The Lit Lounge Cookbook

[Britwitch]

Mocha Squares

Cake batter

3–4 large eggs
3 dl sugar
4 1/2 dl plain flour
1/2 dl cocoa powder
2 tspn baking powder
100 g (1 dl) melted butter/margarine
1 1/2 dl milke

Decoration

approx. 300 g (approx. 6 dl) icing sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
50 g (1/2 dl) melted butter/margarine
approx. 4 tbsp strong coffee
sprinkles of your choice!

Method

Whisk eggs and sugar together until light and pale. Mix all other dry ingredients and mix into the sugar/egg concoction.
Finally add the cooled melted butter and the milk.

Pour into a lined tin (here the oven comes with a tray designed to make these kinds of cakes, it's as big as the oven and makes a cake around about an inch thick) and back for about 15 minutes at 225C

Leave to cool and then decorate.
Make the glaze by combining the dry ingredients and then adding the melted butter. Finally add the coffee a little at a time until you have a pouring consistency.
Pour it over the cake and sprinkle with your choice of embellishments!

Cut into squares once set and enjoy!

 

[Scuttle Buttin']

The Mythical Bean and Bacon Soup

So, there are more complicated, perhaps 'purer' ways to make this, and you feel free to do that if you want. Me, I use this just as a quick, easy thing to make on chilly nights.

You'll want:

1 quart chicken broth
1 onion
1/2 lb of bacon, thick, good quality stuff (more or less to preference, of course)
Couple sticks of celery
2 garlic cloves
Package of cherry tomatoes
White beans (navy, cannellini, whatever you like), again you can change the amount based on how much you want in your soup.
Olive oil, salt & peppa


Chop up your bacon, not too finely or anything, you want some good chunks in there, and toss them in a pot to cook until they're crispy. Peel and chop your onion, chop up the celery, and mince your garlic, and cut your cherry tomatoes in half. Put your chicken broth on to simmer, and add your beans to it once it is.

Once the bacon is done, set aside some (half or so, but more or less to your preference) and then toss in all your chopped veggies. Add a bit of olive oil, and let it cook until everything (but the bacon!) is soft.

Then, pour the broth and beans into your bacon and veggie pot, and let it all simmer together. Season with salt & peppa to taste.

Spoon into bowls, and top with bacon. You can also add parsley or chives if you want, and if they don't taste like goddamned soap to you.

 

[Niceandbrutal]

Thanks for all the awesome recipes, have finally gotten around to updating the recipe list at the start of the thread!

Summer's on the way - I know I'd love some new marinade recipes ready for BBQ season...

wink wink, nudge nudge

Your wish is my command, m'lady!

This has become one of my signature dishes:

14 tbsps regular soy sauce
5 large cloves of minced garlic
5 tbsps minced fresh ginger
5 tsps Five Spice mix
14 tbsps alcohol (I prefer cheap calvados)

This is sufficient for 3 kilos (a little over 6 lbs)
of chicken. Mince and mix, then add the marinade
to the chicken. (DUH!) Let the chicken rest in the
marinade overnight, then either put in the oven at
225 Celsius for 45-50 minutes or throw them on
the barbecue. (I must admit, never tried these
as BBQ). Awesomely yummy, goes well with
a tabbouleh.

 

[thestruggle]

The Mythical Bean and Bacon Soup

Hurray! Hurray!

 

[Britwitch]

Honey Biscuits/Cookies

100g butter
100g honey (the more floral tasting the better!)
135g plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarb soda
1/4 tsp ground ginger/mixed spice

• Melt the butter and honey gently until combined.
• When it's lukewarm, add in the flour, bicarb and spice.
• Drop dessertspoon sized dollops onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes at 180/200C
• They will spread so make sure you leave some space.
• Leave to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes after taking them out of the oven before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container if you manage not to munch them all!

Personally, I like mine thin and crunchy so I squash mine pretty flat and bake for around 8 minutes but adjust your baking time according to your own preference!

 

[Scuttle Buttin']

I have to find a conversion chart for all of freckles' recipes... But those cookies sound awesome!

 

[thestruggle]

Happy Easter! Are any of you doing menus that you'd like to share? I didn't want to bombard the thread with my recipes so I'll just list what I'm making, and if anyone wants more info I'll be happy to share. I'd love to hear what you're cooking today!

My menu is super seasonal this year, and I think I'm going to try to emulate that from now on. I went with:

• Ham with a honey-mustard glaze and rhubarb chutney on the side. (This sounds sweeter than it is. It's actually decently tart and works well!)

