Toffee sauce

Mmmmmmmmm, so my brother made this apple cake last Sunday and served it up with toffee sauce and Hokey Pokey ice cream...you should've seen all of our faces when we took the first bite!  (And then we all scoffed it down and got seconds lol)...The combo is perfect, the not so sweet apple cake and the deelish toffee...and then the ice cream...Mmmmmmmm...perfect balance!  Okay here it is (only the toffee for now, coz I'm sure it doesn't matter what the apple cake is like :D)

125g butter
2 c brown sugar
1/3 c milk

Put the above into a saucepan, turn up the heat and boil for 3 minutes.
Pour over your piece of cake :D
Easy!

Cranberry Cheese ball

Mmmmm..so I don't really now what this is called, but its such a fancy yummy dip :)
This is my bishops wife's recipe and it's way yum :)

1 x 250g carton cream cheese 250g grated cheese 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries 1/4 cup crushed pineapple (drain most of the juice) 1 tablespoon finely diced onion Salt and pepper Mix all together. Use glad wrap to roll into a ball or log. Chill til needed.

Serve with crackers...rice crackers is ono with it :)

Flour Tortillas

It's so much easier making tortillas with a recipe :) 
These are way better than the store bought 'wrap' type wannabe tortillas they have here in NZ.  These also taste like good ol' Fijian roti...(but they probably have a better recipe...this is as close as we could get).  The original recipe is here, but they have too many words so here's my version.

Ingredients
3 c flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/3 c vegetable oil (we use a little more than this, it makes it better and stretchier...but not quite 1/2 a cup)
1 c warm water

Sift/mix together dry ingredients well.  Then add the wet ingredients.  Ta da! So much easier than the ladies explanation.
Mix mix mix, then roll knead it a little with your hands on a lightly floured board/bench.  Cut it up into 16 pieces (12 is better I reckon).  Roll them into little balls and let rest for 15 minutes.
Roll em out into flat tortillas and cook em up!

The cooking part will make or break whether these turn out good too...make sure its on high heat (adjust heat if that aint working for ya)...fry for only like a minute or even less for each side.
Keep an eye on it, it'll bubble up, thats when you know its time to flip depending on how brown/cooked you want it...when it starts to smell like its burning...its burning!

And then make some yummy burritos or enchiladas or whatevs you want!!!

Arrrrrrriiibaaaa!!!!

Tartar Sauce

First time making this and definitely not the last :)
This recipe is way easy and is nice and fresh...you'll definitely taste the difference between store-bought sauce and this homemade recipe. (Original recipe is here)

Ingredients
1/2 cup of mayo
2 T of finely chopped pickles (sweet or sour)
1 T of finely chopped onion
1 t of freshly squeezed lemon juice
a pinch of salt


Mix it all up and refrigerate!
Waaaaaaayyy good!

Easy Beef Broccoli

Here's a simple recipe/guide for easy yet delicious beef broccoli. 

1. Marinate beef

I sliced my pork (had no beef)and coated it in a little (like maybe 2 tablespoons?) of soy sauce, added chopped garlic, and grated a tiny bit of ginger, cornstarch (maybe a teaspoon?) and added the secret ingredient>>>>> *baking soda* (like a teaspoon).

Let it marinade for at least a half hour. You'll hear the baking soda work it's magic. 

2.Prep the Broccoli 
Cut up your broccoli how ever way you like and then blanch it for a few minutes in hot water and then drop in an ice bath (I just poured out the hot water and added cold water since we don't have any ice).

3. Stir Fry Beef
Stir fry on high heat until meat is cooked (few minutes) and then add in the broccoli. 

You can add a splash of chicken broth (or stock or water....whatever you have on hand). 

The beef (or pork) will be velvety with a nice glaze on it. If you prefer to have a saucy beef broccoli then add in some sauce(a simple shoyu, water, cornstarch mix or whatever you like. But I liked it either way)

4. EAT!!!
mmm....with some rice or noodles...yessss

AND THATS IT!

SIMPLE YET DELISHHHHHIOssooooo!


Other things that would make it even more yum  yum.....
.
oyster sauce, rice wine or dry sherry, mushroom seasoning (in the marinade)

and maybe some a little bit of sesame oil at the end...

