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When I was last home in New Zealand, my mother was purging the house. I was curious to see what had made the cut, so went to inspect her 'donate to charity' pile.... and lo' and behold! Staring up at me from on top of her give-away pile was a familiar friend.

The classic spiral binding.

The faded cover illustration of the sunrise.

The time yellowed paper.

"How could you give away your EDMONDS COOKERY BOOK???" I exclaimed in horror!

Mother told me to calm down, because she had simply replaced our old Edmonds cookbook (Circa 1992) with the newer, brighter, shiny hardback version (edition 69). I indignantly pointed out that different editions featured slightly different recipes.

As I lovingly leafed through the dogged pages, and took in the odd note penciled in the margins, I realised I could not part with this treasure. Like many Kiwi girls, the Edmonds cookery book was my first companion in the kitchen, guiding me through the basics.

My favourite recipe was the Coconut Chocolate Brownies (Page 44). I made this brownie for a school market, replacing the coconut with chocolate and under baking to achieve a fudgier texture.

Over the years I have played with the recipe, adding cream cheese, peanut butter, fruit preserves, different types of confectionery, flavorings or sauces to this brownie base. My most recent experiment was a triple chocolate raspberry variation with the following changes to the original recipe.

• Increased the cocoa powder, for intensity of flavour
• Swapped coconut for double volume of chocolate (splitting up when this was added to the batter)
• Reduction in sugar & butter, to off-set the addition of so much chocolate!
• Addition of raspberries, to provide tartness to contrast the chocolate
• Lowered temperature and baking time.

It seems to have been a success, as I've had a few requests for the recipe... so here is my attempted write-up.

Ingredients

Makes 1 x 20cm (8") Square tin | Prep Time: 10 mins | Bake Time: 25 Mins

• 115g Butter
• 1/2 cup Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar (loosely packed)
• 2 Eggs (mine were 55-60g each)
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence (or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste)
• 1/4 cup Dark Chocolate chips/pieces (Plus 1 Tablespoon for sprinkling )
• 1/4 cup Milk Chocolate chips/pieces
• 1/4 cup White Chocolate chips/pieces (Plus 1 Tablespoon for sprinkling)
• 3/4 cup Plain White Flour (see note)
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 cup Raspberries, fresh or frozen not thawed (Plus 1 Tablespoon chopped for sprinkling)
• 1 Tablespoon Icing Sugar (for dusting)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 170C or 350F, and line your baking tray with non-stick paper.
2. Melt butter in a small pot.
3. Add cocoa to the pot, and stir over low heat for 1 minute.
4. Take the pot off heat, and add in the sugar which will partially melt.
5. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
6. Mix in the vanilla.
7. Mix in half of the milk and dark chocolate. This chocolate will partially melt into the batter but also begin to cool the batter down.
8. Sift in the flour and salt. Mix until combined.
9. Fold through the remaining chocolate (half the milk and dark, and all the white) and the raspberries.
10. Pour into the pan, and sprinkle (or position if you are pendantic :P) the extra 1 Tablespoon each of dark/white chocolate chips and Raspberries bits.
11. Place in the centre of your heated oven and bake for ~25 mins (bake for longer if you want it less fudgey and more cakey). The centre should still be just a tiny bit jiggly in the middle, but a crust and skin should have clearly formed.
12. Leave to cool in the pan for 10-15 mins (if you try to move it too fast it might crack) then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
13. Once completely cooled, dust with icing sugar.
14. Slice with a sharp knife (wiping it down between each cut, to keep your slices clean).
15. Serve with cream, yoghurt or ice cream with extra berries on the side!
16. Store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.... to be honest, it's never lasted this long in my house without being eaten!

Notes

• Chocolate: I used a mixture of Ghiradelli 60% cacao dark chocolate chips, Belgian White Chocolate chips and Tesco's milk chocolate tablet (broken into pieces). Do not use compound chocolate, it will give you a completely different texture!
• Baking Tin: To ensure a satisfying brownie crust, I recommend using a a dark non-stick pan, not a glass dish or light coloured aluminium pan.
• Flour: One of the secrets to fudgey brownie is not to have too much flour which can create gluten when mixed. To measure your flour "fluff" it up with a for or spoon, and measure it out by using a spoon to fill your measuring cups before measuring. You don't want to scoop the flour straight from the container using thhe measuring cups as the flour will be compacted. You could substitite the pain flour for self-raising, you'll just get a lighter texture (due to the air bubbles created by the leavening agent) in which case you must as well bake the brownie for a few mminutes longer and go for a cakier version.

My experimentation with dips arose from attending a few too many dessert or 'wine & cheese' nights where I often left feeling like I had overindulged.

Although I was always tempted to bake a sweet treat to share for these occasions, I began to take a selection of homemade dips, crackers and crudites (vegetable sticks!) instead.

When I first served this dip, the girls thought it was guacamole because it was so intensely green, and looked pretty creamy. Despite this, there weren't any complaints after tasting the dip!

