Kitchen love: Valentines Oozy center chocolate pudding

Before I share this absolutely delish pudding, I want to mention that it is worth investing in a good quality kitchen scale. Sometimes weight works much easier to get your recipe going than having to measure 48,5ml or whatever odd amount of ingredient!

Makes 4 (1 for your loved one, 1 for you and another 2 for you!), 35 minutes

Filling:

·      70g dark chocolate (I use 80%)

·      50ml cream

Pudding:

·      40g brown sugar

·      50g butter

·      1 egg, beaten

·      25g flour (I know - almost nothing)

·      20g cocoa powder (NoMU is the best!)

·      20g ground almonds  (can be substituted with more flour)

1.     Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

2.     Melt the chocolate over simmering water and stir in the cream. Leave to chill for about 10 minutes.

3.     Grease 4 pudding moulds (not too big) - or 4 muffin indents of a muffin pan, which I always do. 

4.     Beat together the sugar and butter then add the egg.

5.     Fold in the flour and cocoa powder.

6.     Use enough batter to fill the moulds/"indents" to a third.

7.     Spoon the chilled chocolate mixture on top of the batter.

8.     Fill each one with the remainder of the batter.

9.     Bake for 10 minutes until set.

Prepare the plates:

Cut a heart shape out of a piece if paper. Use a small amount of cocoa and sift it through a sieve over the heart. Move the heart cut out and repeat. 

Leave the pudding to cool down slightly before using the paper with the heart cut-out and icing sugar sifted through a sieve to decorate the top of the njammy pudding.

Kitchen love: Valentines main course

This is such an easy meal to prepare, allowing adequate time to set the table for the special person in your life!

Fillet with balsamic tomato pan sauce

serves 2, 15 minutes

• 2 x 175g beef fillet steaks
• olive oil, to rub
• 1 small packet mini Rosa tomatoes (Woolworths)
• 2ml dried oreganum
• 125ml balsamic vinegar

1. Heat a frying pan over a high heat.
2. Rub the steaks with olive oil and sear for about 2 minutes, then turn over and cook for another minute. (Cook longer should you prefer meat well done)
3. Remove the meat from the pan and allow to rest.
4. Fry the tomatoes in the pan until the skins burst - be careful not to squash it!
5. Pour the vinegar and oreganum and cook for 1 minute.
6. Serve the steak topped with the blackened tomatoes and sauce.

Serve with potato / sweet potato mash and stir fried baby marrow.

Be sure to visit next week for the delicious valentines dessert recipe!

Kitchen love: Honey & mustard kassler chops

We have decided to include a special Thursday "Kitchen Love" feature for all those who enjoy spending time cooking. Hope you enjoy!

serves 4, 30 minutes

ingredients:

• 4 Kassler chops (I used the ones from Woolworths)
• 4 tsp Dijon mustard
• honey to drizzle

steps to prepare:

1. Prepare the Kassler chops by frying in a pan over medium heat until cooked, turn regularly.
2. Spread a teaspoon of Dijon mustard on each chop and place under a preheated grill until small 'cracks' are visible in the mustard. It can be grilled longer should a crust be preferred.
3. Place chops in a dish and drizzle with honey.

The spicy and sweet combination is great! I used chopped spring onion to garnish. Serve with a green salad and potato mash.

Chooseday: Calling all Chocoholics!

I was recently sent a link to the Chocolate Studio's website, where one can do various different courses in both Cape Town and Johannesburg, all related to chocolate. Some of the options include:

-  Chocolate appreciation

-  Chocolate dessert tasting

-  Art of Truffle

-  Chocolate showpiece creation 

-  Cake creation & decor

Some of the courses are offered every week, where others are offered once a month. All bookings can be made online and course outlines are also available on the site. The company also offers catering for functions.

 source: Chocolate studio

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