Soft Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Having lived in the States for some time (Go the Cardinals!), I became a convert to the way they bake their cookies. Cookies are a much softer chewier version of our (NZ) biscuits and it is one thing I definitely prefer from the Stateside.

Cookie Time was founded on this very premise. The founder spent some time in the States and he also preferred their cookies. 

I have scoured the net and baked many cookies and had not found a winner til recently. I owe everything to Sallys Baking Addition Blog.
This fantastic lady tested all different recipes and used trial and error to create the perfect cookie. Having recently recreated it I completely agree. 

I am not going to re-write the recipe but will just post the link below. Click on the photo and you will be taken to cookie heaven!

Forgotten Cookies

These cookies are my new favourite. They are so crispy on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle. The original recipe is from the New Zealand Healthy Food Guide Magazine. I have slightly adapted it and added some of my own flavours and things that I love. (E.g. doubling the chocolate!) This is an anything goes recipe. Would be divine with pistachios, dried apricots e.t.c. Or in this case, boysenberry jam and dark chocolate. 

Forgotten Cookies 

Ingredients
2 Egg whites at room temperature
Pinch salt
120g castor sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of chocolate chips
2 tablespoons of boysenberry jam

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Beat egg whites and salt well until foamy. 
2. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until mixture holds stiff peaks and makes a glossy, stiff meringue. Add vanilla and chocolate. Gently fold through jam, avoid mixing it completely in. This gives it a lovely marble effect.
3. Cover baking tray with baking paper. Drop teaspoons of mixture on prepared oven tray. Turn oven off and put tray in oven. Leave in closed oven overnight (or for at least 3 hours).

Mini Hawaiian Pizzas

Another Sunday Freezer Stocker Recipe.

Growing up my favourite Pizza was always Hawaiian. Such a Kiwi classic. There are a lot of debates about putting pineapple on Pizza. I personally love it, as long as the pineapple has had sufficient amount of cooling time. Otherwise, the pineapple is thermo nuclear hot and your burnt taste-buds will not enjoy the pizza as much as you had hoped.

Mini Hawaiian Pizzas

Ingredients:

BASE. (Best pizza base recipe EVER)

1c warm water

1 tspn sugar

2 tspn dried yeast

3 cups of flour

1/2 tspn salt

2 tbsn olive oil

TOPPING

Small can of tomato paste

Chopped cooked bacon

2 1/2 cups of grated cheese

1 finely diced spring onion

4 pineapple rings chopped into pieces

Extra flour for dusting.

1) Preheat oven to 200degrees. Lightly flour 2 large flat oven trays so they are just slightly dusted. Leave aside.

2) In a small bowl put water and sugar. Once sugar is dissolved add yeast. Leave for a few minutes until there is a thick layer of froth on top of the water.

3) In a separate large plastic bowl put flour and salt. Make well in the middle of flour, add yeast mixture and oil. Mix well, turn out and knead well.

4) Microwave on a high for 5 seconds. Leave for 10 minutes.

5) Knead again. Divide dough into 8 pieces, roll out with a rolling pin, place each base on oven tray, 4 to a tray. Leave for a further 5 minutes. 

6) Place toppings on top, spread evenly across all pizzas. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Salmon, Feta and Spring Onion Tart

Myself and my other half recently purchased a chest freezer. Our old one was no where near big enough to store all our frozen goodies!

As a result I have taken on the task of stocking up the freezer so it doesn't look so sad and empty. Needless to say my Sunday became Kitchen Central and I cooked up some tasty mid-week treats.

Salmon, Feta and Spring Onion Tart

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry (Ready Rolled Square)

1 finely chopped spring onion

100g diced goats feta

50g of sliced smoked salmon

2 beaten eggs

3/4 cup milk

3tspn finely chopped parsley

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Ground pepper to taste.

1) Preheat oven to 150 degrees. 

2) In a short sided pie tin place ready rolled pastry into tin. Use fingers to push in corners and shape sides. Use a fork to prick holes in bottom of base.

3) In a bowl mix egg, milk and pepper together. Mix well til the yolk is mixed well through. Add salmon, feta and spring onion. Mix again, make sure that the salmon and feta are breaking down a bit but remaining in large chunks.

