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

Salads

I have the great fortune of living in a very mild climate where we have many sunny days even in winter. So lucky for us we can eat salad every day. And with food fashions favouring healthy eating, I can make a meal of a salad.
I have some very basic recipes and then just work with the seasonal vegetables. It all starts with a base of lettuce.

It can be as basic as some tomatoes, cucumber, onions, olives and feta.

I am a huge fan of avocado so any chance I get I will add this to my salads. This salad pictured has some vegetables and croutons and another favourite is corn on the cob or fresh peas, for this salad however I only used baby corn, which is cut up and added.

Enjoy

Frozen bananas......

I must say I am a fan of bananas, especially cooked bananas. I suppose I am lucky to be able to get a constant supply. What does however happen is that they sometimes over ripen. So here are a few really great ideas to do with frozen bananas...Link









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Waffles .......

Found a nice recipe for waffles that can be frozen. Perfect for winter months.

Recipe extracted from here



Whole Wheat Waffles (makes 10 waffles)

1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Large Egg
1/3 Cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
2 Tbsp Honey
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Accompaniments: maple syrup, honey, or raspberry sauce

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Sift the first 3 ingredients into a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining wet ingredients.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until combined. Do not over mix.
5. Pour 1/2 cup of batter into a greased waffle iron and cook about 3-4 minutes or according to manufacturer’s directions.
6. Serve with desired accompaniments.

*To freeze: Allow to cool, place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze. When ready to eat, place in toaster oven until heated through or in the oven at 180 degrees and heat for 10 minutes or until heated through.

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A week's menu

So I am back to menu planning and here is this weeks plan.
Monday - Mediterranean style chicken bake
Tuesday - Ossu Bucco
Wednesday - chicken schnitzel with salad & chips
Thursday - Beef & noodle soup
Friday - Chicken spinach bake
Saturday - steak pie
Sunday - Roast sirloin with veggies with apple crumble dessert.

I will report back on these new recipes and will post the good ones


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Breakfast ideas

So as it cools in the south of the world, although I must say would not think we are in autumn with the current temperatures, time for warmer breakfasts. I am a huge fan of oatmeal and mostly eat it with dried cranberries, almonds and honey. Here are a few variations

Begin with the steps below, then finish with one of the variations that follow.

Oatmeal 101
In a small pot over medium heat, combine 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup milk (cow's, soy, or almond), and a pinch of salt. Stir occasionally, until oats are thick, about 5 minutes. If indicated, stir in additional ingredients until warmed through, then pour into a bowl and add suggested toppings:

Blackberry Pie Oatmeal
Near the end of cooking, stir in 1/3 cup blackberries.
Top with: 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts, a few more blackberries, and 1 crushed graham cracker

Pumpkin–Cottage Cheese Oatmeal
Near the end of cooking, stir in 1/4 cup canned pumpkin and 1/4 cup cottage cheese.
Top with: toasted sliced almonds and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg

Chocolate–Coconut Oatmeal
Near the end of cooking, stir in 1 teaspoon cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon shredded coconut.
Top with: a few chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon slivered almonds, and a sprinkle of coconut

PB&J Crunch Oatmeal
Follow basic recipe.
Top with: 1 tablespoon crunchy peanut butter, 1 tablespoon jam, and a sprinkle of granola

Bacon and Cheese Oatmeal
Follow basic recipe.
Top with: 1 slice bacon, cooked and crumbled, 2 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese, 2 teaspoons maple syrup or balsamic vinegar, and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or rosemary (optional)

Bread Pudding Oatmeal
Cut a slice of fruity bread, such as cinnamon raisin, into cubes. When oatmeal just starts to bubble and thicken, add bread cubes. Stir in 1 tablespoon raisins.
Top with: a pinch each of brown sugar and cinnamon and 1 tablespoon cream

Fluffy Banana Oatmeal
Add a thinly sliced very ripe banana to oats at the start of cooking. As oatmeal bubbles, whip the oats vigorously with a fork until banana slices melt away.
Top with: 2 tablespoons chopped salted peanuts and a drizzle of honey

Cooking tip: The basic version is easily doubled and can be made in advance. To reheat, add a few tablespoons of milk to the oatmeal and microwave 1 minute. Stir, and heat for another minute.

 

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Creamy chicken with bacon

A versatile supper dish is a roast chicken, all left overs can be used for many easy quick supper dishes.
I recently made a really nice pasta sauce with leftover chicken.
Here is how to do it, the ingredient portions vary depending on how much of each ingredient you have.
Fry up an onion in a little butter or oil and add some nice chopped bacon. Add a few chopped mushrooms and cook till soft. Add the chicken and fry a little to heat through.
Pour in some cream and mix well lower the heat and simmer but do not allow to cook off.
Season with salt and pepper and some Italian dried herbs. To mellow the taste ad a dash of sherry.
Toss into cooked pasta with a grating of parmesan cheese.
Serve immediately if the sauce is too dry add some milk and stir till it is a smooth sauce.


