheese to it bit by bit and keep stirring to melt. Take off the heat and allow to cool, stirring every five-ten minutes to keep it nice and smooth.

Pasta and topping
Boil some water in a big pan and add your pasta. Cook for about 12 minutes or until al-dente, drain, rinse with boiled water and put in a deep baking pan.


Using a wooden spoon, break up your plum tomatoes in your sauce.

Pour your tomato sauce onto the pasta and then pour over your cheese sauce. Add your mozzarella or grated cheese on top and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden.

Tex-mex platter

If you love the Outback menu, try this imitation platter of beer battered coconut shrimp, sticky chicken wings, cheesy bacon fries with honey mustard and blue cheese dips.

Perfect for a night in with friends and a movie, this takes about an hour to prepare and 30 minutes in the fridge for the prawns to set.

Full platter 
Serves about 4 people

Hot sticky chicken wings
Coconut shrimp
Cheesy bacon fries

Honey and mustard dip
Blue cheese dip

Hot Sticky wings 
Ingredients 
1 kg of chicken wings
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 teaspoons chilli powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt

Start by making your sticky seasoning.

Add one tablespoon of onion powder to half a cup of brown sugar to start.

Mix in two teaspoons of chilli powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Mix it all up and add 1 teaspoon of ground cumin and 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper or hot paprika.

Stir up spices well and throw in with your chicken wings. Mix up well with your hands, wash your hands, cover well and place in the fridge for an hour to a day.

Coconut shrimp 
Ingredients
300-400g of prawns
1/2 cup plain flour for batter
1/2 cup plain flour for plate
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup beer
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups of flaked coconut

De-vein some fresh shrimp, raw or cooked. This is the worst part of the whole recipe for me, but you get faster at it. For a useful video on de-veining, I recommend this epicurous video on youtube.

Grab two plates and a bowl and line them up as plate, bowl, plate.

Cover the first plate with about half a cup of plain flour.

Next beat one egg into the bowl, add 2/3 cup of beer, 1/2 cup of flour and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and mix well.

Cover your last plate with 2 cups of flaked coconut and spread out with your hand.

Place a container after your line up for the battered prawns.

Dip each shrimp into the flour, shake off any excess. Then dip into the batter and drip excess off again. Lastly coat in coconut and place in your container.

Cover your prawns and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes. 

The dips

Whilst your shrimp are getting nice and cold, start preparing your dips into two bowls.

Honey and Mustard dip
Ingredients
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons grey poupon mustard (it must be grey poupon)
1 and 1/2 to 2 tablespoons honey

Add half a cup of mayonnaise and half a cup of sour cream to a bowl.

Add two tablespoons of grey poupon mustard (it must be grey poupon) and 1 and 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of honey to the mayo/sour cream. Mix well and taste. Add more honey if you like it sweeter. Season to taste and pop in the fridge.

Blue cheese dip 
Ingredients 
1 cup of mayonnaise
2 tablespoons of milk
1 and 1/2 tablespoon of crumbled mild blue cheese (such as danish blue)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Add one cup of mayonnaise to two tablespoons of milk and 1 and 1/2 tablespoon of crumbled danish blue cheese. You can use some other mild blue cheese, but stay from from cheeses like Stilton unless you are using a tiny amount. I found that out the hard way. Remember that this dip will become cheesier once set. Taste to reach your desired cheesiness level.

Add to the mayo 1/8 of a teaspoon of black pepper, 1/8 of a teaspoon of onion powder and 1/8 of a teaspoon of garlic powder. Mix well and add a tiny amount of salt if needed. Pop in fridge.

Cheesy bacon fries
Ingredients
1kg fries (oven or fry)
6 pieces of streaky bacon
2 cups of monterey jack or edam cheese
A pan of vegetable oil for deep frying

Now pop your wings out of the fridge and place in a preheated oven 180C (356F) for about 50 minutes.

Grate yourself 1-2 cups of monterey jack or edam cheese, cover.

Fry or grill some streaky bacon until crispy, break up and store with the cheese.

Fifteen minutes before the wings are done, heat up some vegetable oil to about 180C/355F. A good way to check if the temperature is right is to throw in a cube of bread. It should brown within 60 seconds if the oil is hot enough.

Cover a flat oven/grill safe pan with paper towels.

Carefully deep fry your chips until golden, carefully lift out of the oil and add to the pan with the paper towels. Remove any excess oil with towels.

Sprinkle with the cheese and bacon. Pop in the oven or under a grill for about 2 minutes. Watch out for burning. Keep an eye on your oil to make sure it isn't overheating.