Puff Pastry

So today I really wanted to make Bacon and Egg pie and luckily, between my house and my parents'...we had all the ingredients! lol...However, I wasn't going to buy the pastry, so I decided to try making it from scratch.  This is the only recipe that I've tried, so there may be better, but I was REALLY happy with how it turned out!

You can find the original recipe here.

• 5 cups of bread flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 2 cups of water (you may use less, but I didn't)
• 2 cups of unsalted butter at room temperature (about 480g)

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer that is fitted with a dough hook. Gradually stir in water until the dough holds together enough to clean the sides of the bowl. You may not need the full amount of water. Shape into a flat ball, and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes. (I don't have a stand mixer so my normal mixing bowl and fork/wooden spoon had to do).
2. Place the butter between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound into a flat disc using a rolling pin or other heavy object. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. (I didn't realize the butter had to be room temperature and because I didn't want to wait, I just sliced the butter about 1/2 an inch thick, lay the blocks side by side and rolled them together once they had the plastic wrap on top...it also wasn't a flat disc, more like a flat rectangle).
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a large rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Place the disc of chilled butter in the center and fold the two ends over it so that it is completely encased in dough. Roll out the dough again, taking care not to let the butter break through the dough, to about 1/2 inch thickness. Fold into thirds. This is the first ''turn''. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll out into a rectangle again. Fold into thirds. By this time the butter is starting to warm up. Place the dough on a baking sheet and mark it with two pokes from your finger (two turns). Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. Repeat this rolling, folding and turning two more times, then refrigerate until firm. Repeat two more times for a total of 6 ''turns''. Wrap and refrigerate. The dough is now ready to roll out and use in any recipe calling for puff pastry. Roll the dough out as thin as 1/4 inch to make pastries. Bake in a preheated oven of at least 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) to get the maximum puff from your pastry.

Sorry, no picture...I couldn't be bothered trying to work my fail-phone lol.  But it looked awesome and was really good! :)

Eggs Benedict

So I've never actually had Eggs Benedict before so I'm not exactly sure whats good and whats really good...but this sauce that my sister made was yummy and definitely a keeper!

Eggs Benedict is simple, its just an English muffin (or I just made the Southern Biscuits that I've posted on here), bacon, a poached egg and the Hollandaise sauce on top! Easy Peasey! We also added veges we had in the fridge, it was super yummy!

So here's the recipefor the Hollandaise sauce we used. You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 3 egg yolks
• Salt
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Juice of 1 lemon

Directions

1. Melt the butter over very low heat (or in the microwave). Skim the fat off the surface and set aside to cool slightly. (I'm pretty sure that skimming the fat isn't that important??)
2. Put the egg yolks in a heat-proof metal bowl and whisk until fully beaten.
3. Place the bowl so it fits over a small pot filled with about 1-inch of water.
4. Turn the burner to medium-low and whisk until the water is lightly simmering and the eggs are lightened in color, doubled in volume, and thick (do not allow the water to boil, and be careful not to scramble the yolks).
5. Lower the heat. While still whisking the yolks, add a few drops of the melted butter.
6. Once fully incorporated, continue adding the butter in a very, very slow stream while constantly whisking.
7. If you notice that the sauce begins to look grainy and slightly curdled, that is an indication that it is about to break. Immediately stop what you are doing and add a splash of cool water. Whisk vigorously until completely smooth. Resume adding butter.
8. Once the butter is fully incorporated, add a dash of salt and cayenne and whisk in 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
9. Taste and add more salt, cayenne, and/or lemon juice (up to 8 teaspoons) as desired.
10. Remove from the heat and set aside while preparing the eggs. Whisk occasionally to prevent a skin from forming. Use within 1 hour.

This is what it looked like for us:

So I've never poached eggs before (and my sister made these ones)...but both she and Chu gave me some useful notes to help when I do:

1) Add some vinegar to the water, and

2) Swirl the water around then drop the egg in the middle of the pot/pan.  This will help to keep the edges look neat.

Broccoli Salad

Okay so this is one of those recipes where I don't do exact measurements and it really doesn't matter anyways :)  You can put as much, or as little of all the extras as you please!  (But the Broccoli to dressing ratio is pretty accurate, however, if you leave it to sit in the fridge for a while, the dressing will get soaked up and you'll want to make extra dressing).

