Nailed It!

Hello my gorgeous readers!  How are we feeling on this cold and frosty morning?  I am feeling pretty excited as I have ordered the first batch of cookbooks to be printed!!  I should have them this weekend.  I have only ordered 15 this time, but will definitely order more if the demand is there :)  Can't wait to see how they look!

I have a few new things for you this week, plus a "nailed it!" for you :)  For anyone who hasn't seen these - people post pics of what it should look like (normally a food) and how their version turned out and they are generally quite amusing.  Anyone who is on my FB page (here) will have seen the yummy looking courgette chips -

This is how they should look.

This is how mine turned out. 

 

"Nailed It!"

 



Yeah.  I know, they look great huh?!  I think maybe I was meant to use bigger courgettes or not cut as thin as I did, or cook differently altogether!  The ones that didn't burn, were soft and not crisp like a chip.  I did exactly as it said, so not really sure how I got it so wrong!

This weekend I am baking a cake for my daughters birthday, so there may be another "nailed it!" next time - though I'm hoping it will turn out better than this attempt!

Anywho, on to the important stuff!  What else did I make to share with you?  Coffee and Hazelnut slice, peanut butter biscuits, slowcooker pull-apart bread and bacon pancakes.  I know right?  Yum!

Slow cooker pull-apart bread is another FB recipe, you have probably seen it circulating.  I've seen it so many times, and always thought to myself, "that looks easy" but never got around to doing it.  Well this time I did, and even though it also didn't look quite as good as the pic, it tasted great!  And was very filling too.

3 cups of Self Raising flour
100 g butter or marge
1 teaspoon salt
1cup milk
Filling: anything you like, cheese, sundried tomatoes and basil, olives, ham - Use your imagination!

 Add salt to flour Rub butter and flour to resemble bread crumbs Add milk roll into a dough. Roll out put ingredients on top roll and cut. Put in slow cooker for 1.5 hours on high

 

The top pic is the original, the other two are mine - "Nailed It!"

So I used ham, cheese, cream cheese, pineapple and capsicum.  It was basically like a Hawaiian scone.  I think possibly I was meant to cut my roll a bit smaller to fill the base a bit better and possibly roll the dough out thinner too.  Either way though, it still tasted great.


Bacon Pancakes

This was a pic I saw on one of those "life hacks" posts.  Hubby and son loved it!  I thought it was alright, but I prefer mine separate.  So basically, you make pancake mix (1C flour, 1 egg, 1C milk/water + more to make consistency you like), and you pour that over streaky bacon as it's cooking.  Serve with maple syrup.

I would cook one side of bacon first, then turn it over and pour batter over - you have to do it slowly to try and get it all the way around the bacon.  The first ones I made, didn't look quite as good as these ones!  This was my last batch. 


Coffee and Hazelnut Slice

This is from Foodtown magazine and one that I have been wanting to make for so long!  Finally decided to get the ingredients in the weekend and made it.  Super tasty and super sweet, so you only need small slices.

1tin condensed milk
250g butter
2tsp coffee in 2Tbsp hot water
2 packets of super wine biscuits
70g hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
1/2C desiccated coconut

Line a slice tin with baking paper.
Heat condensed milk and butter in saucepan, stirring until butter has melted.  Add coffee and water and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, combine crushed biscuits, hazelnuts and coconut.  Make a well in centre.
Add liquid to dry ingredients and mix well.  Tip into slice tin and press down firmly.
Refrigerate for 20mins.
Ice - 50g butter, 1tsp coffee in 1Tbsp hot water, 1C icing sugar - mix until combined.  Spread over slice and refrigerate until set.

Peanut Butter Biscuits

125g butter
1/2C sugar
1/3C brown sugar
1 egg
1/2C peanut butter
1 1/2C flour
1tsp baking soda
1/2C dark choc drops

Preheat oven to 180C
Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add egg and beat well.  Mix in the peanut butter.
Sift flour and baking soda, mix together.
Add chocolate and fold to combine.
Roll tablespoons of the mix into balls and flatten with a fork.  Leave room for them to spread a little.
Bake for 10-12 mins or until golden.  Leave them to cool before turning onto a wire rack.

I encourage you to experiment with those courgette chips and if you can get them better than me, post them on my page!  By the way, the recipe was: slice them thin, toss in 1Tbsp Olive Oil, season with salt and pepper and a sprinkle of paprika, then bake at 450F (approx. 220C) for 25-30 mins.

Hopefully the rest of those recipes appeal to you :) If you are interested in a cookbook them please PM me on my FB page.   They will be $30 each.

Have a fantastic week guys!  Happy Cooking!