Chocolate Brownies

As I sit writing this I’m listening to the food programme on Radio 4.  The subject is comfort food and the increase in our love for it during times of personal strife, and, nationally, times of austerity.  Comfort food is accessible food; food that no one needs to teach us to love.  Sure, we grow to enjoy the salty tang of capers and anchovies and we can develop a passion for curly kale and smoked salmon, but true comfort food comes naturally to our palates, it makes us feel safe and reminds us of a time when all was well with the world.  Some of the best meals to share with friends and family are comfort based: a glorious Sunday roast with all the trimmings, a slow cooked casserole, a hearty soup with crusty bread, a celebratory cake, light and fluffy and rich with icing, even a ladleful of baked beans over crisp toast, they each bring pleasure and comfort equally.   With Valentine’s Day just around the corner thoughts of loved ones are hard to ignore.  I for one am not interested in the frills and fancies of Valentines, I’d rather show my love consistently instead of through the fuss and schmooze of plastic hearts and flowers.  That being said, I love to give gifts, to find or make the perfect card for someone and most of all, I love to cook for people. 

This Valentine’s I plan to cook for my loved one: Blood Orange Champagne Cocktails, a Chorizo and Prawn Tomato Stew with Homemade Olive Foccacia and, if we have room for it, a slice of sweet, indulgent and delicious Chocolate Brownie with a little shot of espresso to finish.  It’s a simple but indulgent menu and preparing and cooking it may well be my favourite part!  I say, take your pleasures where you can, and so this Valentine’s make something you love for the people you love and let bringing them pleasure be the ultimate treat.

I like to serve these brownies squares as they are with a cup of strong black coffee but you could easily up the pleasure levels and offer it with a creamy chocolate sauce.   Quite simply, melt 100g dark, dairy-free chocolate in a bain marie and, once smooth and melted, stir in 200ml of oat cream and mix gently until combined and warmed through.  Pour the sauce over the warm brownies and serve.

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Makes 12 brownies

You will need an 8 inch square baking tin for this recipe

170g Doves Farm gluten free self raising flour

3 tbsp cocoa powder

170g soft light brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp ground flaxseed

230ml rice milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil

A very small pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180c and grease and line the baking tin.  Sift the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl.  Stir in the brown sugar and flaxseed until evenly mixed.  Pour over the oil, vanilla extract and rice milk and stir together until smooth and glossy.  Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the oven for 25 minutes until just firm on top.  Remove from the oven and leave in the tin to cool for 10 minutes before serving or transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Homemade Rice Milk

I’m a big fan of life’s little pleasures.  I try and take note of all the small, positive things that happen and keep them in mind, the day -to- day treats that are worth remembering and without which life would be a much more unfriendly place.  One of my ‘small things’ is a cup of tea.  It might sound a little lame, and I can think of sexier simple pleasures, but seriously, I couldn’t function without tea in my life.  I like a big cup of tea in the morning, topped with rice milk and drunk while sat in bed; it’s a ten minute lull before the day really begins where I can think ahead and pull myself together.  I’d go as far as to say that tea is therapy – warming, comforting, the mechanics of making the tea are a meditative process in themselves, especially if you make it with proper leaves, in a proper pot, like a proper person should do.  Yes, tea with rice milk is, for me, a simple, celebratory pleasure.  Black tea, on the other hand, makes me want to cry, which is why it’s very, very important that you always have some rice milk to hand.  That’s where this brilliant and revolutionary recipe comes in.

I got the concept from this excellent little video.  I know there are various suggested ‘best’ methods of making your own rice milk but I thought this actually seemed the most logical and is by far the easiest and quickest process.  I have varied the proportions and equipment a little but only in order to make the most of such a fortuitous find.  Apart from being wonderfully easy to make, it is also infinitely cheaper than buying a carton of rice milk.  Most importantly, it gives you a choice and that’s something that can make all the difference when living with food intolerances and allergies.  It will keep for a few days in the fridge and will need a good stir, shake or quick blitz in the blender before pouring, just to mix it up a bit again.

You will need a good blender or food processor, fine mesh sieve and large square of muslin for this recipe, but other than that, it’s a breeze.  You can find muslin squares in Lakeland Plastics and most kitchen shops.

HOMEMADE RICE MILK

175g white basmati rice

1 litre water

2 - 3 tbsp agave syrup

A very small pinch of sea salt

Place the rice and water in a bowl or jug, cover and leave to stand for 8 – 24 hours.  You don’t need to refrigerate it but you can if you wish.  Pour the rice and water into your food processor or blender.  Add the salt and agave syrup and then blitz continuously for 3 whole minutes – you will have a lovely, frothy white milk but it will have lots of small granules of rice in it, this is how it’s meant to be.

Place a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl and line the sieve with the muslin cloth.  Pour in the rice milk, granules and all, and let it soak through the cloth and sieve into the bowl – the muslin is necessary as it is this that will strain out any very fine granules of rice so that you end up with a nice, smooth rice milk without any chalkiness.  Squeeze the remaining liquid through the muslin and sieve and then serve. 

Store the rice milk in a kilner jar or lidded jug in the fridge, giving it a good shake or stir before pouring.  If stored like this it will keep for up to 4 days.