Oven Baked Rice

Oven Baked Rice

7 C white rice
14 C boiling water
7 t salt
7 T butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 350. Grease large roasting pan with non stick spray.  Put rice in pan and spread out evenly.  If using a tin pan, it's best to support it underneath with a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle salt and butter pieces on top of rice.  Pour boiling water on rice and cover tightly with heavy tin foil.  Bake for 60 mins or until rice is done.

*I put the pan in the oven before I pour in the water.  It gets so heavy and it's hard to move without spilling.
**These amounts can be made bigger or smaller, just keep the ratio the same and if you go less than 4 cups of rice, I think the cooking time will decrease.
***I'll keep updating this recipe as I do it more often, because I don't know how many this serves. Each time I do it, it's for a different meal so people eat different amounts.

HB's Luscious Lemon Bars

HB's Luscious Lemon Bars

Crust:
1 C butter (chilled and cut into 1 inch cubes)
dash salt
1/2 C powdered sugar
2 C flour

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 9x13 pan with foil,  with extra hanging over the edges.  Press foil into corners and smooth. (The overhanging foil is to allow for easier removal of the lemon squares to cut after they have cooled.) Grease foil.  Put crust ingredients into a food processor and pulse until mixed well, pale yellow and resembles coarse meal.  Press into the prepped 9x13 pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Filling:
4 eggs, beaten well
2 C sugar
1/4 C flour
1 t lemon zest
1/2 C fresh lemon juice

Powdered sugar for garnish

While crust is baking, prepare filling. Combine flour & sugar.  Mix in eggs, zest and juice.  Pour onto warm crust. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until set.  Cool completely or better yet, chill (makes precise cutting a little easier).  Remove entire baked lemon dessert by lifting it out of the 9x13 pan with the tin foil.  Cut with a sharp knife.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

**I wasn't a huge lemon bar fan...but now I am!  I made them once over 16 years ago (in my old house) and wasn't too thrilled.  So this time, I consulted a few recipes and made two.  Neither did it for me, but there were elements of the two that did, so I combined the two and in my opinion it was perfection!  The best crust, with the perfect amount of lemon.
**Side note...ATK's (America's Test Kitchen) was overly lemony and the crust wasn't so great!  Grandma Braithwaite's (HB's mom) recipe was a delightful texture, but didn't taste lemony enough.

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

• 10 cups chicken broth
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 large lemon, zested
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup israeli (pearl) couscous
• 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 2 ounces crumbled feta
• 1/3 cup chopped chive
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh squeezed lemon juice
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• Place the olive oil in a large 6-8 quart sauce pot over medium-low heat. Peel the onion. Then quarter it and slice into thin strips. Once the oil is hot, saute the onion and minced garlic for 3-4 minutes to soften.  Add the chicken stock, chicken breasts, lemon zest, and crushed red pepper to the pot. Raise the heat to high, cover, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium, then simmer for 5 minutes.  Stir in the couscous, 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste. Simmer another 5 minutes. Then turn the heat off.  Using tongs, remove the two chicken breasts from the pot. Use a fork and the tongs to shred the chicken. Then place it back in the pot. Stir in the crumbled feta cheese and chopped chive. Taste and salt and pepper as needed. Just before serving add fresh lemon juice. 1 T to 1/4 C depending on your taste....start small. (Or less...and possibly even more.)  Garnish with a little more feta. 
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• **Recipe adapted from aspicyperspective.com
• **I followed this recipe exactly and when I tasted it, I couldn't really taste lemon. So I added the fresh squeezed lemon juice to the ingredient list. It made all the difference.  The family loved it! Served with warm pita bread!