Ingredients

-1 large red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
-½ bulb fennel, trimmed and roughly chopped
-1 stick celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
-olive oil
-1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
-2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
-½ fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
-1 bunch fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks chopped
-1 tablespoon coriander seeds
-2 cloves
-1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
-sea salt
-1 kg yellow, orange or green tomatoes, chopped, or 500g cherry or plum tomatoes, halved plus 500g tinned plum tomatoes
-200 ml red wine vinegar
-70 g soft brown sugar

Directions

Place all the vegetables in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan with a big splash of olive oil and the ginger, garlic, chilli, basil stalks, coriander seeds and cloves. Season with the pepper and a good pinch of salt.

Cook gently over a low heat for 10 to 15 minutes until softened, stirring every so often. Add all the tomatoes and 350ml of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently until the sauce reduces by half.

Add the basil leaves, then whiz the sauce in a food processor or with a hand blender and push it through a sieve twice, to make it smooth and shiny. Put the sauce into a clean pan and add the vinegar and the sugar. Place the sauce on the heat and simmer until it reduces and thickens to the consistency of tomato ketchup. At this point, correct the seasoning to taste.

Spoon the ketchup through a sterilized funnel into sterilized bottles, then seal tightly and place in a cool dark place or the fridge until needed – it should keep for six months. Great served with steak and chips.

Ingredients

-½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
-10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-3⁄4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
-4 large eggs, beaten
-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
-1 teaspoon kosher salt
-1 1/3 cups cake flour
-¼ cup natural cocoa powder
-35 small chocolate-covered peppermint patties candies (about 1 pound)
-1 cup mini chocolate chips or regular chocolate chips

Directions

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and line it with foil. Grease the foil.
In a saucepan, warm the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring often, just until melted. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugars. Whisk in the eggs slowly, beating well. Whisk in the vanilla and salt.
Sift the flour and cocoa over the chocolate mixture and, using a rubber spatula, stir in until just blended.

Pour about 1/2 of the brownie batter into the prepared dish, spreading it into an even layer. Place the peppermint patties over the top in a single, even layer.

Top with the remaining brownie batter and spread into an even layer.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost completely clean, about 30 minutes. During the last 3 minutes of baking, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top in an even layer; return to the oven to let the chips melt enough to stick to the surface.

Let cool completely in the dish, then remove from the dish using the foil to lift them out. Cool in the refrigerator until firm. Cut into gooey squares.

Ingredients

-1 cup white sugar
-1 cup milk
-2 eggs
-2 cups heavy cream
-1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

In medium saucepan over low heat, stir together sugar, milk and eggs. Cook, stirring continuously, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, 10 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a medium bowl, whip cream with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in vanilla and lemon juice, and whip until medium-stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cooled custard. Chill in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.
Stir chilled mixture to recombine, and freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Ingredients

190g all purpose flour
125g  whole-wheat flour
30g wheat bran
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoons soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
220g unsalted butter, room temperature
100g brown sugar
30 honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 180C.
In a medium bowl combine flours, wheat bran, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves.
In another bowl, mix the butter with sugar and honey until fluffy.
With mixer speed to low incorporate the flour mixture and mix until combined.If necessary use hands to form a dough.Divide the dough into 2 pieces.
Place one piece of dough onto a parchment paper.Cover with another parchment paper and star rolling the dough into a rectangle of about 3mm thick.
Remove the parchment paper on top and using a pastry cutter cut the edges to form a perfect rectangle and then cut into smaller rectangles about (5x12 cm).Prick crackers using a fork.Slide the parchment paper into a baking sheet.If you want you can freeze at this point to chill for 20 minutes and get firm before baking.(I baked the crackers right away and turned great)
Bake for 9-10 minutes until dark golden brown.Let cool on sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer crackers to wire racks to cool completely.
Crackers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperture , up to 3-5 days.

Eggs are among the most nutritious foods on the planet.

A single large boiled egg contains:

• Vitamin A: 6% of the RDA.
• Folate: 5% of the RDA.
• Vitamin B5: 7% of the RDA.
• Vitamin B12: 9% of the RDA.
• Vitamin B2: 15% of the RDA.
• Phosphorus: 9% of the RDA.
• Selenium: 22% of the RDA.

Eggs also contain decent amounts of Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Calcium and Zinc.
Eggs also contain various other trace nutrients that are important for health.
Really… eggs are pretty much the perfect food, they contain a little bit of almost every nutrient we need.

Eggs Are High in Cholesterol, But They Don’t Adversely Affect Blood Cholesterol

It is true that eggs are high in cholesterol.

In fact, a single egg contains 212 mg, which is over half of the recommended daily intake of 300 mg.

However… it’s important to keep in mind that cholesterol in the diet doesn’t necessarily raise cholesterol in the blood .

The liver actually produces large amounts of cholesterol every single day. When we eat more eggs, the liver just produces less cholesterol instead, so it evens out.

The response to egg consumption varies between individual :

• In 70% of people, eggs don’t raise cholesterol at all.
• In the other 30% (termed “hyper responders”), eggs can mildly raise Total and LDL cholesterol.

Eggs Contain Choline – an Important Nutrient That Most People Don’t Get Enough of

Choline is a nutrient that most people don’t even know exists.

Yet, it is an incredibly important substance and is often grouped with the B vitamins.
Choline is used to build cell membranes and has a role in producing signalling molecules in the brain, along with various other functions.

Dietary surveys have shown that about 90% of people in the U.S. are getting less than the recommended amount of choline.

Ingredients

-1 pound warm cooked chicken, skin removed and discarded,
-meat pulled into bite-sized pieces
-1/2 cup chopped celery
-1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
-1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
-2 1/2 tablespoons prepared white horseradish
-3 tablespoons olive oil
-1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar
-Favorite fresh seasonal fruit cut into bite-sized pieces, for fruit kabobs

Directions

Place the warm chicken in a mixing bowl. Combine with the celery and mushrooms.

In a small bowl, mix the mustard, horseradish, olive oil and vinegar until combined. Add to the chicken mixture. Let marinate for 20 minutes.

Make kabobs by threading an assortment of fruit on bamboo skewers.

Garnish each serving of the chicken salad with a fruit kabob.

Ingredients

1 avocado, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Mash avocado with an electric mixer, or use a food processor. Blend in the milk, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Chill for about 20 minutes before serving.