After a while the girls came to expect this healthier alternative as a way to balance out our Friday or Saturday night nibbles. In fact, it was this group (amongst others) who encouraged me to start a blog, although they were thinking more one solely for dips...

So, I dedicate this first dip post to them (Here's to you Debs, Liv, Shelby & Louise)!

Ingredients

Makes approx. 2 cups | Prep Time: 5-10 mins

• 2 cups frozen peas (thawed, or blanched)
• Handful of fresh mint leaves (wash prior!)
• 1/4 cup of roasted cashew nuts (either salted or unsalted)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 Tablespoons of natural unsweetened yoghurt OR Cottage Cheese OR Ricotta OR Sour cream (optional, but helps provide smoothness and a creamier texture)
• Zest of 1 lemon (grated)
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon (can adjust to your taste)
• Salt & Pepper to your taste

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients into a food processor or blender.
2. Pulse until well blended. Depending on your preferences you can make this very smooth, or chunkier if you like texture in your dips.
3. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
4. Serve with crudites, crackers, tortilla or pita chips, breadsticks etc.

Notes

• Salt & Pepper: You can obviously adjust this to suit your tastes or what you are serving e.g. if your bread is covered with salt flakes you can dial down the salt in the recipe.
• Cashews: If you have cahsew butter you can sub out the cashew nuts for 1.5 tablespoons of cashew butter.
• Yoghurt or Sour Cream: if you want to make this vegan, you can substite this for silken tofu, or leave out altogether.

Earlier this year I year I lost my maternal Grandma, or Por Por (婆婆) in Cantonese.

One of the key things that defined her, was her passion for food. Even my earliest memories of her revolved around the kitchen as I watched her boiling soup, kneading dough, and forming dumplings.

Mum recalled that even though they were not well-off when growing up, Por Por worked hard to ensure there was good food on the table. Although Por Por was frugal, a key tenet she lived by was to not compromise when it came to spending on the family's healthcare and food. She saw good nutrition as a basis for health, an investment into her kids' futures and way she could show her love for them.  

This recipe is based on a soup Por Por used to make, passed onto my mum and therefore me.  It's a variation of Cantonese style egg drop soup. Apparently Grandma used to order this for me at big family dinners at Chinese restaurants, when I was still too little to partake in eating rice with the myriad of dishes swirling around on the lazy-Susan.

This is still my favourite soup today. It is warming, hearty and filling, and reminds me of my Por Por and every bit of love she put into making food for me.

Enjoy.

Ingredients

Serves 4 | Prep Time: 5-10 mins | Cook time: 20 mins

• 2-2.5 cups Chicken Stock (see note)
• 1/2 cup of Cooked Chicken meat (shredded or diced)
• 1 cup of Corn Kernels (can be fresh, frozen or canned)
• 1 cup/can of Creamed Corn (see note)
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Cornflour
• 2 Tablespoons Water
• 1-2 stalks of Spring onion/Scallions, sliced thinly.
• Salt & Pepper to Taste

Instructions

1. Place stock and chicken meat in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for approx. 5 mins.
2. Add corn kernels. Bring to back to boil and simmer for 2-3 mins.
3. Add creamed corn. Simmer for 2-3 mins. Stir to ensure the creamed corn doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
4. Crack the first egg into a bowl. Pour this into the pot whilst quickly stirring to break up the egg and form egg 'wisps' through the soup. I typically stir with large wooden cooking chopsticks.
5. Repeat previous step with the second egg. Simmer the soup for 2-3 mins
6. In a bowl, mix the cornflour with the water to create a 'milky' slurry. Ensure there are no lumps.
7. Pour the cornflour slurry into the soup whilst stirring. Simmer for 2-3 mins until the soup has thickened.
8. Add the spring onions/scallions (you can reserve some to garnish your soup if you wish) and simmer for a further minute.
9. Take the pot of heat and add salt + pepper to suit your tastes. Traditionally this is made with white pepper. But black pepper will suffice.
10. To serve the soup, garnish with spring onion, or small sprigs of other herbs you may have on hand e.g. parsley or coriander (optional)

Notes

1. Stock: This forms the base of your soup, so the better the quality the better your soup will be! You can use a store bought stock or bouillon, but I prefer to make my own stock. You can easily do this by simmering left over chicken bones and meat (e.g. wing tips) from a roast, with a roughly chopped onion and a few cloves of garlic for approx 30 mins, then strain.

2. Creamed Corn: Again you can use store bought creamed corn, but I have found commercial variants tend to be high in salt or fat, and can commonly contain preservatives, emulsifiers, flavouring, colouring or other additives. As a home made substitute, for each cup of creamed corn I will blend 1.5 cups of corn kernels with a 1/4 cup of milk. Avoid blending until smooth. You want to keep some texture in there!

3. Cornflour: Ensure you are continuously stirring whilst adding the cornflour, ensures this is evenly distributed in the soup to avoid it forming gelatinous lumps as the cornflour mixture thickens. The cornflour helps to make your soup thick and glossy. It will also help to stop all the meat and corn from sinking straight to the bottom of the pot.

Got a question? DM me at instagram.com/valimic.