Ultimate chocolate brownies

This recipe uses our fantastic range of NoMu chocolate products to create brownies that you'll fall asleep dreaming about!

Ultimate Chocolate Brownies
160g NoMU hot chocolate chunks
125g butter
160g caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp NoMU vanilla extract
80g flour
40g NoMU coco powder
¼ teaspoon salt
100g dates, pitted and chopped (optional)
100g pecan nuts, chopped (optional)

Method Preheat oven to 190 Celsius. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir in the caster sugar and set aside to cool. Lightly beat the eggs and vanilla extract and add to the cooled chocolate mixture, stirring constantly. Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in the dates and nuts and pour into a baking tin (approximately 27 x17 x5cm), lined with baking paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Do not overcook! The centre should be wet and gooey. Allow to cool in the tin before removing and slicing into squares. Sprinkle with icing sugar or cocoa powder and serve.

Karinda's super sauces

Karinda’s super range of sauces are all you need to brighten up a salad, add zing to your steak or turn a humble sambo into a gourmet delight.

They are made in Victoria, and all gluten free.

Choose from -

• Smokey Cajun BBQ
• Coriander & Lemongrass Mayonnaise
• Coriander, Lime and Chilli Mayonnaise
• Spicy Mango Salad Dressing,
• Dill and Mustard Mayonnaise
• Cabernet Pepper Steak Sauce
• Avocado with Coriander & Garlic Salad Dressing.

New truffle cheese

If you’ve developed a love for the distinctive aroma and taste of truffles, you’ll be seduced by the latest addition to the Tognini’s Cheese Room, Moliterno Black Truffle Pecorino.

This raw sheep's milk cheese with black truffles comes from the Italian island of Sardinia. Unlike most truffled cheeses, the truffle paste is infused after Moliterno has been aged so that the cheese develops its own character before the truffles are injected. Though the truffles are only visible in the ‘veins’, the truffle flavour permeates throughout the entire paste of this amazing cheese.

During the aging process, oil and vinegar are applied to the cheese's rind to prevent weight loss. Once cut, the dark paste oozes out of the crevices of the cheese like trickles of water from a craggy cliff. Both delicious and intriguing visually, this cheese is a show-stopper.

Mark says enjoy this pecorino with a big, earthy Italian red with enough muscle to stand up to the truffles. Narelle says serve it on its own or shaved over fresh pasta with butter tossed through. Also try it over scrambled eggs for breakfast or add to some rocket and drizzle with raspberry vinaigrette.

Try the cheese on the lunch menu at Tognini’s Spring Hill with Grilled asparagus with leek mash, roasted capsicum and truffle pecorino cheese.

According to Mark’s sister Yolanda, who has a degree in Italian language, technically translated 'pecorino' means 'little sheep'. So authentic pecorino cheese should be made from sheep milk – as it is in Italy.

Sweet peppers with a bite!

Filled with lightly sweetened mascarpone and other secret ingredients, these stunning red South African Bell Peppers are a real mouthful of flavour.

The slight touch of chilli is perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the filling. Mark says try them with some of the Spanish jamon in store now and feel your taste buds dance.

They are busy in Tognini’s kitchen filling these red surprises with another mixture as well. This one combines mushrooms with truffle oil and the smell is amazing! Add them to a platter with some crisp bread and you have another taste treat that would make a great drinks nibble or entrée.

For a really unusual touch, add some Innes Rosales Sweet Olive Oil Tortas into the mix. These individually wrapped rounds are crisp, light and sprinkled with sugar. The sweetness is great foil for a slice of jamon! Mmm… have to try that again!

Fabulous fast food

Check out both the freezer and the fridge for Tognini’s new range of par cooked pizzas. They are so easy to prepare – just pop into a 180 degree oven for five to ten minutes and you are eating!

Look for Margaretta with fresh Prosciutto, Potato and Rosemary and Italian Sausage varieties.

There’s also a good range of other Italian frozen treats including Arancini with prosciutto and mozzella and Arancini al sugo - both absolutely delicious.

For easy entertaining, it’s hard to beat the crab net spring rolls and the bok choy rolls. Just steam them through and serve. Yum.

Cutest cone ice creams

Are these the cutest ice cream cones you have ever seen? These baby gelato cones come in 12 mixed flavours and are perfect to serve after your next dinner party. The flavours include strawberry, chocolate, apricot, vanilla, spearmint and for the true child at heart - bubblegum! The cones are crisp and the gelato simply yummy. Find the Giotto gelato in 150gm tubs at Togninis at South Bank where children are lining up to enjoy them as a treat after visiting the library or GOMA.

If you want to be a bit more grown up, there are also zabaglione filled mini cannoli and hazelnut gelato baby profiteroles. All in the freezer, just waiting for you at Togninis!

Chilli Mud Crab Feast

Wow, what a way to end the year! Our Chill Mud Crab Feast on Boxing Day was a lunch to remember with crabs flown down from Mackay especially for the occasion.

Mark did the cooking with plenty of helpful advice from Narelle and Tracey.

Mark says it was an effort getting all the spices (see the recipe) together (he had to source the cinnamon quill and Chinese Shao Xing wine from Chinatown) but the result was well worth it.

Mark also suggests having two people involved in the cooking as it helps when ingredients need to be added quickly into the wok. And it's great to cook with a crowd to watch!

Congratulations to Sirromet's Executive Chef Andrew Mirosch who published the Wok Fried Muddies with Chilli and Ginger recipe in his Q Weekend column in The Courier-Mail.

Narelle served a Mango Salsa with pan fried green prawns on a bed of watercress - seasoned with chilli + coriander and her world famous Asian Noodle Salad with the crab. Yum! The Noodle Salad includes Chinese cabbage - shredded, capsicum -sliced, red onion, shallot, bean sprouts, snow peas, roasted peanuts and coriander. As a variation, Narelle sometimes makes it with Chinese BBQ pork sliced through. The Chinese deep fried noodles are crumbled in last