Finale

With your oil still hot (1 bread cube, brown in 60 seconds), add your prawns from the fridge and fry for about 3 minutes or until golden. Don't overcrowd the pan, take as long as needed. Once done, pop into a paper towelled bowl.

Bowl up your wings and cheese fries.

Put your dips on the table with your three bowls and enjoy.

Egg fried rice

Following on from my post about rice cookers, I thought I'd post a simple egg fried rice recipe. I assumed this was something I'd never be able to recreate at home but it is surprisingly simple. The hardest part is cooking the rice.

Makes 2-4 portions

Ingredients
2 cups of white rice (oriental, but not short grain)
2-3 tablespoons Sesame or groundnut oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 eggs, whisked in a bowl

Rinse and drain your rice twice and follow the instructions on your packet for cooking. One cup of dry rice makes about three cups of cooked rice. A good way to measure the amount of water needed is to pour your rice into the pan and use your index finger to touch the top surface of the rice, then fill up with water until the first crease on your finger.

Grab two eggs and beat in a bowl, set to the side.

Once the rice is cooked, find something long and thin, such as a chopstick and very gently separate the rice by gliding it through 3 or so times.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of your oil to a large pan or wok and turn the heat to high. Wait till nice and hot, stand back and pour your rice into the pan, moving it around very gently but quickly with the chopstick for about a minute. Add your soy sauce.

Throw your egg mix into the pan and gently pull it through your rice with the chopstick. It will cook quickly, about a minute in all, so get ready to plate it up.

Creamy garlic mash

Creamy and buttery, perfect mashed potatoes is one of the finer things in life. I'm going to show how I get perfect mash every time.

Feel free to leave out the garlic if you prefer. Five cloves may seem a lot but boiling it actually tones down the flavour and gives it a lovely mellow garlicy hint. All the garlic will be soft enough to disappear into the mash.

Ingredients
A small sack of potatoes (around 8 small/medium)
4-5 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon table salt for boiling
75g or 1/4 cup of butter
200ml or 3/4 cup milk
salt
pepper

Serves 4 portions

Peel, wash and cut up your potatoes into halves. Take the skins off about 5 cloves of garlic. Put it all in a pan of water just covering the potatoes and garlic, add a teaspoon of table salt and put on a high heat to boil. Turn down if needed.

It should take about 20 minutes, but check with a knife to make sure it glides through the potato then drain whilst keeping the potatoes and garlic in the pan.

Add 75g or about 1/4 cup of butter, 200ml of milk and season well. Mash up thoroughly, scraping the pan with a spatula regularly. Taste to make sure it is lump free.

Useful gadgets: the rice cooker

I bought one of these about a month ago, convinced that it would be one of those appliances that wouldn't get as much use as the space it requires. But I was wrong, I'm head over heels in love with it.

I bought this one from John Lewis for about £25. It cooks rice within about 20 minutes and cooks it perfectly every single time, even brown rice. It even has a setting to keep the rice warm whilst you prepare something else, and a steaming tool to use it for vegetables.

In a recession, this baby will save me quite a bit of money in feeding my family a healthy and cheap as chips side dish of fluffy rice in no time.

I have used it so far to create yummy egg fried rice, wholegrain rice and a great one, baby back ribs in a BBQ espresso sauce with a nice portion of white rice underneath. I really cannot recommend these enough. For an inexpensive and useful gadget, invest in a rice cooker, it is worth it.

Fruity crushed ice

After stuffing myself for christmas, I fancied one of my favourite icy fruity treats, Granita. It's low calorie and easy to make with just sugar and fruit.

When served up, you'll notice it's vivid colour, georgous smell and intense fruit flavour. It has a more icy texture then sorbet, but it is just as wonderful.

Here we have raspberry, pineapple and strawberry, but there are countless variations. Blood oranges are coming into season and I cannot wait to get my hands on some.

The amount of sugar in the recipes below can vary to your tastes. I like much of the sugar to come from the fruit, but if you like it sweeter just add to taste.

Raspberry
A punnet of raspberries, frozen or fresh
4-5 tablespoons of white caster sugar
1 cup of water for an intense flavour, more for a larger batch.

Pineapple
1 pineapple, cut into chunks
4 tablespoons of white caster sugar
2 cups of water
1 tablespoon of vodka (you won't taste it, it just makes it smoother and slushier)

Strawberry
A punnet of strawberries
4-5 tablespoons white caster sugar
1 cup of water for an intense flavour, more for a larger batch.

Blend or crush your fruit, a food processor will make this job a lot easier. If you do this in the summer, fresh in season raspberries create a lovely earthy flavour.

Add your desired amount of sugar to the fruit and taste. I love mine tart but add more sugar if you like it sweeter.

