Chocolate Chip Pie

Ingredients

1 pie base
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
115g margarine
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (eg cashews)

Method

Whisk the eggs, flour and sugar, then mix in the margarine. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into the pie base and bake at 180 for about 40 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Ingredients

Chicken breasts, cubed - to serve 6

Sauce
2 tbsps flour
2 tbsps soy sauce
2 tbsps vinegar
2 tbsps brown sugar
2 tbsps silan
4 tbsps ketchup and/or sweet chilli sauce
2 shallots, chopped
300 mls water
Optional: fruits/vegetables eg. pineapple, pepper - saute until soft, then add to the sauce

Method

Stir some of the water with the flour to make a paste; add the rest of the water, then mix in the remaining sauce ingredients.

Stir fry: stir fry the chicken pieces in a bit of oil until fully cooked, then mix with the sauce.

Bake: mix the sauce with the chicken in an ovenproof dish and cook for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Serve with rice.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Ingredients

Crust
1 cup flour
80g marge
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsps water

1 1/4 cups chopped pecans, about 160g (or use other nuts)
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
3/4 cup golden syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
50g melted marge
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
1/3 cup flour

Method

Mix the flour, marge and sugar until it forms crumbs. Add the water and press the dough into a pie dish. Bake at 180 for 15 mins, then sprinkle the pecans and chocolate chips over the base,
Whisk the eggs with the sugar, syrup, vanilla essence and melted marge, then whisk in the flour.
Pour into the base and bake at 180 for 45 mins or until set.

Variation - White chocolate cranberry: Replace the pecans and chocolate chips with 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 cup white chocolate chips, and 1 cup cranberries.

Chocolate Techina Sponge Pudding

Ingredients

300g techina
150 mls water
150 mls rum
300g icing sugar
300g sr flour
200g dark chocolate, melted
1 tsp baking powder

Method

Mix the techina with the water, rum, and icing sugar. Add the melted chocolate and whisk in the flour and baking powder.
Pour into a cake tin and bake at 180 for 25-30 mins. It should still be gooey in the middle. Serve warm with ice cream.

Chocolate Souffles

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sr flour
1 cup sugar
5 spoons cocoa
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
3/4 cup water
12 squares of dark chocolate

Method

Whisk together all the ingredients except for the chocolate squares. The mixture will be quite thick. Spoon it into 12 ramekins, then place a chocolate square in each, making sure it is covered with the mixture.
Bake at 180 for 8 minutes.
Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

Variation: place a teaspoon of peanut butter in the centre of each souffle before baking.

Carrot and Coriander Soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil
1 large onion, chopped
900g carrots, peeled and chopped
2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 litres stock
Chopped coriander

Method

In a large saucepan, fry the onion in the oil until golden. Add the chopped carrots, potatoes, stock and coriander. Bring to the boil. Simmer covered for 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft, then blend until smooth.
Add salt to taste, and serve garnished with fresh coriander. Serves 8.

Variations: Use a ratio of 500g chopped vegetables (eg. butternut squash / cauliflower / broccoli) to 1 litre of stock.

Apricot Chicken Tagine

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil
1 large onion, chopped small
1 tsp crushed garlic
Grated ginger
1 1/2 tsps cumin
2 tsps cinnamon
800g chicken breast, cubed
260g chopped tomatoes
600 mls stock
150g dried apricots, quartered
1 1/2 tbsps silan

Method

In a large saucepan, fry the onion in the oil until golden, then stir in the garlic, ginger, cumin and cinnamon. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry for about 5 minutes, or until browned.

Add the chopped tomatoes, stock, syrup, and apricots, and bring to the boil. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve over rice or couscous. Serves 8.