Salad:
1 head of Broccoli
1/2 - 1 diced red onion
Chopped up cooked bacon bits
Grated or cubed cheese
Craisins
Sunflower seeds or pine nuts
Slivered almonds -optional

Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar

Mix it all up and enjoy!! We love eating this salad!
(Really, you can add whatever you like.  We added stuff we had in our fridge and substituted heaps of the ingredients the last time we made it like adding apples and cucumbers, although it wasn't the same without the bacon and red onion lol. [See picture below]  My cousin grates in carrot too :D )

Fluffy Pancakes

So this is the best pancake recipe we've come across thus far.  I'm pretty sure that its the buttermilk that makes it! They are always fluffy and delish.  You can find the original recipe here.

3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted (make sure this isn't hot when you add to the mixture)

Combine the milk and vinegar in a large bowl and leave for 5 mins as it gets sour.
In another bowl, combine all dry ingredients.  Then whisk egg and butter into the soured milk.
Then slowly pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and whisk until all lumps are gone.

Fry them up on medium heat. (I find the best way to get that even McDonalds pancake colour, is to use a non stick frying pan.  However, because the first batch is always the worst, I only use butter for frying for that first batch.  The rest should be fine :)  Once you see bubbles forming on the pancakes, like all over then you'll know its time to flip them).

Add your favourite toppings...and enjoy!

Southern Biscuits

This recipe is yummy, super easy and quick to make.  From start to finish it takes about 30 mins tops! I also treat them as scones too and add butter/jam  :)  The original recipe can be found here.

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons of shortening (i didn't have any so just added more butter)
1 cup of buttermilk (add 1-2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice to almost a cup of milk)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius/450 Fahrenheit.
Combine all dry ingredients into a bowl.  Cut up butter (and shortening) and rub it into the flour, (try do this as quick as you can so you don't melt the butter with your hands).
Make a well in the mixture and pour in milk, mix until its just combined. (the dough will be very sticky and wet)
Transfer mixture to a well floured board, add a handful of flour to the top and fold the dough 4 or 5 times, then pat it out to about an inch thick.
Cut it up using a knife or use a cutter to cut out your biscuits.
Put on a greased tray and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown :)

and ta da!!

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Chicken Salad Sandwich
2-3 cups chopped rotisserie or roasted chicken
1/2 - 1 cup mayo
chopped green onion, 2-3 stalks are good
1/2 cup grapes, halved
celery, half a stalk diced
pan juices from the chicken
salt/pepper

And that's all folks.

Mix everything in a bowl and have a taste.

Add a little or a lot more of what you like (like more Mayo if your like my husband, or more grapes and celery if your like me). 

This recipe is easy to adjust to your liking.

Spread the mix on your favorite bread or rolls and enjoy.

Other variations: some people like to add apples and cashews and whatnot. hmm...I wonder how mandarin slices would taste instead of grapes? But yeah I like this version best (yes im biased) and I think the grape texture holds up better and gives a nice sweet bite. 

You can use canned chicken chunks or cooked chicken...but if you do I suggest heating the chicken in a pan and adding a splash of soy sauce, garlic, minced onion, and whatever seasoning you would use on a roasted chicken. Then adding it to a bowl and mixing in the other ingredients.

I like to use my left over chicken from a store bought rotisserie or home roasted chicken. 

Sweet Onion Sauce

Yes this is my copycat version of Subway's sweet onion sauce.

Sweet Onion Sauce

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 T mustard
2 T soy sauce
6 T white vinegar
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 an onion chopped
1 T cornstarch 

In a small pot, on medium heat, add the first 7 listed ingredients and whisk away until the sugar is dissolved.

Place the garlic and onion in a blender and blend til it's liquefied. Add to the pot.

*If you don't have a blender or food processor or whatnot then just chop the garlic and onion into really really small parts OR you can use a garlic press or grate the onion/garlic into the pot.

Mix the cornstarch with a little bit of water and add to the pot. Try using only a teaspoon and adding more later depending on how thin or thick you want your sauce. 

