(web pic but mine looks similar to this)
Gee, it's Friday again - where is the time going? I plan to make Apricot Chicken tonight - it's something I can have made and just waiting to serve (with mashed potato and green beans).~
I had a few flops on Anzac Day - but first up I made some Anzac biscuits to give to a client - we delivered her new car that morning - no flop there - they were crisp and perfect! Ever been given fresh biscuits when you buy a car - come see us!
~
Later in the afternoon I decided to make some more bread rolls - I have had such success with them lately. I only had an open sachet of yeast left which came from a bread mix pack and I wasn't sure of it's age. I mixed it up with the required sugar and warm water and let it sit. It frothed up a bit so I thought it would be fine. I got the dough going in the bread maker but by the time it was ready to come out to be shaped into rolls I could see that it wasn't going to rise properly. I make the rolls anyway but they turned out like little rocks... Flop No. 1!
~
While the dough was being made, I thought I would make an Anzac Cake (I found it here at Our Gang of 7 blog) for our staff to have for smoko on Thursday back at work. I followed the recipe and put it in the oven, baked it for 30 minutes then took it out. It hadn't risen much for it smelled yummy. I left it to cool on a rack. When I looked at it again, I could see that it had sunk to about 2.5cm high and was like a house brick! I 'snapped' off a piece and tasted it - it was fine but it would get stuck in your throat if you ate it... Flop No. 2! Disclaimer: I must have used plain flour intead of Self Raising because when I looked in my pantry, the plain flour was sitting in front of the SR flour... der Joolz! This is a perfectly good recipe so give it a go - just use the right flour!
~
I made a nice beef curry for dinner but the round (stewing) steak I bought for it was quite tough, even after 2 hours of slow cooking . Next time I will use just use rump steak then I know it will be tender. I also made rice by the absorption method (like I always do with no fails) and it was stodgy and really claggy (wallpaper glue comes to mind!)... Flop No. 3!
~
My Apricot chicken had better be good otherwise I may just give up!
Here's how I make it:
350gms chicken tenderloins, cut up into small bite-sized pieces
2 drumsticks
4 wings, trimmed of the tips
1 can apricot nectar plus 1/4 cup water
1 sachet French Onion Soup
big handful of dried apricots
1 onion, chopped in strips
1 carrot, sliced into rounds
1 handful frozen green beans or peas
~~~
Place all items in a large casserole dish and combine well. Bake at 170C for about 1.5 - 2 hours, stirring every half hour or until meat is tender on the bone. Serve with creamy mashed potato and steamed green beans. Can also be served with a nice bread roll if they don't resemble rocks! Lol!
~
And I will make another Anzac cake and will put up pics of it later tonight in all it's successful glory.
~
We are off on a Ruby adventure tomorrow - we are meeting 2 other couples and are being taken to a mystery location for an overnight camp somewhere (??) - should be fun - it's been ages since we've been away in Ruby. Hopefully the rain will hold off for us so we can have a nice camp fire and barbecue.
~
Cheers - Joolz
~
Later in the afternoon I decided to make some more bread rolls - I have had such success with them lately. I only had an open sachet of yeast left which came from a bread mix pack and I wasn't sure of it's age. I mixed it up with the required sugar and warm water and let it sit. It frothed up a bit so I thought it would be fine. I got the dough going in the bread maker but by the time it was ready to come out to be shaped into rolls I could see that it wasn't going to rise properly. I make the rolls anyway but they turned out like little rocks... Flop No. 1!
~
While the dough was being made, I thought I would make an Anzac Cake (I found it here at Our Gang of 7 blog) for our staff to have for smoko on Thursday back at work. I followed the recipe and put it in the oven, baked it for 30 minutes then took it out. It hadn't risen much for it smelled yummy. I left it to cool on a rack. When I looked at it again, I could see that it had sunk to about 2.5cm high and was like a house brick! I 'snapped' off a piece and tasted it - it was fine but it would get stuck in your throat if you ate it... Flop No. 2! Disclaimer: I must have used plain flour intead of Self Raising because when I looked in my pantry, the plain flour was sitting in front of the SR flour... der Joolz! This is a perfectly good recipe so give it a go - just use the right flour!
~
I made a nice beef curry for dinner but the round (stewing) steak I bought for it was quite tough, even after 2 hours of slow cooking . Next time I will use just use rump steak then I know it will be tender. I also made rice by the absorption method (like I always do with no fails) and it was stodgy and really claggy (wallpaper glue comes to mind!)... Flop No. 3!
~
My Apricot chicken had better be good otherwise I may just give up!
Here's how I make it:
350gms chicken tenderloins, cut up into small bite-sized pieces
2 drumsticks
4 wings, trimmed of the tips
1 can apricot nectar plus 1/4 cup water
1 sachet French Onion Soup
big handful of dried apricots
1 onion, chopped in strips
1 carrot, sliced into rounds
1 handful frozen green beans or peas
~~~
Place all items in a large casserole dish and combine well. Bake at 170C for about 1.5 - 2 hours, stirring every half hour or until meat is tender on the bone. Serve with creamy mashed potato and steamed green beans. Can also be served with a nice bread roll if they don't resemble rocks! Lol!
~
And I will make another Anzac cake and will put up pics of it later tonight in all it's successful glory.
~
We are off on a Ruby adventure tomorrow - we are meeting 2 other couples and are being taken to a mystery location for an overnight camp somewhere (??) - should be fun - it's been ages since we've been away in Ruby. Hopefully the rain will hold off for us so we can have a nice camp fire and barbecue.~
Cheers - Joolz
Thought I was the only one that had flops Joolz!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was making the bread rolls, I said to Phil "I dont think they are going to work" as the dough wouldn't rise like it should. But I ended up putting them in a turned off warm oven for a while and that did the trick. I asked mum about it and she said it may have been too cold for the dough to rise properly, even though I put it in the nice warm car for an hour. So living where you do Joolz perhaps that was your problem too.
I have chicken out so I might try your apricot chicken recipe, it is a little different to mine.
I haven't had any problems with the Anzac cake when I have made it, so you must have used plain flour lol! Dont you just hate days like that? Rest assured, you are not alone, I just dont tell anyone...
Hope all goes well for your Apricot chicken :)
x
Snap! Apricot chicken here for dinner too. Was just about to turn off the laptop and head into the kitchen when I saw your post title!
ReplyDeleteAh, apricot chicken. Sounds wonderful. And, NO, we didn't get fresh biscuits with our new car last week! I wonder how much it would cost to have a car shipped from Australia to Cincinnati.... ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a day! We all have them! Hope your cooking goes wonderfully this weekend!
ReplyDeletePoor girl! Seems like you were on a roll (no pun intended) with the fun in the kitchen. I recall flops, several, and those were days when the waste basket ate better than we did, lol. For the most part I would say you have shown us some very scrumptious, mouth-watering dishes that made my mouth water. Every now and then a girl has a rough day in the kitchen...that is when hubby needs to say, "Shall we go out to eat my love? I know you've had a bad day."
ReplyDelete(((HUGS))) Susanne :)
Hi Joolz
ReplyDeleteJust checked my spam comments and for some reason some of your comments were in there. Just wanted to let you know in case you thought I was being rude and not publishing your comments!! Probably just a glitch with blogger. It does seem to happen occasionally!