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Pork loin chops with apple on the Weber BBQ

This week I am going to try something different on the BBQ.
6 Pork loin chops
2/3 cups white wine
2Tbs oil
2 Tbs honey
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 cloves garlic

Apple chutney
3 green apples
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 cup fruit chutney
15g butter

1. Trim chops
2. Combine oil, wine, honey, cumin and garlic in small jug, mix well.
3. Place chops in non metal dish and pour marinade over.
4. Leave chops to marinade for a few hours or overnight
5. Grill on an oiled grill turning regularly

To make chutney
1. Chop apples into cubes
2. Place in small pan with apple juice, bring to the boil and cook till apples soft
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 7 min
4. Add chutney and butter and stir

Server over cooked chops.






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5 ingredients a weeks recipes

Have always loved these, great idea for planning need to get back to my recipe planning. Here is a nice one for chicken dishes. The recipes




Enjoy and share you favorite pantry planning tips here.

Festive season recipes

Time I dusted of the kitchen and got my head into this festive season. I will post my festive recipes here any suggestions welcomed!

 

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A month of recipes

Well I have been very proactive this month and have drawn up a list of recipes for the month. Some are tried and tested and others new. I will evaluate and post the recipe and the result of the good ones.

1. Chicken Broccoli bake - All time favourite
2. Chicken Mince Shepherds' Pie - Again a family favourite real easy and really yummy
3. Beef Mince wraps - nice idea for any left over mince
4. Baked Fish and steamed veggies
5. Spaghetti Bolognaise - always on my list
6. Tuna Bake
7. Chicken pieces and roast veggies
8. Pork Chops - need to think of an idea here
9. Steak and baked potatoes, depending on weather veggies or salads
10. Pork Fillet Stir fry
11. Baked Pork sausage with veggies
12. Roast veggies and Pesto pasta
13. Leek, Chicken & pasta bake
14. Chorizo and bean fry up - my husband loves anything Chorizo so it will feature a lot
15. Tomato basil pasta
16. Chicken noodle soup
17. Beef vegetable soup
18. Moroccan chicken
19. Chicken Pie
20. Tempura Fish and veggies
21. Sausage Rolls
22. Sweet & sour fish
23. Baked tuna & tomato risotto
24. Spaghetti & meatballs
25. Pizza
26. Short ribs
27. Chicken butternut & Chorizo
28. Ratatouille
29. Frittata - as I write this I can smell it cooking away
30. Baked beef pasta
31. Fish Pie - This was a real hit so will definitely share this as it is real easy to make and great the next day if left over which is rare for a fish pie.

Look out for the recipes as the days go by.

How to Make a Soup Without a Recipe (with pictures) - wikiHow

 

How to Make a Soup Without a Recipe (with pictures) - wikiHow

Glossary of Cooking Terms

Always need to find that obscure term in the cookery book well help is at hand.

Glossary of Cooking Terms

1 Chicken, 17 Healthy Meals, $26 Bucks, No Mayo

This is a very interesting article and I think I will give it a try and localise it a bit. So come on give it a try in the interest of world hunger. I would love to hear about your ideas you come up with

Here were my rules: (FAB modified)

• The budget – for EVERYTHING - was R250.
• I had to use as much food already in my pantry as possible. (Which accounted for a lot, and saved me mad dough in the long run.)
• Each meal had to feed at least 3 people
• Bonus points for leftovers.
• The chicken had to be used up within a few days, so it wouldn’t go bad.
• The meals had to have reasonable variety, preferably from a range of cuisines. It couldn’t be Chicken with Spaghetti on Day 1, then Chicken with Penne on Day 2.
• The meals had to have very little added fat, since the leftover chicken would provide most of it.

Day 1
Marcella Hazan’s Lemon Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes
2 servings
Chicken consumed: 10 ounces

Day 2
Cooking Light’s Chicken Picadillo with Rice and Black Beans

A Tex mex dish will look at a variety here

Day 3
White Chicken Chili

Day 4
Food Network’s Sesame Noodles with Chicken
5 servings
Chicken consumed: 1 cup

Day 5
Cook’s Illustrated’s Chicken Curry in a Hurry
(recipe at bottom of post)
4 servings
Chicken consumed: 2 cups

 

1 Chicken, 17 Healthy Meals, $26 Bucks, No Mayo