Chicken Schnitzel with Grilled Eggplant and Tomato Salad

Chicken Schnitzel with Grilled Eggplant and Tomato Salad

Via: http://www.masterchef.com.au/chicken-schnitzel-with-grilled-eggplant-and-heirloom-tomato-salad.htm

Ingredients

200g crustless sourdough bread, diced
50g parmesan cheese, grated 
6 sprigs thyme, leaves only
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves only
2 tablespoons parsley leaves
Pinch salt and pepper
1 chicken breast fillet 
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
70g plain flour
80ml olive oil
40g butter, chopped

Salad
2 Lebanese eggplants 
2 tablespoons olive oil  
Juice of half a lemon
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
200g assorted heirloom tomatoes, chopped
1/2 bunch fresh basil, leaves picked and torn
1/4 bunch fresh flat parsley, leaves picked
110g buffalo mozzarella cheese in brine, torn

Save to Cookbook

Procedure: 
1. Process sourdough and parmesan in a food processor until fine crumbs. Add herbs and season with salt and pepper, process until finely chopped. Transfer to a plate.

2. Cut the chicken breast horizontally into thin steaks. Place in between 2 sheets of cling film and lightly pound with the flat side of meat mallet to flatten.

3. Whisk egg and milk together in a bowl. Coat one piece of chicken in flour and shake to remove excess. Then dip the chicken into the egg mixture. Then coat the chicken in breadcrumbs, pressing firmly to coat. Repeat with remaining pieces of chicken and crumbing mixtures.

4. For the salad, thinly slice eggplant lengthways. Heat olive oil in a grill pan over high heat. Cook eggplant, in batches, for 4-5 minutes each side or until tender and golden. When cooked, place on a paper towel-lined baking tray. Dress the eggplant with a squeeze of lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil and season to taste.

5. Place tomatoes in a bowl and dress with olive oil, sea salt, pepper, torn basil, flat parsley and torn mozzarella. Set to one side.

6. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, cook chicken in batches, for 4-5 minutes each side or until tender and golden. Reduce heat to low and add butter around the chicken. Cook until crispy, remove and place on to the paper towel-lined baking tray with eggplants.

8. Add eggplant to tomato salad and toss to combine. Place chicken on serving plates and serve with eggplant, tomato and mozzarella salad.

MY NOTES:

No need to tweak. It’s perfect as is. I didn’t have sourdough bread and so I used French Bread. It was still very good. I was told that sourdough bread is available at the EDSA Shangri-la Mall. I also used chicken thigh fillets instead of chicken breast because it remains moist even if it’s a bit overcooked.

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Sweet Potato Mash

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Sweet Potato Mash By Chef Luis Chikiamco http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080903-158492/Braised-beef-short-ribs-with-sweet-potato-mash#_ For beef short ribs: 500 g beef short ribs Salt and pepper, to taste 2 tsp paprika ¼ c olive oil For the sauce: ¼ c olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium onion, quartered 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into ?-inch squares 2 finger chilies, thinly sliced 2 c tomato sauce Salt and pepper, to taste 1 tbsp dried oregano 1 tbsp dried basil leaves 1 tbsp dried thyme 2 tbsp sugar 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce For sweet potato mash: 250 g sweet potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed ¼  c whipping cream 2 tbsp butter Salt and pepper, to taste Procedure: Prepare beef short ribs. Rub short ribs with salt, pepper and paprika. Heat olive oil in pan and pan fry the short ribs until brown. Set aside. Prepare sauce and stew. Heat olive oil in casserole and sauté garlic, onions, bell peppers and chilies for about 2-3 minutes. Pour in tomato sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in oregano, basil, thyme, sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Add short ribs and bring mixture to a boil then simmer on very low heat for about 2 hours or until meat is tender. Prepare sweet potato mash. Combine mashed sweetpotatoes with cream, butter, salt and pepper. Mix until all ingredients are smoothly blended. Serve with beef short ribs. Makes two to four servings. MY NOTES: The recipe is perfect as is. Don’t skip the sweet potatoes because it gives a perfect balance to the bite of the stew.

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Via http://www.food.com/recipe/creamy-cajun-chicken-pasta-39087

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Serving Size: 2-3

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

4 ounces linguine, cooked al dente

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

2 tablespoons butter

1 thinly sliced green onion

1 -2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat.  In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté chicken in butter until chicken is tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Reduce heat. Add green onion, heavy cream, tomatoes, basil, salt, garlic powder, black pepper and heat through.  Pour over hot linguine and toss with Parmesan cheese.

My Notes:

·         I basically keep all the measurements as is except for the cream.  I prefer to coat my noodles and not drown it in sauce. I usually eyeball the cream to about 50 g and heat through with all the other ingredients.

·         Then to the cooking pan, I add my cooked pasta and about 2 ladles of pasta water. (Remember to remove the pasta 2 min from the required cooking time in the instructions as it will continue to cook when you incorporate it into your sauce)

·         Although I grate ¼ cup of parmesan cheese, I usually just add half of that to my pasta and serve the other half on the side.

·         Finally, I add 1 Tbsp of butter to glisten the dish.

I use boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts so that I don’t have to watch it like a hawk since thighs remain moist even when it's a bit overcooked.  I also use fresh basil, parsley and fresh garlic since these are staples in my kitchen. But dried and powder are okay too. Cajun Seasoning is available at Unimart. I use Elle & Vire Cooking Cream instead of heavy whipping cream.

For larger servings, I double the recipe except for the cream which I just eyeball to taste.

Shrimp Satay with Thai Peanut Sauce

Shrimp Satay with Thai Peanut Sauce

Via http://www.shesimmers.com/2009/04/shrimp-satay-with-thai-peanut-sauce.html

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs large shrimps, peeled and deveined

2 Tbsp ground turmeric

½ tsp ground white or black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp ground coriander

1/3 c coconut cream.

Procedure:

Mix all ingredients together. Pan grill the shrimps until cooked. Serve with Thai Peanut Sauce on the side.

Thai Peanut Sauce

1 13.5 oz can coconut milk

2 ozs (approx ¼ c) Thai red curry paste

¾ c peanut butter

½ T salt

¾ c sugar

2 Tbsp of cider of white vinegar

½ c water

Procedure:

Bring to a boil. Simmer for 3-5 minutes over low heat.

Note:  Keeps in a glass container in the refrigerator for weeks.

MY NOTES:

·         For the shrimp marinade, I only used 1 Tbsp of ground turmeric because I didn’t want it to taste like Indian food. I also just poured in some of the coconut milk from the 250 ml tetra pak I used for the Thai Peanut Sauce.

·         For the Thai Peanut Sauce, I played around with the proportions since all the ingredients are mixed together. I just added and tasted as I went along.  In the end, I used:

250 ml coconut milk in tetra pak

1 Tbsp Panang Red Curry Paste (Pantainorasingh brand)

¼ c peanut butter

½ t salt

¼ c sugar

2 Tbsp Tamarind Paste (only because I always keep a jar of the Thai Heritage brand Tamarind Paste handy)  

½ c water

My husband really, really loves this dish. He said that the taste is so smooth and that it is better than what we would get in a restaurant. We've already had this three days in a row!!! I would have preferred larger shrimps but I can't find any because of the typhoons.

If you love spicy food, use the Pantainorasingh brand of red curry paste. If you have kids, you might want to try the Kanokwan brand which is not spicy at all. I used 2 Tbsp of the Kanokwan Panang curry paste and my husband complained that it still didn't have a kick.