French Onion Baked Rice

I was looking for something different to make for our dinner one night.
Rice is a fave with TH and TS, not so much mine unless its a fried rice.

This recipes is easy to throw together if you have everything at hand.
I have not seen the cans of French onion soup here so I had to call to Friends the US and find out how much was in a can so I could make that amount of soup of French onion soup.

The soup is easy to make if you don't have any in a can. Its one of my faves

I'll post a quick version of it (not so quick, but easy to make and leave to simmer while your doing other stuff)

What you'll need

uncooked long grain/basmati rice ~ 1 cup
french onion soup ~ 600 ml or 2 10oz cans (see below for quick homemade)
butter  cubed ~ 1/3 cup
Worcestershire sauce ~ 1 1/2 teaspoons


Grease an oven proof dish
add the rice
pour in the french onion soup
add the Worcestershire sauce and mix well
Add the cubed butter and cover with foil

Bake at 220°C/425°F  for 20 minutes.
Then remove foil and give a stir and cook for a further 10 minutes

Enjoy!

*****
QUICK French Onion Soup

yellow onions, sliced 2 1/2 cups
beef stock (homemade, store, cubes, pots) ~ 2 cups
onion powder ~ 1 teaspoon
water ~ 3 cups
salt and pepper to season
oil ~ 1 teaspoon

in a pan add the butter/oil and onions and onion powder and cook until onions are soft
add the beef stock and water, salt and pepper
mix well
leave to simmer at the lowest heat for at least one hour.

This freezes very easy!
*****

Brookies

                                Brookies 

I was looking for something different form the usual desserts I make.
Most people know I'm NO BAKER!

TS loves all cookies, TH likes what he calls real cookies as in chocolate chip cookies.

I did think I'd make a huge batch of cookie mix and get some ready to freeze.

Going through my baking supplies and I had no milk or dark chocolate. I did have a load of white chocolate bars.
I do tend to use chocolate bars instead of chocolate chips. It's cheaper and only takes a minute to chop up a bar

I then thought I'd make some blondies, I mean I don't normally ruin them. Like I said I'm no baker.

Eventually I remembered Brookies.
A Brownie and a Cookie mixed
My oven makes the cookie crunchy. So as to not make it too crunchy I add a foil covering around 25/30 minutes into baking.

These are fantastic with a scoop of ice cream

What you'll need

for the cookie dough

1/2 cup of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of dark brown sugar
1/4 cup of sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup + 4 tablespoons of all purpose/plain flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup/150grams of white chocolate chopped

for the brownie batter

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup/150 grams of white chocolate chopped
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of coca powder
1 1/2 cups of all purpose/plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Make the cookie dough first

In a microwaveable dish melt the butter
Add the brown and white sugar to the melted butter and mix well
Add the egg and vanilla and keep mixing
sieve the flour, baking soda and the salt into the wet mixture and mix well.
Making sure all is mixed
Fold in the chocolate.

Prepare a dish or tray ready for the cookie dough

With two spoons, spoon the mixture into balls/blobs (Mine were blobs) on to the prepared tray
and put them into the freezer until needed

In a bowl add the butter and the chopped chocolate and microwave for 90 seconds or until melted
Give the mix a stir, add the sugar and keep mixing.
Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla making sure to stir the mixture well.

Sieve the coco powder into the mixture and stir well.
Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into the mix making sure all the flour is completely mixed

Prepare a 9 x13 pan. I lined my with baking paper.

Pour the brownie batter into the pan.
Remove the cookie from the freezer.

Place the cookie dough into the brownie mix.

Bake at 180°C/350°F for minimum of 50 minutes (with my oven, my Brookies took 60 minutes)

25/30 minutes into cooking cover your dish with foil as not to burn the top.

Enjoy!