*Cornstarch mixes better in cold/cool water. Adding it straight to the hot sauce may result in little cornstarch pebbles. 


Bring to a boil and then allow to cool. Make sure to whisk/stir. 
Store in the fridge. 

Banana Cake and Cream Cheese frosting

This cake is from the Edmonds cookbook and its such an awesome recipe! My aunty always makes this cake and it is always deelish!!
Sorry, measurements are all metric system, so you gotta google it lol.

125g butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 egs
1 cup mashed bananas
1 tsp Baking soda
2 Tbsp hot milk
2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Add mashed banana and mix thoroughly.
4. Stir baking powder into hot milk and add to creamed mixture.
5. Sift flour and baking powder together and stir into the mixture.
6. Turn into a 20cm round cake tin 
7. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
8. Leave in tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

When cool, ice with cream cheese or chocolate icing.


Cream Cheese Icing

2 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind (I just added a lemon juice instead, and then a little vanilla essence)

Beat butter and cream cheese until creamy.  Mix icing sugar and lemon rind, beating well to combine.

Korean Fried Garlic Chicken

If you've ever eaten Zippy's Korean chicken and loved it....then you'll like this recipe. It's pretty bomb. Just saying. 

KOREAN FRIED GARLIC CHICKEN

What you will need for the sauce:

• chopped garlic- 1 head
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup onion
• red pepper flakes
• Optional
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp sesame oil

What you will need for the frying:

• 5lbs Chicken- whatever parts you like to fry. I like using thighs and drumsticks.
• 1 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Cornstarch
• 1 tbs salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbs Paprika
• oil for frying (veg or canola)

To get started...

1.  Brine chicken (water and salt). I just thaw out my chicken in salt and water. *This is optional by the way. While chicken is brining/thawing make the yum yum sauce.
2. Stir soy sauce and sugar together until sugar dissolves. Then add in the remaining ingredients. Put aside and start on the chicken. 
3. Mix together flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, paprika in a container. I like to use a plastic bag.*The more paprika you put in the browner the chicken will be. *Cornstarch gives the chicken that nice crunchy crispy skin. Feel free to use more if you like.
4. Take your chicken pieces, pat dry, and dredge/coat/shake them around in the flour mix until nicely coated.
5. Allow flour coated chicken to rest while you heat your oil. 
   *When you start to see the flour creating a pasty gooey coat (don't know how else to describe it) then they are ready to fry. 
6. Fry on med-high heat 8-10 mins on one side and 8 mins on the other side. (a little lower for smaller cuts of chicken like drumsticks)
   *You don't have to keep turning it over and over...just let it do its thing and give the chicken a check after 7-8 mins on each side)
   *If you are doing large batches be sure to change out your oil if it starts getting "dirty".
7. Take your fried chicken out of the oil (allow oil to drip off) and dip into your yummy sauce. 
   *Just dip, give it a turn, making sure its all coated and place it on a rack placed in a pan.
   *Keep the cooked chicken in a 250 degree oven until you're all done. 

Navajo Fried Bread

Navajo Fried Bread

You can make these into tacos!! So delicious and simple to make. Click here for the original recipe.

- 3 cups of all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tablespoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cup of warm water
- corn, vegetable or canola oil for frying

In a bowl or on a clean work surface combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Make a well in the center of the flour and pour the warm water into the center.  With your hands or a wooden spoon, start working the mixture together.  Sprinkle flour on a clean work surface and turn the dough out and knead lightly.  The dough should be soft and moist but shouldn’t stick to your hands.  Add a little flour or water as you go until you reach the correct consistency.  Roll the dough into a log about 3 inches wide.  Let the dough rest under a clean kitchen towel for 10 minutes.

Red Velvet Brownies

Red Velvet Brownies

Yes, so this is another recipe I copied from Lisa! haha, I didn't have enough red food colouring so the colour wasn't as reddy/velvetty as it could of been, but it definitely was still yummy! Click here for the original recipe.

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons red food coloring

2/3 cups chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter and flour an 8 x 8 cake pan.

