Chocolate brownie cake

I'm not a big chocolate lover really, but once when I was ill I got a real craving for brownies, and cobbled this recipe together from the internet and various cookbooks. For the chocolate I've used all kinds - Green & Black's almond chocolate, Milka's Dime Bar chocolate, dark chocolate buttons. They all worked fine. By the way, this is only a "cake" because I only own a round cake tin. You can cut it into slices to get more traditional-looking brownies.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 330g of caster sugar
• 170g of unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 60g of plain flour
• 25g of ground almonds
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoonful of baking powder
• 50g of cocoa powder
• 100g of chocolate (a bar or buttons)
   

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Use the extra butter to grease and line a round cake tin that's 20-ish cm across (or 8 inches), with a loose bottom.
3. Measure out the sugar and pour it into a large bowl, then add the eggs. Beat with a wooden spoon until combined. The mixture should be sloppy but light.
4. Melt the 170g of butter (I did it in the microwave) and leave to cool slightly.
5. Measure out the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder and add to the bowl.
6. Once the butter is cooler but still liquid, mix it into the bowl (you don't want it to be too hot or it'll cook the eggs).
7. Mix to combine, keeping plenty of air in the batter.
8. Crush the chocolate into little bits of rubble.
9. Pour the batter into the cake tin and scatter the chocolate rubble over the top.
10. Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Turkey and chorizo paella

If/when I'm ever sent to the guillotine, I'll probably request this as my last meal. It's so comforting and tasty, I could eat it for days together (and have). As well as for dinner, try it for lunch spread on buttered crusty bread for a double-carb hit. You can substitute chicken for the turkey, but I prefer turkey.

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tablespoonful of olive oil
• 400g of turkey breast steaks
• 200g chorizo ring (soft cooking chorizo, and as smoky and spicy as you can find)
• 1 teaspoon of paprika powder (I used smoked paprika)
• 250g of rice (I used brown rice for the nutty flavour and good bite, but you can use paella rice or any long-grain)
• 1 litre of hot vegetable stock
• ½ a teaspoon of ground turmeric (or you could use a pinch of saffron)
• A generous dose of frozen peas (decide how many you want on the fly)
• A grind or three of black pepper
• A handful of flat-leaf parsley
   

Method

1. Peel and finely chop the onion.
2. Finely chop or mince the garlic.
3. Heat the oil in a large, deep-sided frying pan (that has a lid) over a medium heat.
4. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes until soft and translucent.
5. Meanwhile, chop the turkey into little chunks, and cut the chorizo on the diagonal into slices about a centimetre thick, then chop each slice in half.
6. Stir the garlic and paprika into the onions and cook for a minute (or until you can smell the garlic cooking).
7. Add the meat to the pan and cook, stirring, until the turkey is white on all sides.
8. Make up the stock (from a cube - I don't mean make stock from scratch!).
9. Stir the rice into the pan, mixing it in thoroughly.
10. Pour in the stock and add the turmeric or saffron. Stir to mix.
11. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and put the lid on.
12. Simmer for 25 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.
13. Chop the parsley roughly.
14. Stir in the peas and let them cook for about two minutes. If your paella is still too watery at this point, turn up the heat and cook for a few more minutes with the lid off to reduce a little. Stir frequently though, so that it doesn't catch and burn.
15. Season with pepper, then stir in the parsley and serve.