Ottolenghi take two - plus brownies

I carried on my Ottolenghi testing this week as there were so many recipes I wanted to try. First on my list was the chargrilled broccoli with chilli and garlic. This was a perfect accompaniment for a nice steak. Really simple to prepare and nice to eat broccoli that hasn't had the life boiled out of it, or as a soup as I would usually prepare it. The chilli didn't add too much heat and the Ottolenghi addition of garlic really added a gorgeous flavour. I added a little lemon juice at the end, as suggested in the recipe. Another recipe to add to my repertoire. It would be really nice added to a mixed salad or served with some fish.

Next up were the turkey and sweetcorn meatballs with spring onion. I made so many of these so I have lots left over for some pasta tomorrow, and then some! I altered the recipe slightly as I was supposed to put stale bread in the mixture but soggy bread makes me gag so I just couldn't do it!! Wuss! But they held together pretty well, a few stray sweetcorn kernels here and there but nothing to worry about. They stayed really juicy, turkey is notorious for drying out, and I enjoyed the crunchy addition of the sweetcorn. That's what I've liked about all the Ottolenghi recipes, the differing textures in each dish which makes everything a bit more interesting.

And finally, I wanted to make some brownies to take to work to say thank you for my beautiful new MAC Hello Kitty lipstick (your loss is my huge gain Charlotte!). There is a brownie recipe in almost every cookbook ever made (slight exaggeration) so I decided to try Rachel Allen's recipe from Bake, removing the hazelnuts and adding a ton of mini marshmallows. I'm aware that it looks like my brownies have mumps but hey! There is also some glitter on there as requested but it doesn't show in the picture.

They tasted delicious, a huge hit of sugary, sticky chocolate, but forget about making slices! At room temperature this was more like a pudding and it had to be eaten with a spoon. Not going to stop anyone eating something so yummy but not what I was expecting when I made it. It was slightly easier to work with once it had spent the night in the fridge however. Cooking it in a glass dish may have made my sticky mess according to La Mama so I'll try again in a metal dish, couldn't find a suitable size this time round.

Will do a proper review of the Bake book when I've tried a few more recipes.