Microwave chocolate cake in a beer mug

 We sorted dinner for Mother's Day with the incredibly simple, quick, easy and delicious Marco Pierre White spaghetti carbonara recipe but obviously your mother, your childrens' mother or the woman you want to be the mother of your children needs something sweet to complete the meal.
 So let's knock up something easily quick and delicious. The inspiration for this comes from Table for Two Blog although I made a few small changes, mainly to accommodate mistakes I made and substitutions for ingredients I did not have.

 First off, it's important to note that all microwaves are different, so the cooking times are guidelines rather than set in stone. Tweak and test for yourself.
 My first attempt saw a mistake that turned into a happy result. I forgot to add the baking powder and ended up with a pudding rather than a cake. I added fresh cream and it was delicious.

The beer mug "pudding"

 The next attempt got everything right. This is a good one.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (add one more if you prefer it sweeter)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of peanut butter or Nutella or similar

Method:

1.   In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

 2.   Add the milk and vegetable oil and whisk until all ingredients are combined and the batter is smooth and silky with no lumps.

 3.   Pour the batter into a microwave-proof mug that is large enough to allow the cake to rise.

4.   Drop a tablespoon of peanut butter into the middle of the batter.

5.   Place in microwave and cook on high for two minutes. (This is a guideline. Test with a tooth-pick and adjust according to your microwave.) The cake will continue to cook for a while when it is out of the microwave.

6.   Allow to cool and garnish with chocolate shavings etc.

Please be cool and share!

Microwaved poached eggs

 I always figured microwave ovens were simply for defrosting and heating food, or occasionally nuking rice but of late I've discovered they can do a lot more.
 The discoveries are the result of my acute laziness and lifelong habit of searching for shortcuts. But now there is another reason. I live in a country where the government is so corrupt and inept that they've brought the national (and only) power utility to its knees. This means regular, rolling-blackouts and electricity costs almost doubling over the past few years. Consequently, whacking a roast in the oven, is an exercise in high-risk and, being able to afford to cook it, a miracle!
 I like eggs. I like 'em fried or poached but, most of the time, firing up the gas cooker, boiling water or using a frying pan and having to clean up afterwards, is simply too much PT. Like they say, 'the juice is not worth the squeeze!'
 Mostly I scramble them in the microwave but, though edible, they're rubbery and unappetizing. So, when I came across an article by Cat Bowen on how to poach eggs in a microwave, with seemingly little fuss, I was keen to give it a bash.

 The process is simple:

1.  Fill to three quarters, a microwave-proof, cereal dish, with water as hot as you can get it from the tap. Add a teaspoon of salt and a half a teaspoon of vinegar.
2.  Carefully break the egg into the water and nuke it for around 3 - 3 1/2 minutes. The cooking time will depend upon the initial temperature of the water, the size of the egg and the power of your microwave.
3.  When perfectly cooked remove the egg with a slotted spoon. It should be white and jiggly and the yoke will (hopefully) be oozey and runny.
4.  Eat it immediately! I screwed up here. The egg was perfect when I removed it from the water but only then did I start making the toast and preparing the plate. As a result, it continued to cook so when I finally cut it, the yoke was not as gooey as desired.

 Oh well, you live and learn.

 I poached three eggs before I got it right. Cooking times were erratic because of the variations in egg sizes and possibly the temperature of the tap water. I think a more consistent way to eliminate one of the variables may be to add the egg to already-boiling water. This would mean the water temperature is always consistent and result in reduced, constant cooking times.

Another crispy bacon in the microwave hack

 

 Recently I published a post about cooking crispy bacon in the microwave on paper towels. In my ongoing quest to find the quickest, easiest, least messy way to prepare the food of the gods, I came across this hack.

 You can read the original article on Lifehacker.

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How to cook crispy, delicious bacon in a microwave

 There are two things in life, top of mind in the lives of okes and old farts when it comes to cooking:

1.  When in doubt, use bacon (bacon makes everything better) and
2. Sometimes you just want to eat something tasty and delicious without faffing about with pots or pans and having to clean up afterwards.

 We've all been there. The beers are cold and the game is about to start when the urge for a BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) sandwich strikes. But firing up the stove and the prospect scrubbing a pan afterwards, is about as inviting as plucking your nose hairs with the pliers of your Leatherman.
 But all is not lost. You can cook bacon in a microwave and have it come out, crisp and delicious, with no clean up required afterwards.
 To cook bacon in the microwave you will need a microwave-safe dish and three paper towels.
 This article on Startcooking.com explains exactly how to do it.
 A general rule-of-thumb is, cook it for one minute per piece ie. if you have two strips of bacon, cook them for two minutes, with the microwave setting on high.

Please be cool and share!