White Choc & Hazelnut Cookies

Makes 48 cookies

INGREDIENTS

250g (1 Cup) Butter

315g (1 ^1/4 Cup) Castor Sugar

50ml Lemon juice

750 ml (3 Cups) Cake flour

10 ml (2 tsp) Baking powder

100 g Roasted chopped Hazelnuts

100g Chocolate Chunks

Extra for the topping

 

 

Method

Heat oven to 180°C
1. Cream butter and sugar till fluffy
2. Add lemon juice and mix well
3. Sift the dry ingredients
4. Slowly add to butter mix and mix between additions.
5. When mixed add the fruit & nuts or choc
6. Roll into small ball sizes and place on baking sheets with wax paper
7. Flatten with a fork dipped in a bit of flour
8. Sprinkle the topping
Bake for 15 min till browning at edge
9. Bake for 15 min till browning at edges

Chicken tray bake

Following on the tray bake theme here is a versatile recipe for chicken.

The best thing about this recipe is that it is also great on the budget.

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 red onions peeled and quartered

4 cloves of garlic finely chopped

2 lemons washed and chopped int quarters

8 chicken drumsticks or Thighs

15-20 black olives pitted

2Tsp thyme

Salt & pepper

2cups chicken stock

Preheat oven 180'C

Heat oil in oven proof dish and sauté onions and garlic

Remove from heat

Add lemons, chicken, olives, thyme, seasoning and stock

Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes

Remove foil and cook for a further 30 minutes

This dish can be served with rice or mash potatoes or the starch of your choice. It also goes well with a side salad.

Tray bake dinners

These must be the most versatile meals to cook as you can add any of you favorite sausages or chicken.

As a quick week day dinner the are perfect all it takes is planning an a well stocked store cupboard

Here is a recipe to get you started

Vegetable tray bake

300 -400g haloumi or feta sliced

3 cloves of garlic

1 red onion sliced

2 peppers sliced

350g baby tomatoes

150g baby marrows sliced

1410g tin chickpeas drained

1-2tsp paprika

2tsp cumin

1/3 cup oregano leaves

Olive oil

Salt and black pepper

Heat oven to 180'C 

Place all the ingredients in a shallow roasting pan

Coat with the olive oil and toss

Season and toss again

Bake for 20-30 min till vegetables are tender and cheese is golden.

Serve

Basic cookie dough

In the spirit of sharing here is a nice basic cookie dough recipe that can be used in a variety of ways.

180g butter
310g sugar
1extra large egg
Pinch salt
1 extra large egg yolk
380g flour

This recipe will male about 30 cookies
- Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
- Stir through egg and egg yolk with a wooden spoon
- Sift in flour and salt
- Mix well
- Shape the dough into a ball then flatten into disks, cover with cling film, place in fridge for 30 min
- Preheat the oven to 180'C
- Prepare cookie sheets by greasing them
- Remove cooled dough and roll out on a floured surface 0.5cm thick
- Cut up into any shape and place on baking tray. Gather scraps and do the same.
- Bake for 8 min depending on oven so keep an eye not to burn or under cook.
- Remove from tray and place on cooling rack.

These are the basic cookies now here are some variations
Jam centers
Just cut 1 cookie with a hole, bake as before and cool. Then spread jam on bottom cookie and place the other cookie piece on top.

Colour variations

the basic dough can be divided and food coloring added. Mix well, fool out into sheets and layer on top of each other. This is then rolled up and sliced then baked. Works well with cocoa as a coloring but it would need to be added to the flour stage of the dough.

Variations with added ingredients
Chocolate chips can be added to the basic dough will make a chocolate chip variety.


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Oven Baked Hake in Creamy sauce

PREPARATION TIME: 10 MINUTES
COOKING TIME: 30 MINUTES (FOR INDIVIDUAL BOWLS) AND 40 MINUTES (FOR A BIG OVENPROOF DISH)
SERVES 4
800g hake fillets
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A handful of Italian parsley, roughly chopped grated zest of 1 lemon
1 ½ cups of crème fraiche
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
Grated mozzarella cheese
2tbsp butter
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
1. Season the hake with salt and pepper and divide between four ovenproof bowls or a 1 litre ovenproof dish.
2. Sprinkle the parsley and lemon zest over the fish.
3. Season the creme fraiche with salt and freshly ground black pepper and spoon the mixture over the hake fillets. Mix the breadcrumbs and cheese and sprinkle over, dot with pieces of butter and bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Christmas tree Step by Step

Follow the recipe in the previous post.

Christmas tree Cookies

With the Christmas season getting closer I decided to test some cookie ideas. This one is great to make for gifts.

The recipe is as follows:
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
250g cold Butter (2 sticks)
1 egg
3/4 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 180`C (350`F)
Prepare baking sheets with wax paper

Combine flour and baking powder, keep separate
Cream sugar and butter on high speed in an electric mixer. Do not over mix
Add egg & vanilla to sugar mix, mix till combined
Then add the flour to this mixture slowly. Once again mix till combined, do not over mix.
Bring the dough together with your fingers, roll out onto floured wax paper. Be sure not to overwork, it is important to keep the mix cool and not heat up as the butter will melt. If needed place dough in fridge to cool.
You can cut this dough with any cookie cutter.
Place the cookies on baking tray and bake for 10-12 min depending on oven. Keep an eye on them as depending on the thickness they will burn if cooked too long.
Remove from oven an allow to stand on tray for a few minutes. The transfer to cooling rack to fully cool down.
When cooled you can stack them up, dust with icing sugar and tie with a bow or place in cellophane bags.
Enjoy