Buffalo baked chicken wings

             Buffalo Baked Chicken Wings

Chicken wings certainly are always are a hit in our house TH and TS cant get enough of them

They are great to make for a fun dinner or just when you have a bunch friends for a gathering
They also remind me of great nights with lots of laughter

I have now found a great place in the local market to buy them, I'm able to practice my Dutch when we finish off the transaction. I can't start off in Dutch in case I get it totally wrong!
They see me and start putting what I want in the bag before I've even asked for it.....one time I didn't even what wings,I just never had the heart to tell her.....well it might have been I wasn't brave enough to tell her either

you'll need

chicken wings/drumsticks ~ I used 25 pieces
flour ~1/3 cup
hot sauce ~ 1/3 cup
butter ~ 1/4 cup
baking powder ~ 1 1/2  tablespoons
chili powder ~ 1 teaspoon
garlic powder ~ 1/2 teaspoon
salt~ 1/2 teaspoon
pepper ~ 1/2 teaspoon

wash and dry the chicken

line a baking tray with silicone mat/parchment paper

in a bowl mix the flour, baking powder, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper
mix well

add the chicken to the bowl making sure the chicken is all coated
shake off excess flour
place the chicken onto the lined baking tray
bake in a preheated at 200°C /400°F for 30 minutes

in a sauce pan add the hot sauce and butter
cook over a low heat stirring the sauce until mixed

remove the chicken from the oven
pour over the sauce making sure all the chicken is coated

bake for a further 10 minutes

Enjoy

              Not quite Julie's Chicken & grilled 
           peach salad with a mint vinaigrette

I was looking through my Instagram and noticed a friend had posted her dinner from the night before.
Oh my it looked so good! It was Grilled chicken with grilled white peach salad.
I looked for the recipe, but I couldn't find it.

Then I started thinking what could I make similar.
Hence Not quite Julie's chicken and grilled peach salad was made

I don't normally like fruit in my mail meal and especially cooked fruit
fruit salad dressing or a little fruit in a salad is ok.
BUT.......I have to tell you this salad ROCKS!!!!!

This was one of the nicest salads I have ever eaten at home
Definitely  will be making this again
Thank you Julie!!!


What you'll need for the salad

Mixed salad leaves
fresh peaches ~ 1-2 ( I use one per person for a dinner)
chicken breast ~ I used 1 small breast per person
feta cheese crumbled ~ 1/2 cup
smoke, sweet and spicy pecans ~ 1/2 cup
salt for seasoning chicken

firstly start by poaching the chicken
In a saucepan add the chicken and cover with water and season with a pinch of salt
cook the chicken for about 8 -10 minutes. Making sure the chicken is cooked through
When cooked remove from saucepan and leave a  a few minutes before slicing

Wash the leaves and add to your dish/plate
wash the peaches and slice in half and remove the stone
slice the peach into slices or wedges
heat a griddle pan with a little butter/oil or coconut oil
add the peaches to the HOT  griddle
When the peaches are marked turn over. They will not take long to cook
add the chicken and peaches to the leaves, add the crumbled Feta cheese, add the pecans and drizzle with the vinaigrette

The pecans are a lovely extra touch. I make something similar to these at Christmas time.

What you'll need for the smokey, spicy, sweet pecans

plain raw pecans  ~ 1 cup
smoke paprika ~ 1/4 teaspoon
cayenne pepper ~ 1/2 teaspoon
onion powder ~ 1/4 teaspoon
maple syrup ~ 3/4 tablespoon
olive oil ~ 1/2 teaspoon

preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F

in a bowl add the pecans, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper and onion powder
add the oil and maple syrup and mix well making sure all the pecans are coated.

line a baking tray with parchment paper or using a baking mat
spread the pecans onto the the prepared tray and bake for 12-14 minutes
keep checking every 4-5 minutes and also stirring the pecans and turning if needed

when they have a deep rich colour remove from the oven and leave to cool

The mint vinaigrette also really adds to this dish.
its not overpowering but enough to make the difference

What you'll need for the vinaigrette

fresh mint leaves, chopped ~ 2 tablespoons
apple cider vinegar ~ 2 tablespoons
honey ~ 1 teaspoon
red onion chopped ~ 2 tablespoons
olive oil ~ 4 tablespoons
salt and pepper to taste

in a dressing bottle or a old jam jar/mason jar
add the apple cider vinegar, honey, olive oil, red onion and mint leaves
then add a pinch or salt and pepper to taste

add the lid to the bottle/jar and shake well

***
I have been asked what a pinch is , I literally just take a pinch of each with my thumb and finger
or you can measure out 1/8 teaspoon
***

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