In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, red food coloring, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to create a paste.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then add remaining teaspoon of vanilla. With the mixer on medium speed, add in cocoa powder mixture. Beat until batter is completely red. (If at this time your batter is NOT red, you can add a little more food coloring if desired. Color will depend on brand.) Add flour and salt, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread in the 8 x 8 pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

I just made a cream cheese frosting for these brownies, but white chocolate sounds even better!!

White Chocolate Frosting

1 stick of butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ounces white chocolate, melted (I used Lindt)

1-2 tablespoons milk (or more if needed)

Cream butter in an electric mixer until fluffy, then add vanilla. Slowly add in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer on low speed. Add in melted white chocolate and beat until incorporated. To reach desired consistency, add in milk 1 teaspoon at a time with mixer on low speed. If frosting becomes too liquidy, simple add additional sugar.

Chickpea Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookies

aka 

Chickpea cookies!

This one's a Pinterest inspired recipe that turned out tasting just as good as it looked. My kids gobbled these up and the hubby requested I make more. There you go! Proof it's a good recipe.  I blogged about it but you can find the original here.

• Prep Time: 8 min
 
• Cook Time: 10 min
 
• Ready in: 18 min
• Yield: 14 1" cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1¼ cups canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (165 grams) natural peanut butter, SunButter Natural or almond butter - room temperature
• ¼ cup (80 grams) honey (you can use agave or maple syrup with success!)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt if your peanut butter doesn't have salt in it
• ½ cup (90 grams) chocolate chips 

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C. Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined. If you don't have a food processor then get a potato masher, roll up them sleeves, and mash away your troubles. 
2. Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky.
3. With wet hands, form into 1½" balls. Place onto a a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't do much rising.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes. The dough balls will still be very soft when you take them out of the oven. They will not set like normal cookies. They won't spread out so you can fit plenty on one pan. 
5. Store in an airtight container at room temperature (or in the fridge) for up to 1 week.

MY NOTES:

-make double the recipe..these are yumm yumm in the tumm tumm

-they taste better warm. They taste kinda "beanish" if you eat them the next day cold. They'll still be good though..just a little "beanish" (but it's not like you'll have leftovers anyways). 

-If you don't have natural peanut butter...just use regular peanut butter. They'll come out a lil greasier than normal but I don't mind it all. The chocolate and peanut butter flavors cover everything so nicely. 

Golden Crescent Rolls

Golden Crescent Rolls

This recipe definitely is a crowd pleaser! Everyone we've made them for has loved them!  No secret at all...we got it off of allrecipes.com lol :)

Ingredients:

2 (.25 oz) packages active dry yeast

3/4 cup of warm water 

1/2 c white sugar

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 c shortening

4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup butter softened

• Dissolve yeast in warm water.
• Stir in sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in remaining flour until smooth. Scrape dough from side of bowl. Knead dough, then cover it and let rise in a warm place until double (about 1-1/2 hours).
• Punch down dough. Divide in half. Roll each half into a 12-inch circle. Spread with butter. Cut into 10 to 15 wedge. Roll up the wedges starting with the wide end. Place rolls with point under on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until double (about 1 hour).
• Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 12-15 minute or until golden brown. Brush tops with butter when they come out.

French Baguettes

Quick & easy Crusty French Baguettes

I stole this from my friend Lisa's food blog! I've made it three times now cause its soooo easy and deeelish!!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups very warm water
• 1 packet yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups flour

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, (220 degrees Celsius). In a large bowl, whisk together the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Set the bowl on top of your preheating oven for ten minutes. Stir in the salt and add the flour a half-cup at a time, until the dough becomes soft but not sticky. Knead the dough until elastic.

Cut the dough into four even pieces. Roll each of them into four long, thin ropes. Twist together two of the ropes to form one loaf. Twist the other two ropes together to form a second loaf. Transfer both onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

You can now bake the loaf right away (if you’re in a hurry) or allow it to rise for an additional 15-30 minutes on top of your warm oven.

Now for the secret: Fill a large oven proof bowl with 3-4 cups of ice and/or water. Open your hot oven and place the baking sheet with the baguettes inside, then toss the ice cubes/water on the bottom shelf of the oven and quickly shut the door. Do NOT open your oven for 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.

So, I just skip the 'secret' part and bake my bread for 15 minutes.  You can also make crustini's if you slice, butter and toast it...its waaaaay good :-)