Muffins and lamb chops !

Hello fellow blogger's , it's a new day! It's halloween today. I was originally planning on doing some spooky stuff and a halloween themed dinner. But if I have to be honest with my readers, I'm having a bad day today. Therefore I'm not in the mood for halloween unfortunately , and I was so looking forward to it as it's my first one in the UK. Never mind there will be others.

Lets not bore you with my stuff for now I'm planning on some lamb chops today maybe do a nice sauce on the side, with some chips and greens (broccoli and peas) . Easy dinner with little effort .
You know what I decided to do some baking after all, this is my medicine and it just makes me feel better. I am trying some muffins, will write down the recipe after I finish and upload some pictures, for know happy halloween x

Done my muffins :) and I certinally feel better.

Halloween Chocolate Muffins

With Rum chocolate sauce on top

Total time: 2hrs
cooking time: 20mins
preparation time 1hr 30 mins
Level: Easy
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

50g dark chocolate
85g butter
200g self-raising flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
85g brown sugar
50g caster sugar
1 egg
140ml sour cream

For the Rum Chocolate sauce

150ml of double cream
60g of dark chocolate
2tbsp of dark Rum

I started with the rum chocolate sauce as it needs to be left to cool down at least an hour . Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and put it in a pan of boiling water so that is melts. When done leave a side to  cool down.

preheat your oven on 170 degrees and make sure your rack is on the lowest setting of the oven. Take the chocolate and the butter and put in a bowl and over a pan to melt and set aside.
Mix the flour with the sugars and the bicarbonate of soda in a big mixing bowl. In another bowl beat an egg and add the sour cream to it. Now you are ready to mix everything together. your chocolate, and the egg mixture all go inn with the flour mixture. Beat it slowly so u combine all the ingredients together.
Take out your muffin tray and line it with cup cake paper cases. I didn't have them so I lined it with a bit of butter and spooned in the mixture. Make you sure you don't over fill them like I did :p
They turned out alright and tasty but they were a bit too big on top.
Put in the oven and bake for about 20 mins.

Leave them cool down at least for 30 mins, before you take them out and start decorating. I used some rum chocolate sauce on top of all of them and then had some extra dark chocolate, which I melted and with this chocolate I done two circles on each muffin top one smaller then the other and then with a cocktail stick scored trough them so that the end results looks a bit like a cob web . A bit of a hallo-weeny style!

 

 

 

 

My muffins before been put in the oven

My extra large muffins, just baked        

Nicely decorated                                           

Made to look a bit pretty with decorated tray

 

Roasted Duck legs with potatoes and a spicy sauce

I have to be honest with all my readers out there. I have only discovered this passion of mine in the past two years. I wasn't much of cook and I always went home and found my dinner ready,so there was no reason for me to cook. But things changed! I had my first baby, Mia. So my partner moved with us , so we could live as a family together.In a few months together I was pregnant again, with my second child Lloyd. I have to say I wanted to impress him with my cooking to start with :) Not sure if I succeeded or not but we're still together .
But then it just turned into a passion, a means of escaping into my own little world. Challenging myself and feel that satisfaction of the end result. It's just something I can't really explain. I simply love it.

Well as I said I knew nothing about cooking. I can't write anything more before I express my gratitude to Jamie Oliver. He is the one that has inspired me . He just makes cooking sound fun! So if you ever get to read this Thank you Jamie Oliver.

I am gonna start a challenge with myself and start writing my everyday life cooking. I don't have my own recipes , I haven't gone that far I'm afraid!
I just look up recipes and try to keep my dinners interesting for my family. I will start uploading pictures as from my today's dinner.


Today's Dinner:-

Roasted Duck legs with potatoes

and a spicy sauce

Total time 2Hrs 15mins
preparation  :      15mins
cooking       : 2Hrs
Level : Very easy
Serves two

This is a very easy to prepare dinner. Especially after a hard days work , or maybe you have things to do at home, or simply you want to spend more time with your kids! Whatever the reason , this dish will not disappoint you . Plus you will have plenty of time for yourself left!
I choose duck legs as they are a bit cheaper then breast and I think it's a bit tastier to , as those juices of the bone come out they make it deliciously tender! But feel free to use breast if it makes you fel healthier. I love my food so I don't really worry about it .
I am going to serve this dish with some carrots and green beans, but you can also do it along side a nice green salad.


Ingredients

2 duck legs
2 large baking potatoes
thyme
salt and pepper
baby carrots
green beans

For the spicy sauce:

300ml chicken stock
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
a pinch allspice
1 tbs honey
2 tbs dry sherry
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp chili sauce
1 garlic clove, crushed



 Preheat the oven on 200 degrees
Score the legs with a sharp knife , so that the flavours come out a bit more. And fry them top side down in a frying pan (medium heat) so that u get a nice brown color and some oil coming out of the duck.
Put your duck legs in a baking dish and set a side for a moment until u slice your potatoes. Add them to your baking tray with the duck legs , along side with some fresh thyme and seasoning. I would add a splash of water to pan . But if you want it's good to go without it. Put in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.

For the sauce heat the stock ( I use a stock cube and dissolve it in 300 ml of boiled water.) And put in all the ingredients above and stir . By now your duck should be cooking for aboat 30 mins. Pour half of the sauce over your ducks and leave it cook for another 45 mins before pouring in the rest of the sauce. Cook for a further 15 minutes and it's ready to serve.

Tip: When you put the sauce on the duck make sure you turn your potatoes. So they go nice , crispy and brown all over.

I served my duck legs with some bolied baby carrots, green beans and a nice g
lass of red wine. Enjoy