Proper Cookies

• 150g soft unsalted butter
• 125g soft light brown sugar (I have subsituted this with light muscovado if I've run out and it works just fine)
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 300g flour (I use Doves organic, it feels like a finer ground flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• about 300g of chocolate chips (I have also subsituted these for the same amount of chopped regular chocolate, sultanas, smarties, m&ms)
• 1 (or 2) large baking sheets

1. Preheat oven to 170c and line baking sheets with greaseproof.
2. Melt the butter (i'm lazy and do it in the microwave).
3. Combine the two sugars in a fairly large bowl and pour the butter over, mix until combined.
4. Beat in the egg a and egg yolk until the mix is light and creamy.
5. Add the flour and bicarb bit by bit until just blended and stir in thr chocolate chips.
6. I normally stick my mix into the fridge for 20 min at this point, its fairly important that until the batter is cooked you don't let it get too warm.
7. Using an ice cream scoop, scopp up the mix and put on the baking sheet you'll get 6-8 on each sheet.
8. Put mix back into fridge/porch/outside! (Under a tea towel or some such, keep those freeloading animals out).
9. Bake cookies for about 15 minutes check at about 12 minutes) or until the edges are firm and crispy but the center is still gooey. Keep a close eye, one minute either way can make a difference!
10. Marvel in the fact youll never have to buy those nasty addative laden cookies from a supermarket again!

I find that the cookies keep really well for about a week before they start to lose their real charm...although after that we have discovered they are quite acceptable with ice cream....

Perfect Chocolate Brownies

• 150g unsalted butter
• 300g light brown muscovado sugar
• 75g cocoa powder, sifted
• 150g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 4 eggs
• approx 150g milk chocolate, chopped into small chunks ( a standard size dairy milk chocolate bar is easiest, or 2 bars of Green and Blacks).

1. Preheat oven to 180c and line a brownie pan with greaseproof paper ( I actually use foil and it comes out just fine but I'm not sure it's a recommended method...)
2. Melt butter in a fair size pan over a gentle heat, when it's melted completely add the sugar and stir until fairly well incorporated.
3. Add the flour, cocoa and bicarb and combine, it will look quite dry at this point.
4. Remove pan fro heat and add the eggs, stir well.
5. Mix in the chocolate and combine.
6. Pour mixture into pan and bake for about 15-18 minutes, when perfectly cooked it will be cooked around the edge, set on top and still wobbly and gooey in the middle.
7. When cooked, remove from oven and leave to cool for 15 minutes until it is a bit more set. Then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
8. Attempt to have them last in the kitchen for more than 6 hours without friends, relatives and small children snaffling them....

Apple Pie for winter!

*1kg cooking apples (if using eaters, use less sugar when you cook them)
*Couple tablespoons sugar
*Cinnamon/nutmeg if you have a less picky boy than me
*Decent sized knob of butter
*1 beaten egg

I've used disposable foil pie dishes so that I can freeze them, 1kg apples filled two dishes.

I also used ready made sweet shortcrust pastry partly because I am appauling at making pastry and partly because I didn't have the time or patience to tackle that particular bug bear.

-Peel and core all the apples and cut into wedges (about 8 to an apple, depending on size).
-Chuck all the appples, butter and sugar into a big pan and cook them until the sugar has dissolved and the apples have softened, but not turned to mush. About 15 minutes.
-Put apples to one side to cool slightly (apples can be bagged and frozen at this point to use for pies etc later on) and roll pastry.
-Line pie dish/es with a thin layer (about 5mm) of pastry, trim off the excess.
-Fill dish with the cooked apples, they need to be fairly full, with a sort of mound on top.
-Brush beaten egg around edge of dish and pastry and top with more rolled pastry.
-Brush lid with egg and sprinkle with sugar and stab a couple of holes in the lid to let out the steam.
-Put in the oven at about 180c until pastry is crisp and sugar has browned.

I've frozen my pies after I've cooked them so they can be reheated at a later date. If you use the foil trays, remember DON'T microwave them!

Green Tomato Chutney

- 4 lb of green tomatoes
- 2 lb of onions
- 2 lbs of apples, sharp eaters of cooking apples
- 1 pint cider vinegar
- 500g granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp pickling spice
- muslin (cheesecloth) bag for spices

- Large heavy bottomed pan
- Sterile jars (run them through the dish washer or wash them in hot water and put on a tray in the oven for about 20 minutes at 150c)
- Jam funnel (not a staple but makes life a lot easier

This recipe makes about 7/8 jars depending (rather obviously) on how big your jars are.

- Dice the tomatoes, onions and apples into chuck all of a similar size, no bigger than about 1.5cm and put into pan.
- Pour over the vinegar and sugar and bring to the boil, stirring frequently until the sugar has dissolved.
- Turn down the heat and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally, making sure the chutney doesn't stick to the pan.
- Chutney is cooked when you make a trench through the pan with the wooden spoon and NO VINEGAR fills this space. If vinegar is still running about, cook for a little longer.
- Leave to cool slightly then transfer into sterile jars.
- Chutney should be left untouched for at least 6 weeks before use.