Fried Rice

Just to prove that we aren't all about sweets in this house, we tried out a new Fried Rice recipe a few days ago that I definitely think is worth sharing.  I don't usually attempt fried rice as I have never been able to get it to taste as good as the Chinese restaurants do and I don't normally enjoy it.  This one however, we all loved and the best bit is that it tastes equally good cold!

 

We used a recipe out of "Wok & Stirfry", a book given to us by Buddha's best friend's mum and dad for Christmas.  His friend's mum is Asian and Buddha loves going to their house and always comes home telling us of yummy food that he has eaten there.  I have asked her for several of her recipes,,,,maybe this gift was a hint to stop asking her for recipes?? lol

 

Anyway, finally we got around to trying one of the recipes and oh boy I am so glad we did.  The book calls this Chicken Fried Rice, but since I was cooking chicken anyway, I left the chicken out and added in diced bacon instead.

CHICKEN FRIED RICE

Small knob of butter

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2 tablespoon oil

6 spring onions, chopped

450 grams cooked chicken, cubed (I used bacon pieces)

3 tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 carrots, diced

1 celery stick, diced

1 red pepper, deseeded and diced

175 grams peas

100 grams canned sweetcorn, drained

275 grams cooked, long grain rice

Heat the butter in a small heavy based frying pan and add the beaten egg.

Swirl the egg until it covers the base of the pan.

Cook until the egg has set and is cooked through, then turn out onto a plate.

Cut the omelette into strips.

Heat a wok over medium heat then add the oil.

Add the spring onions and fry till soft, then add the chicken/bacon and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and stir fry for 5-6 minutes.

Stir in the carrots, celery, red pepper, peas and sweetcorn and stir fry for 5 minutes.

Add the rice and stir thoroughly.

Finally add in the omelette strips and remaining soy sauce.

Serve immediately

This was more or less a tripled recipe - I was serving 6 plus I made enough for left overs so the kids could  have it for a quick dinner the following night, plus Buddha had it for school lunch for 2 days as well.

Chewy Chocolate Brownie,,,,,a winner with the Kids!

 Can you believe I have never, not ever in my life, baked Chocolate Brownies?????  I can't.  I remember when I was a kid, growing up reading books based in America and reading about Chocolate Brownies and thinking they must truly be the most divine things ever put on the planet.  I have been a mum for over 17 years now but still, I never baked Chocolate Brownies.  I have never wanted to make the packet variety, they never seemed like the real deal.

Finally in my stash of recipes I came across a "Chewy Chocolate Brownie" recipe.  This recipe I have probably had for a good 10 or more years, but I have never made it, don't ask me why.  Finally last week, I decided to give it a go.  I needed something quick to whip up that would be good with icecream for dessert that night, but also be good enough to keep a couple of days and be used for school lunchboxes.  This did both those things very well.  I didn't get to taste it myself as Hubby and I are on a diet and I was being very well behaved lol, but the kids all loved it and want me to bake another batch this coming weekend, so it must have been pretty good.

CHEWY CHOCOLATE BROWNIE

125 grams Butter, melted

2 cups Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Cocoa

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

2 Eggs

1 cup SR Flour

1/2 cup Pecan Nuts, finely chopped (I used Almonds)

Mix the melted butter and sugar, sift in dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Add the remaining ingredients, combine well.

Put into  a greased and floured (or baking paper lined) pan and cook for 30 minutes at 180 degrees.

Cut up into small squares and serve with cream/icecream or they are equally great as a lunch box treat on their own.

 

ANZAC BISCUITS

It has been so long since I last posted a recipe, I just don't know where the year is going!!!  I have a little catching up to do.  I haven't been doing a lot of cooking, well cooking yes, but trying out new recipes or making cooking anything really inspiring or noteworthy, no.  I have decided to go away from the "step by step" photography for my blog.  I will on occasion do it, but generally this will just be the photos of the end result and the recipe, along with a little of my rambling on of course lol.  I made this decision primarily because I am just too lazy and also because my camera isn't that great and I found myself taking ages to get a decent photo, particularly when trying to photograph flour/sugar, batters etc, so it has been put in the too hard basket and I will leave that for the professional bloggers/photographers of this world lol.

Anyway, back to my Anzac Biscuits.  Anything Anzac is Buddha's favourite sweet treat.  He loves Anzac biscuits, slices and cakes.  Usually I whip up a batch of Anzac Slice because it is so quick and easy.  I don't make biscuits that often because they take so much more time, especially in my oven where I can only really use one shelf for baking as the lower shelves will result in burnt offerings!

But this time I had a "new to me" recipe for these biscuits and, well a new recipe just has to be tried out using the recipe for the purpose it was designed for I think.  I couldn't make this into a slice, it had to start out as biscuits!

They were yummy too.  This batch didn't last long in my house,,,,,even the batch that were a little over cooked got eaten, that always means they must have been good!!

ANZAC BISCUITS

2 cups Plain Flour

1 cup Sugar

2 cups Rolled Oats

1 1/2 cups Coconut

3 tablespoons Golden Syrup

250 grams Butter

3 teaspoons Bicarb Soda

4 tablespoons boiling water

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Mix flour, sugar, oats and coconut together in a large bowl.

Melt the butter with the golden syrup - you can use a microwave or stove.

Heat until the butter is melted and the mixture bubbles.

Dissolve the bicarb soda in boiling water.

Add to the butter mixture.

Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients.

Mix and roll into small balls.

Place on greased trays, allowing room to spread.

Bake for approx 20 minutes or until golden brown.