Add a cup or two of water, stir and allow it to sit for about 30 minutes to let the sugar do it's thing with the fruit.

Pour into a container and stick it in the freezer, or layer into lolly moulds. You can stir it every hour or so to keep the ice crystals separate but for a lazier solution, just let it freeze, pop it out 30 minutes before serving and crush with a masher.

BBQ Espresso sauce

I have a huge love for American food, from tex mex in the south to Italian in the north, you cannot beat it. It's pure comfort food.

A few years back, after a slightly insane road trip through the south in hurricane season, I finally stumbled upon what I'd been looking for; a book with a fantastic BBQ espresso sauce recipe,.

It is smoky and tangy and you can virtually do anything with it. I slather it all over slow cooked ribs and the result is as good as any restaurant.

Ingredients 
4 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves mashed or minced garlic
1 cup of cider vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 cups of ketchup
2 cups of honey (check taste after 1, I use a bit less)
1/2 cup strong coffee
Pepper
Salt

In a pan, over a medium-high heat drizzle 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add your garlic (stir to stop burning) and let it cook for around a minute until it turns golden.

Add 1 cup of cider vinegar, 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 2 cups of ketchup and 1-2 cups of honey.  

Throw in the coffee, salt and some pepper and give it a nice stir.

Bring to a low simmer and cook for about 10 minutes. Let cool and store in the fridge for about 2 weeks, It can also be frozen.

Adapted from Michael Chiarello in the book food network favourites.

My go-to Chile con carne

This chile is so quick, cheap and delicious that I cook it often for my family (they cannot get enough). It lasts for about 2 days before every inch of it is consumed, but it only takes a few days before the demands start creeping up again for this warming bowl of chile with a nice dollop of sour cream on top.

Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients, you probably have many of these sitting in your cupboard right now.

Ingredients 

A drizzle of oil (roughly 2 tbsp)
1-2 large onions
2-3 garlic cloves (depending on taste)
1 heaped tsp or 1 tbsp of hot chilli powder (I like mine hot)
1-2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
 500g Lean minced beef
1 stock cube (beef or vegetable)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp of dried marjoram
1 tsp sugar
2-3 tbsp tomato puree
1 tin of kidney beans
A couple squares of dark chocolate

Sour cream, cheese and rice to serve

To start, grab a chopping board and dice up your onions and garlic. I like to prepare things in advance so I also use this time to prepare my spices on a plate separately to the veg. You'll need 1 heaped teaspoon (or more) of chilli powder, 1-2 teaspoons of paprika and 1 teaspoon of ground cumin. I grind cumin seeds up in a mortar and pestle, a little more work but the difference in taste is worth it.

Drizzle a little olive oil in a deep pan and set on medium. Throw the onion and garlic in and stir to stop sticking. After a minute, turn the heat to low, cover the pan halfway and let the flavours develop for a while, but keep checking them.

After 5-10 minutes take the lid off and turn the heat up to medium-high. Keep stirring them until they start to turn a lovely golden colour. Throw your spices into the pan with the onions, stir frequently and keep an eye on it for about 5 minutes. Don't stand over it unless you want to really clear out your sinuses.

Turn the heat up to high and stir your beef into the mix until it is all brown. Whilst it browns, stick the kettle on and pour yourself about 400ml of stock with one cube. Add this to the mix once browned.

Add a tin of tomatoes, 2-3 tbsp of tomato puree, 1/2 tsp of dried marjoram and 1 tsp sugar. Give it a good stir. Bring to the boil and turn down to a low low simmer. Put the lid on halfway and let is cook for about 30-40 minutes, checking frequently to stop burning.

Upon returning, you'll notice it has turned a deep hot red. Now is the time to drain and add your tin of kidney beans and a couple squares of dark chocolate. Dark chocolate you ask? Well yes, it really adds something to your chilli. I didn't really believe it at first, but my family can now discern when it is not in the chilli.

Now you can put some rice on and get the sour cream ready and the cheese grated, but I'd like to first give you some advice. Leave the chilli, just let it rest for 30 minutes. Leaving the chilli to rest encourages some sort of spice party and this makes it exquisite. It will not be as tasty on the day as it will be after a night in the fridge.

Add some rice to a bowl, dollop some chilli, grate over some cheese and spoon on some sour cream. Heaven in a bowl.

Adapted from http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3228/chilli-con-carne

Fleur de sel

I was first introduced to this salt by my french in-laws. Literally translated 'Flower of salt', it is the hand collected top layer of salt and is one of the finest  and tastiest salts available.

