Chicken Stew & Chocolate Peanut Muffins

You'd think, wouldn't you, that with a new blog, I'd be wanting to make a dazzling impact with my first proper recipe post? This, sadly, is the real world. And all I can promise you, is that the Chicken Stew tastes much much better than it looks.

It's Wednesday, I'm tired. And this actually hit the spot and didn't take too long to construct.

I started with some garlic oil in a saucepan, heated, and then threw some diced chicken thighs into it. Once these had been gently browned, I threw in some chunks of carrot, along with some diced celery. Still chunked quite large for texture. I'm a cheat, so at this point threw in a can of chickpeas ready cooked. Following this, some chicken stock (from bouillon) and left on a rolling simmer for half an hour. As it started its simmer, I snipped in some dried apricots, carraway seeds and chilli flakes. Lovely. This then simmered away, and, after some seasoning, was ready. (Inevitably, like anything curry/stew/chilli-ish, it'll be even better tomorrow once its flavours have amalgamated even more.) We ate this with some buttered crusty bread. Tomorrow I may venture towards cous-cous.

Mid-week baking's always a treat. I knocked up some very chocolatey and unsweet muffins from an old recipe. Lovely, though they did catch a bit. Bugger.

Anyway, it's the topping you have to try; a rich, sweet peanut butter confection. I pounded 5tbsp unsalted butter until it was soft, and then added half this quantity of icing sugar and beat it like hell until smooth. Then, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract (never never essence, just don't bother, leave it out altogether) and blend. Then, add 3tbsp double cream and beat further. Then, fold in 2tbsp of smooth peanut butter. At this point, I used my mezzaluna to dice some roasted peanuts, and mixed these in with a good grating of salt. You could lose the peanut chunks, but don't whatever you do, lose the salt. This will make enough for six muffins, though could be slathered across chocolate loaf, plain sponge, whatever you like.

I am never one for leaving a plate (and, yes, those are "I HEART Cake" plates) of muffins alone, but just one of these babies floored me. Perfect, though, with a catch-up on last night's TV.

This mid-week hodge-podge was soundtracked by some late period Spice Girls (I'd be lying if I said I didn't try and recreate their late 90s dance moves) and then an assortment of guilty power ballads, where I spoiled the harmonies on Wilson Phillips. Will I ever learn?

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