The World's Best Brownie... and Other ODG Triumphs

Today we had our first visitors over for dinner.

Stress!

Fortunately, it was the missionaries (the two young men currently teaching the gospel full-time in Lichfield) and they aren't harsh critics for two reasons:

1) They have to be pleasant as it isn't really a good idea for them to come into an area and upset the members and
2) They're 19-21 year olds. They're away from home. For the first time. A meal is a meal and that, for hungry workers, is always a good thing.

Nevertheless, I worried about what to cook. In the end I went for a simple rice and chicken slow cooker thing. It worked out alright BUT I wouldn't recommend it- the recipe said it could be left in the slow cooker for 8 hours and it pretty much ended up like mush... plus it was bland and tasteless... HOWEVER, the recipe was definitely to blame and not me so that was a huge bonus.

The saving grace of the meal was DEFINITELY the brownie. Oh. Mi. Goodness.

Now, I have a sweet tooth and am a MASSIVE fan of brownie any day but my oh my even I cannot believe the sheer genius of this recipe. So.... I thought I would share the secret of every culinary success I've had so far. There have been three. After 7 weeks of marriage that might not seem like a very high number- but please know that I am just being particularly picky and critical and I only want to share with you the very, very best.

1) Brownie. At home we had our 'go-to' Brownie recipe which required all the ingredients to be shoved into a bowl and mixed. It was excellent and I loved it. However, sometimes it did get a bit dry and it lost some of that lovely brownie gooey-ness. I won't be using that recipe again! This recipe is a tiny bit more complicated than shoving it all in a bowl and mixing, but not much. It takes next to no time. My advice: have it warm with ice-cream and berries. A total hit.

2) Leek and Parmesan Risotto. For me this is the ultimate comfort food. And it's easy to make. And Ben loved it. Yes, again, the recipe is from BBC good food. I am officially a fan. I lost my recipe book somewhere in the move to our place (or at my parent's house) and so I came here with nothing. BBC good food has saved many a meal. Anyway- this dish is brilliant and simple. I omitted the wine, used whichever rice I had in my cupboard and used much more stock than it suggested as the rice wasn't cooked by the time it had become dry.

3) Thai Beef Massaman Curry and Jasmine rice. My Grandparents bought us a slow cooker when we got engaged. I was a little unenthusiastic about it as a gift though I tried to be grateful. After Ben tasted this recipe, he told me we ought to call them and say thank you again. I used a standard potato and we only had yellow onions but it was absolutely fine. I added some extra brown sugar AND a spoonful of peanut butter! It was YUM-CIOUS.

Well... I'll let you know if I get any more success! 

Happy Cooking- and please share your best and easiest recipes with me!!!