It is traditionally from the coast of Brittany, particularly Guérande and has a slightly grey tinge to it. Keep an eye out for the beautiful pink variety also.

Fleur de sel is soft and cold to the touch with a strong, naturally salty flavour.

It is packed with more minerals, more flavour then ordinary salt (you can use a lot less) and I couldn't live without it. It really brings out the flavours of your dish and makes all the difference in soups, meat, caramels and dark chocolate.

 If you're ever in France, make sure to pick up a bag like the above from the supermarket for about 4-5 euros ($6.50). It costs an absolute fortune everywhere else and this bag lasts about a year or more (the bag in the picture is 6 months old).

Perfect roast potatoes

Almighty roasted potatoes. At this time of year, everyone loves a good roastie. Crispy, golden skin with a fluffy starchy inside is the aim, and everyone has their favourite method.

In this article I am going to go through my method. It is very easy and takes roughly an hour in all to create a pan of delectable spuds.

To start, I make sure I have a good potato variety. The top potatoes for roasting are Desiree, King Edwards or Maris Piper potatoes.

Preheat oven to 190C-200C and put some olive oil, duck or goose fat in a flat pan. Pop in the oven.

Peel and cut potatoes into decent size wedges, place in a pan of boiling water with a little salt. Leave for around 20-30 minutes, checking to make sure they do not overcook. I test by stabbing them with a knife, and making sure it sinks through the potato like butter, without breaking the potato.

Once boiled, drain but leave in the pan. Put the lid over the pan and hold it down whilst gently shaking the pan to fluff up the potatoes. Be careful here not to over shake, or you'll end up with mashed potato!

Place in the hot pan from the oven and cover each potato with the the melted fat. Lightly sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, and brush with the herbs of your choice. I used rosemary and thyme for the potatoes in the picture, and they turned out fabulous. Sprinkle a light amount of herbs over the spuds and break a couple (or few) cloves of garlic in between the potatoes to infuse them.

Pop in the hot oven and allow to roast for about 30 minutes. Take out, and grab a potato masher. Squish the potatoes down slightly to crush their insides and drizzle some of the hot oil all over the potatoes. Place back into the oven and cook for about 15-25 more minutes or until golden.

Some great combinations
Sage and thyme
Thyme and rosemary
Try a little red wine splashed over, it gives them a lovely deep flavour.

Butter English toffee with a hint of salt

Looking for the most buttery and soft toffees in the world? This is your recipe. These toffees are out of this world (I am not exaggerating). If you have ever tried and loved Thornton's special toffee, this will blow you away.

They have a deep, buttery and creamy texture. These toffees go a beautiful caramel colour. They are melt in your mouth and are completely non-chewy. I wrapped them in little squares of baking paper and think they look adorable.

Makes one large tray, cut into about 60 pieces

Ingredients

2 cups white caster sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup Lyles golden syrup

3/4 cup butter (if salted, leave out salt below)

2 cups double cream (or heavy whipping cream for the US)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Grease large tray well

2. Combine white sugar, brown sugar, golden syrup, butter, 1 cup of double cream and the salt.

3. Put one cup of double cream to the side, and separately 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

4. Grab some gloves or something to protect your hands, and wear long thick sleeves. Keep your distance from the toffee and please keep kids/pets far far away. This stuff is like molten lava. Please don't be tempted to dip your finger in, we've all been there! Just say no to the toffee ;)

4. Very slowly bring the toffee to a low boil, at around 220F it should start boiling and turning a beautiful deep colour. Add the cup of double cream from the side very slowly to the toffee whilst it boils, always keep stirring to stop burning.

5. Keep stirring until it reaches exactly 254F. It will seem like a decade whilst it climbs from 220F to 254F, but be patient.

6. Take off heat, keep stirring and you should see it thicken slightly. I cool it down for a millisecond and from a distance add the vanilla extract. Pour into tray and allow to cool. I allow about 30 minutes for room cooling, then place it into the fridge. Remove, cut into pieces. Enjoy.

This recipe is sourced from here. Tons of thanks to the author, you have lightened up my world.

Tempering chocolate simply

I thought this would be incredibly difficult, but it just takes patience and a very accurate candy thermometer that can read from 20-50 degrees celsius (68-122 degrees fahrenheit). This is a very simple guide on tempering.

Tempering your chocolate gives it a lovely shine and allows it to stay solid at room temperature and when picked up. It gives the chocolate a lovely crisp snap and is absolutely necessary if you intend on making chocolates as gifts or to keep. Non tempered chocolate melts almost instantly in your hands and is pretty unusable.

What you'll need

2 bowls, one big enough to place over simmering water without it touching the water.

