Wednesday, July 21, 2010

BACK TO PARADISE! Thanks to CJO







I randomly popped into Paradise Bar last week to find the manager of my lovely local pub in Twickenham behind the bar. The two guys that own it admitted that they have handed it over to a set of people that had no idea what they were doing and have now asked Alan to come in and sort it out.

He would love to get us all going back there and the Stopgap 10% discount button is still on the till!

New chef, new menu (Nice salads, wraps, sandwiches, pizza oven, fresh pizza, they make their own bread etc), wines are good too.

They will be putting in a new kitchen and creating a restaurant upstairs, will offer the room up there for meetings and will not charge us for the hire.

His name is Alan Rickets - 020 8332 7122.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

THE FAMOUS SG CHOCOLATE TORTE thanks CJO!

Chocolate Truffle Torte
400g good quality dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa) broken into pieces
6 large eggs
400g caster sugar
250g butter (unsalted) in pieces
100g ground almonds

* Preheat oven to 160c (fan)
* Melt chocolate and butter in bowl over a pan of simmering water - when melted allow to cool slightly
* Beat eggs and sugar with electric whisk for around 10mins until pale and thick.
* Gently fold in chocolate and almonds into the egg mixture.
* Pour into a 23cm x 7cm baking tin lined with baking parchment
* Bake in middle of the oven on a baking tray for 45mins
* Allow to cool in the tin - the cake will sink and crack
* Chill in the fridge once cool before turning out to serve.
Enjoy! Especially nice with really good quality vanilla ice cream

Ma's Meringues from CP

Meringues
(4 egg whites makes 15 - 20 meringues)
One egg white to 2 ounces of caster sugar
Put the oven on a low heat - No. 1 if possible
Line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper
Beat the egg white to peaks and then SLOWLY add the caster sugar..this can be done in a blender
Use about a dessert spoon of the mixture for each meringue
Put the trays in the oven for an hour..Turn the oven off and leave to cool over night