4. Spoon mixture into pastry shell. Put Parmesan on top. Put into oven for approximately 20minutes or until the pastry becomes golden.

5. Leave to cool a bit before eating. The mixture will have puffed up in the oven but will flatten out during cooling.

Garnish with parsley.

Eggs Florentine

I love Breakfast. I think that Breakfast is the key element of a successful day. If you start the day with food that you love and makes you happy then the positive effects from this will impact your attitude and outlook for the rest of the day. 

Eggs Florentine is my current 'go to' Sunday morning breakfast. I love the freshness of it and the ease. Its the perfect way to start the day. I like to serve mine on half a toasted bagel, any kind of freshly toasted bread would work though. English Muffins are nice! The trick is the homemade hollandaise. Store bought never tastes as good and once you get the hang of making it, you will never buy it again!

Ingredients
1 bagel sliced in half.
Sliced Smoked Salmon (1 small packet)
Sliver of butter
Paprika
Ground Black Pepper
Coriander and Parsley to garnish
3x Egg
Pot of boiling water
1/4 white vinegar

HOLLANDAISE (from the Edmonds Cookbook recipe)
50g butter
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup of cream
1/4 tspn salt

1. Start with the Hollandaise. 
Melt the butter in a double boiler. Add lemon juice, egg yolks and cream. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and smooth. Do not boil or sauce will curdle. Remove from heat. Add salt and beat til smooth. Leave to sit.
2. Have pot boiling hot and add vinegar. Add as many eggs as you would like to have poached. (I normally have one but the other half has two) If you like your egg yolks runny leave in water for approximately 2 minutes. Leave longer if you prefer it hard. 
3. Lightly butter your bagels. Put slivers of salmon on top of your bagel (I like LOTS of salmon) and serve your poached eggs on top. Pour the cooled hollandaise over the top of the bagels. Serve with fresh herbs and pepper.

Heres to Sunday Mornings!




 




 

Copycat Recipe- Dixie Chicken from the Lone Star

I love Lone Star and especially enjoy their Dixie Chicken. I have tried to make it a few times and have finally stumbled across the closest rip off.

Dixie Chicken- Copy Cat Recipe (serves 2)

Photo sourced from http://glitter-and-twisted.blogspot.co.nz/

 Ingredients:

 2 x Large Chicken Breasts
200ml of cream
50g butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1 1/2 cups of white wine (I used Savignon Blanc)
1 large chopped spring onion (divide the white and green parts of the onion)
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
1 cup cooked corn kernels
4 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
 Freshly Ground Pepper
Olive Oil

1. Lightly brown the chicken breasts in a pan with a small amount of olive oil. You are wanting to just slightly brown the outside, not cook it through. Approx 2 mins each side. Take off heat.
2. In a large saucepan melt the butter over a low heat. Once melted add garlic, corn and the WHITE part of the spring onion. Saute gently until onion and garlic are cooked. Slowly add flour to make a paste bring to a bubble. Add wine very slowly 1/4 cup at a time. Bring to a light simmer. 
3. Add cream and bay leaves. Bring to simmer again. Add chicken making sure that the sauce is covering the chicken. Leave simmering for approx 15 minutes, stir occasionally.
4.  Double check that chicken is cooked properly. If not leave for a further 5 minutes. Remove Bay Leaves. Season with pepper (the Lone Star version has LOTS) and salt.
5. Serve with crunch roast potatoes and coleslaw

Nothing beats the real thing. I recommend that if you love Dixie Chicken, the Lone Star restaurant closest to you will always do the best job.

What am I doing???

I love food. I mostly love eating food. I especially love sharing food.

Having been asked by many friends for recipes for different items, I thought it may be easier to display them in one happy place and therefore let everyone have access to my recipes. I am new to this but will try take photos and update whenever I have success with a recipe. Some of the recipes are not mine, but I will do my best to link you back to the original recipe. I will not claim a recipe that's not mine and will reference who the recipe came from. This is just a collection of tried and true recipes that I have collected and collated.

Happy Cooking, Happy Eating, Happy Sharing!

~Emma