• Sticky roasted potatoes with garlic.

• Roasted radishes with a brown butter sauce.

• Asparagus with balsamic glaze.

• Hot cross buns.

• For dessert, an apple and almond cake.

 

[saysalice]

Easter menu (not very fancy):

Pork tenderloin with maple glaze
Garlic and herb potato wedges
Spinach salad with feta and strawberries
Biscuits from scratch (these may have been a flop, though.)
White wine (may be somewhat responsible for the state of the biscuits.)

Dessert will be the five dozen or so chocolate eggs my one-year old has received from well-meaning relatives, more wine, Game of Thrones, and shenanigans.

 

[Britwitch]

Happy Easter! Are any of you doing menus that you'd like to share? I didn't want to bombard the thread with my recipes so I'll just list what I'm making, and if anyone wants more info I'll be happy to share. I'd love to hear what you're cooking today!

My menu is super seasonal this year, and I think I'm going to try to emulate that from now on. I went with:

• Ham with a honey-mustard glaze and rhubarb chutney on the side. (This sounds sweeter than it is. It's actually decently tart and works well!)

• Sticky roasted potatoes with garlic.

• Roasted radishes with a brown butter sauce.

• Asparagus with balsamic glaze.

• Hot cross buns.

• For dessert, an apple and almond cake.

Easter menu (not very fancy):

Pork tenderloin with maple glaze
Garlic and herb potato wedges
Spinach salad with feta and strawberries
Biscuits from scratch (these may have been a flop, though.)
White wine (may be somewhat responsible for the state of the biscuits.)

Dessert will be the five dozen or so chocolate eggs my one-year old has received from well-meaning relatives, more wine, Game of Thrones, and shenanigans.

Want. All of this please. Thank you! They sound delicious menus...and considerably more involved than mine was today!

smiles hopefully and then whispers

And I'd like extra shenanigans please...

giggles

 

[saysalice]

Want. All of this please. Thank you! They sound delicious menus...and considerably more involved than mine was today!

smiles hopefully and then whispers

And I'd like extra shenanigans please...

giggles

Always save room for shenanigans. grins

shenanigans?

Secret recipe!

C'mere, and I'll whisper it in your ear.

 

[thestruggle]

Vail, that sounds really good! It's like 70 here and was really hot in the house, otherwise I'd already be making stock out of the ham-bone. It happened so fast, all of a sudden it was just blazing.

Alice, hurray for simple potatoes! All of that sounds great. I would be having chocolate eggs for dessert too - but the damn store ran out in the past week.

Brit, I'm sure whatever you made was delicious. I love reading your recipes!

 

[Britwitch]

Brit, I'm sure whatever you made was delicious. I love reading your recipes!

Thanks, lovely!

Roasted Chickpea Munchies!

Take a can of chick peas.
Rinse and pat dry. Put on a non-stick cookie sheet in a 450 oven.
Check every 10 minutes and give a stir.
At about 30-40 minutes, they'll be done (check a lot near the end)
Drizzle on some olive oil, salt, garlic powder, whatever.
They taste like corn nuts, but healthy!

And they sound amazing!

 

[Fish_Tales]

Don't mind me.

I see Brit, Vail, Tess and Alice in a thread and I have to post - even if it's not relevant to the subject.

Recipe to come at some stage, but it will NOT be a seafood dish!

 

[Britwitch]

Don't mind me.

I see Brit, Vail, Tess and Alice in a thread and I have to post - even if it's not relevant to the subject.

Recipe to come at some stage, but it will NOT be a seafood dish!

Looking forward to it, handsome!

 

[BornYesterday]

Roasted Chickpea Munchies!

Take a can of chick peas.
Rinse and pat dry. Put on a non-stick cookie sheet in a 450 oven.
Check every 10 minutes and give a stir.
At about 30-40 minutes, they'll be done (check a lot near the end)
Drizzle on some olive oil, salt, garlic powder, whatever.
They taste like corn nuts, but healthy!

Those sound really good. I'll have to try that. Did you add any oil at the beginning of roasting or just at the end?

 

[thestruggle]

Just at the end. Adding it at the beginning seems to keep them from crisping, but they do burn easier without the oil. But most of them come out great and I love burned

I love burned too! *high five*

 

[thestruggle]

I made some cookies today! I yanked it from Pioneer Woman but I altered a few of the ingredients. Hopefully her lawyers don't chase after me.