A good thermometer

Dark, milk or white chocolate, (minimum 400g)

A helpful short guide

Melt to

• Dark chocolate 46C/115F
• Milk or white 43C/110F

Add seed chocolate and cool too

• Dark 32C/90F
• Milk or white 31C/88F

If you need to reheat to work with the chocolate, heat only to 33c/92F

Rules

Never, ever get water in your chocolate. This cannot be stressed enough. It will ruin your whole batch.

Be patient and love your chocolate. Let the temperature rise and drop slowly, turn the simmering pan down if needed.

Detailed instructions

1. Grate your chocolate so that it all melts evenly.

2. Separate into three piles, add 2 piles to the bowl you will be placing over the simmering pan. Put the last pile into a separate bowl. Make sure the bowl that will be heated does not touch the water whilst over the simmering pan.

3. Place a large enough pan of shallow water over the stove and bring to a low simmer. Turn off heat, place chocolate over the pan (remember, not touching the water.) Melt to

• Dark chocolate 46C/115F
• Milk or white 43C/110F

4. Remove and wrap bowl in towel, add the remaining chocolate from earlier and stir.

5. Cool too

• Dark 32C/90F
• Milk or white 31C/88F

6.You should notice it becoming very shiny and pretty. Being in a hot or cold place here makes all the difference. If you need to move to a warmer/colder place to reach the temper stage, you can.

7. Place back on hot pan and reheat to maximum 33C/92F to make the chocolate usable.

8. Thats it! You're done. You have tempered chocolate. You can use it for dipping, or make your own chocolates as gifts.

To check it is properly tempered, place some on a knife and place in the fridge for a couple of minutes. It should be smooth, slightly shiny and when placed between your fingers it melts slowly. Instead of putting it in the fridge, I usually place a piece on some baking paper with a knife, and it should peel off neatly and not melt in your hand.

Remember, smooth, matte/shiny, crisp, doesn't melt easily. It also snaps nicely.

Tuna Pasta salad

This is a lovely, refreshing pasta salad from Nigella. Make sure to add the parsley, its so good. I store this in the fridge and it makes a tasty lunch of snack.

Serves 4-5 people, 30 minutes to make

Ingredients

200g pasta

1 can of tuna

2 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cucumber, chopped

1 tin sweetcorn

4 tablespoons olive oil

6 tablespoons mayonnaise

juice of half a lemon

Fresh parsley

Seasoning

1. Cook pasta according to instruction (10-12 minutes usually) until al-dente.

2. Drain. I usually rinse with boiled water to remove starch. Allow to cool slightly.

3. Mix into the pasta the olive oil, mayo and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

4. Squeeze half a lemon over pasta, then add tuna, sweetcorn, tomatoes and cucumber. Garnish with parsley.

This recipe is sourced from http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/tuna-pasta-salad-776.

Thermospatula review

I have recently purchased the thermospatula from lakeland.co.uk, and let me just say, it was worth every penny.

I wanted to use it for candy making and tempering chocolate, but it can be used for meat and sauces too.

It has helped me incredibly so far in getting a perfect tempering and the most amazing toffees in the world. It reads in both celsius and fahrenheit, and is very accurate to boot. The spatula goes up in increments (35.1 - 35.2 ect) and is also detachable from the thermometer for cleaning.

It can also read very low to high temperatures (-20 to 220C), making is perfect for candy.

I'd say money well spent. If you want to make candy, it really is a must.

Real chocolate chip cookies

These are the first cookies after trying dozens that are astonishingly good. Chunky, chocolately and practically eaten by family by the time they come out of the oven. They are slightly crispy on the outside with the tiniest layer of caramelised brown sugar and chewier in the middle. Trust me on this, you have finally found your cookie recipe. I have to thank reddit for sharing this recipe with the world.

45 minutes to make, 24 hours for chilling (not necessary, but improves the cookies tenfold)

Makes two long tubes of dough ready for cutting, 30cm/12' in length each

Ingredients

240g plain flour

240g bread flour

1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt

283g Brown sugar

226g White caster Sugar

282g Butter

2 large eggs

1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

566g Chopped chocolate

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

2. In a seperate bowl, cream butter and sugars together for about 5 minutes, then beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla extract.

3. Add wet to dry ingredients and add chopped chocolate.

4. Roll into tubes, cover in cling film and refrigerate for 24 hours, I have kept the dough up to 48 hours in the fridge and it has been fine.

5. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius/356 degrees fahrenheit. Roll dough into generous golf balls, place well apart, cook for about 18/20 minutes (keep an eye on them).

This recipe is sourced from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html. I have adapted it for the uk and substituted the cake flour.