Mobile: Take your recipe with you!

Like this blog? Forgotten the ingredients for a recipe?
Well you can look it up with the mobile version now enabled.

~ Save a tree and read the recipe from your mobile or smartphone ~

Cheat Treats: Heartwarmer Chilli Choc Brownies

Even though I trained and certified as a cook when I was 19 yrs old (please don't ask how many years ago that was) and can cook "from scratch", I still love my shortcuts or my "cheat treats". This one had everyone asking for the recipe. Even my chiropractor who got to sample the brownies asked for the recipe so I ducked into the shops quickly to purchase a couple of packet mixes and a bottle of chilli powder and returned with the "recipe" and a few laughs.

Just add 3/4 teaspoon of chilli powder to a Triple Choc Brownie mix by Betty Crocker (c) for the most amazing ♥ Heartwarmer Chilli Choc Brownies ♥

My other favourite "cheat treats" include adding finely chopped zest of a lemon, lime or orange and adding them to a basic vanilla or butter cake mix. I rarely ever do a chocolate cake without adding my favourite flavour of orange zest and turning it into a jaffa cake.

~ Hope these few cheats have given you some food for thought ~

Sorbet: Green Fire In Ice

Well here it is, my first post for a sorbet I call Green Fire in Ice!
[I will take and upload a picture of actual sorbet later]

This icy confection of chilli and lime was inspired by a friend's recent invitation to a chilli con carnival themed lunch where everyone was asked to bring along a chilli dish from a cuisine of choice.

Thanks for the "chilli" seed of inspiration Tina and Nick!

Green Fire in Ice
Approx 12-14 servings

2 1/4 cups caster sugar
3 cups water
2 green chillis (trimmed & halved, leave seeds in)
zest of 1 lime
1 cup fresh lime juice (added to syrup once cooled)

To make the syrup, add the sugar, water, chilli and zest in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until sugar dissolves. Once dissolved, turn the heat up and let the syrup boil for 2-3 mins.

Remove from heat and strain syrup into a metal bowl and then set aside to let cool. The chillis and zest can be discarded as they've done their job of infusing the syrup with their beautiful flavours.

Once syrup is cool, stir in the fresh lime juice, cover the bowl and place in freezer for 2-3 hrs until it's just started to ice around the edges and top.

Beat with an electric hand-mixer and return to freezer for an hour, repeat twice at hourly intervals or until the mixture is thick and smooth.

As you can see, it is a timely process but that doesn't mean that it has to be wasted time. You could be baking some Heartwarming Chilli Choc Brownies (this was my "back-up plan" dish) and start a blog like I did.

OK the moment of truth draws near as today is Chilli con Carnival! Time to line the tummy with yoghurt in preparation for the burn. Stay tuned for the consensus... was it a success or a successful failure?