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup Salted Butter, Softened (You can use unsalted if that's your baking ethic but the original calls for salted. And I like salted butter, so what!)
2 cups Packed Dark Brown Sugar (I used half dark and half light, and they turned out decently crunchy on the edges. Maybe more chewy than crunchy, so use dark if that's what you're looking for.)
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 whole Eggs
1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour (I used unbleached and unbromated flour.)
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
3 cups Old Fashioned Oats (I used old fashioned rolled oats here.)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or using a hand mixer) beat together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each one.

Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium sized bowl. Add it into the creamed mixture in 2 to 3 batches, mixing it until just combined. Mix in the oats until just combined.

Use your preferred size cookie scoop (or a regular spoon) to drop portions of dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, spacing them a couple inches apart. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until dark and chewy. If you'd like a crispier cookie, just cook a little longer!

Let them cool slight on the pan after removing from the oven, then transfer the cookies onto a plate for serving.

* Note: Add 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts to the flour mixture if you'd like a nutty flavor and crunch.
** Further note from Tess: I'm still working out how to get the perfect time for a crunchy cookie. I tried fifteen minutes and they were still chewy. I'll keep testing it!

 

[thestruggle]

Never have I been so happy I don't have an electric mixer.

You could always hand mix.

 

[thestruggle]

1. Um...no.
2. I'm doing Paleo for 30 days le sigh

Ouch! I wouldn't have had any of these in the first place if I hadn't had miso-ginger tossed salad with tempeh croutons for dinner. It's just getting to be summer so I won't really be able to bake as much. Had to seize the opportunity!

 

[thestruggle]

I just made a really good lunch. Spelt crispbread spread with a tiny bit of organic cheese, topped with some shredded paleo buffalo chicken, and then I sliced some avocado to go on top. Amaaazzziiinggg.

 

[havinfun50]

Not my recipe... but I have to make this... very soon.

Jack Daniels injected & cedar planked Twinkies

 

[thestruggle]

I found the BEST combination of anything I've ever had for lunch, and I made another sandwich that was probably even better - but I didn't eat that one. So I'll share what I did for mine and the other one, and if anyone feels like it, they can try it for a decently healthy (mine) or more luxurious summer meal.

Overall ingredients used: shredded cooked chicken breast, pepper jack cheese, an avocado, lime juice, and a red onion.

For my lunch I used these humongous whole wheat wraps that I get, and I cut it in half to make a quarter quesadilla-like thing. I put a little bit of grated pepper jack and shredded chicken, and then let it warm up in the microwave for like 30 seconds overall? Don't let it get stiff or too runny. While that was going on I mashed about a third of a cubed avocado with some lime juice and black pepper, then put it on the melted half of the wrap. I covered it up with the other piece and BOOM, amazing.

The other one was a little more complicated. I used two pieces of rye bread and then slices of pepper jack, instead of grated. I caramelized about a quarter of a red onion in a pan and then deglazed it with red wine vinegar, until they were brown and caramelized-y. I mashed half of an avocado with lime juice, salt, pepper - spread it on half of the bread. I covered that with the onions, then the chicken, and then smashed the halves together. I grilled it, too - in a pan, but I bet you could go with a panini press or something (might be kind of gooey.) Apparently it was really good.

Anyway, mostly I want to emphasis the combination of pepper jack and avocado because holy moly. (Holy guacamole?) Anyone else making anything lately? Not really cooking season, getting too hot.

 

[TinyDuchess]

Tess, you're making my mouth water.

There's an avocado sitting on my kitchen counter staring at me right this minute. Looks like he's about to get sliced and diced today!. Thanks for the recipe

 

[thestruggle]

Tess, you're making my mouth water.

There's an avocado sitting on my kitchen counter staring at me right this minute. Looks like he's about to get sliced and diced today!. Thanks for the recipe

Oh, good, another avocado fan! If you think of anything else to do besides mash them up, let me know. I usually end up just doing that but I've got a few more I'm going to need to use before too long. I love them - they bulk things out without any real work.

 

[thestruggle]

Ok, so. So far, I've canned/frozen/stored:

- Fermented dill pickles
- A few batches of bread and butter pickles
- Roasted eggplant for the freezer
- Roasted peach and honey jam
- Cucumber and pepper relish
- Tomato coulis

And I'm only like a third of the way through my produce. Sigh. OH, and white gazpacho. But that's not frozen or stored.