Lavash Crackers with Baba Ghanoush

Lavash Crackers with Baba Ghanoush

Eagerly refreshing the Daring Bakers’ Challenge page every hour I let out a big sigh of relief when I saw it’s not going to be a humungous layer cake. These cakes were definitely not doing my diet any good. Having eaten authentic Lavash in Istanbul (Turkey), I was somewhat puzzled by the “cracker” part. I like to think of Lavash as the blowfish of the bread kingdom. Fresh from the oven it looks rather impressive until you make a hole in it and steam escapes while the bread collapses quicker than you can say “granny’s saggy titties”. But crackers?? I was stumped.

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Apple & Pistachio Danish Braid

Apple & Pistachio Danish Braid

For the first time I read the new recipe for the month of The Daring Bakers, I got excited. No fancy schmancy cakes with lots of layers and different fillings or bizarre frozen cheesecake lollies. No, this challenge’s end result I was actually keen to eat. Unfortunately, it had to wait a while because we went to Ireland and then Gabriel didn’t let me get any normal (nightly) sleep for more than a week. The day before the reveal date I finally baked it and I dare say it was enjoyable. Let’s get on with it.

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Chocolate & Pistachio Brownies

Chocolate & Pistachio Brownies

Brownies as they should be: moist, soft and squidgy on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside. Shop-bought and other recipes I’ve tried but these brownies are by far my favourite. This recipe is foolproof; never have I had a disaster with this one. Many would agree that chocolate is the ultimate comfort food. We munch on it when we’re happy, we scoff it down when feeling low. We devour it when we’re hungry, we nibble on it when we’re stuffed. Let’s face it, we’ll rationalise about anything and everything just to get our hands on some chocolate.

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Beef, Prune & Guinness Stew

Beef, Prune & Guinness Stew

Nothing yells Irish more than Guinness. Two billion Euros’ worth of the dark, frothy stout gets poured in glasses around the world every year. Now that’s a lot of pints, people. Surprisingly, Guinness is healthier than the average beer like Corona, Samuel Adams, Budweiser, Heineken, you get the picture. Why? Guinness is lower in alcohol, calories and carbohydrates than the rest. The reason why it’s so dark is because is loaded with flavonoids, anti-oxidants and vitamin B. Moderate consumption of Guinness works like aspirin to prevent clots that increase the risk of heart attacks.

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Chicken with Apples in a Creamy Calvados Sauce

Chicken with Apples in a Creamy Calvados Sauce

Poulet Vallée d’Auge is the French name for this classic dish from Normandy and Brittany, which are the dairy and apple-growing regions of France. Chicken and apple is a match made in heaven. Paired with a light creamy sauce enhanced with some brandy is simply divine. This fricassée is seriously more-ish. Once you start you can’t stop until every morsel has been devoured and the very last globule of sauce licked off your plate, not to mention the frying pan!!
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Nigella’s Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake

Nigellas Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake

Back in late March Neil’s 50th birthday (oops, I said it) was coming up and I asked him what he would like as a special meal. Chocolate cake was one of the requests. (Neil is a self-confessed chocoholic and his excuse is he’s in touch with his feminine side.) He regressed by telling me on each of his birthdays his mother used to bake him a chocolate cake with melted chocolate on top as icing. Forever trying to please him, I promised I will make him one.

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