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

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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.

Thai Chicken Pineapple Curry

via: http://www.spiciefoodie.com/2009/09/07/luscious-thai-chicken-pineapple-curry-and-the-5-flavors-of-thai-cuisine-2/

Ingredients:

2 chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

1 cup fresh pineapple, diced

½ c bamboo shoots, sliced

12 red cherry tomatoes

1 Tbsp red curry paste

1 Tbsp ginger, grated

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 ½ T fish sauce

1 tsp sugar (if using canned pineapple, omit)

½ c chicken broth

1 cup coconut milk

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

½ tsp ground turmeric

Fresh cilantro or basil leaves to garnish

Procedure:

Heat oil. Saute ginger and garlic. Brown chicken. Add curry paste to coat chicken. Then add chicken broth, sugar, turmeric, bamboo shoots, fish sauce and pineapple. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and cherry tomatoes. It is ready when coconut milk starts to separate and the cherry tomatoes are soft.

My notes:

The original recipe called for 2 tbsp red curry paste and 1 sliced red chili pepper. Since red curry is the spiciest among the curries, I decided to use only 1 tbsp of Panang curry paste and omitted the red chili pepper. Looking at the ingredients at the back of the packet of the Panang and Red curry paste, the red curry paste had more chilis. Thus, I opted for the Panang curry paste. Even then, the dish still had a lot of kick. My husband loved the heat and reminded me to keep the recipe. I thought that I would have some left over sauce for a fish curry. But my husband gobbled it all up. My son was not home for dinner which was good. He will find this dish too spicy.  Next time, I’ll try it with green curry for my son.

This recipe is a keeper if like us, you like spicy food.

After two days, my husband requested this dish again. I omitted the chicken broth but added a quarter of  the chicken bullion. It tasted better and not as soupy. I also used canned pineapple instead of the fresh one. The fresh pineapple was definitely better. It gave a well balanced flavor to the dish and still had that crunch when you bite into it. I also used coconut cream instead of coconut milk. For some reason, my dish was not as spicy. I wonder if the richness of the coconut cream absorbed some of the spiciness of the curry paste. But, I'll go back to coconut milk next time because my husband wanted that extra kick or maybe use 2 tablespoons of  the red curry paste. I also used a handful of cilantro and torn basil which I had on hand.

Chicken Pineapple Curry with canned pineapple tidbits and no chicken broth. Fresh pineapple is definitely the way to go.

I only used this small pack of coconut cream for this dish. It only sells for Php 9.95 compared to Php 50 if I have it freshly grated. I use the Pantai brand because the other brands available at Unimart are too mild. The curry paste also comes in small packets.

Pineapple Shrimp Curry. I added red bell peppers and used fresh pineapple and some chicken broth to tone down the taste of the coconut creme. 

Beef with Broccoli

Ingredients:
beef
broccoli
6 1/2 inch pieces green onions
6 slices of ginger
1 shallot, chopped
dried shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, rehydrated and sliced

Marinade:
1 T cornstarch
1 T soy sauce
1/2 T sherry or cooking wine
1/2 T water

Sauce:
3 Tbsp water
1 1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp sherry or cooking wine
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp sugar
dash of pepper, sesame oil
2 Tbsp oil

Procedure:
Cut the beef across the grain in thin, bite-sized pieces. Mix with marinade for at least one hour. Before frying, add 1 Tbsp oil and mix so that the pieces of meat will separate easily when stir-frying.

Separate the flowerets of the broccoli from the stem. Slice the stem. Cook in boiling water for 1 min. Remove, drain and set aside.

Heat the wok with 1-2 Tbsp oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions, ginger and shallots. Add the beef. Add the sauce. Toss in the broccoli. Remove to a serving platter. Serve.

Note:

I use 2/3 lb beef tenderloin or rib-eye steak for this recipe. Add onions if shallots not available. Sometimes, I also sub broccoli with corn and snap peas.

Preparations for the Mooncake Festival 2011

My friends and I can never pass up on a good deal. When two deals are scheduled on the same day, no worries, we do both.Yesterday was such a long day. We planned to shop at S&R Commonwealth for the dice game prizes since it was the first day of their annual sale.Then we intended to proceed to the Manila Pen for their 35th Anniversary Promo. Unfortunately, when we got to the S&R Commonwealth branch at 10 am, the crowd was already 3 people wide and snaked around two sides of the building. Looking at the chaos, we decided to try our luck at the Manila Pen and then proceed to S&R, the Fort, after lunch. We figured that if we arrived at Manila Pen before 11 am, we would be seated by 12 noon. Then, arriving at The Fort at an iffy time of 2:30-3:00 pm might also work to our advantage. Great plan only if the Universe will also decide to make it easy for us.

Wonder of wonders. When we got to Manila Pen at 11 am, we thought that we had our dates mixed up. There was no line at all. We signed up for a table, went to wash up and by the time we returned, the people in front of us were already being led to their tables. This was great. To kill time, we started with a plate of pancit luglug which was not included with their promo this year. Oh my, it was really good. The noodles, shrimp and squid were cooked to perfection.Their offering this year was for the Schueblig and Halo-Halo for 35 pesos each from 12 nn to midnight. I didn't think that they would include fries with the Schublig but there it was...all for 35 pesos and they did not limit it to one order per person either. You could order as many as you wanted but no take out.

The Halo-Halo usually sells for 420 pesos. But today, it was offered at 35 pesos. I'm not a halo-halo fan but at 35 pesos, why not? I loved the leche flan and the pinipig topping though.

Manila Peninsula even had their mascot for a photo shoot. Jane Sy, Ruth Cezar and I enjoying our halo-halo at the Lobby. Unfortunately, Lucy could not join us because the XS PTC was also scheduled the same afternoon.

After a satisfying lunch, we then proceeded to S&R, The Fort. Once again, we were shocked to see a line that was really short. The end of the line was just before the parking garage. I guess the Makati crowd would rather pay full price than join the throng of people. The only problem was the shortage of pushcarts and so Ruth lined up while Jane and I followed shoppers to their car to unload so that we can use their carts. We were allowed to enter after about 30 min. which was not bad at all. Once in, Jane lined up for the checkout counter. Once again, luck was on our side. The couple who lined up after us only had a few items and did not have a cart. They were Chinese too. So, Jane spoke to them in Chinese and asked if they were willing to watch our cart while we shopped. In exchange, they could put their stuff in our cart. A win-win situation for all of us.

We were able to buy almost all of our prizes for the dice game and the above photo shows some of the items I bought for the home. Once again, they had the 2-liter EVOO on sale. We bought one carton and intend to offer 2 bottles as a prize. I bought the corned beef from Australia. I'm trying to figure out if this is the same brand I use to buy from the Australian Consulate when I lived in NYC. I use a lot of peanut butter for my dishes and so that large bottle on sale was a God sent. They also had the Sriracha rooster brand that I normally buy at Pho Hoa. The reduced fat mayo with olive oil was also on sale. My friends said that the Prem brand of luncheon meat is just as good as Spam so I bought a can to try out. So many things on sale. If only I had tons of money to buy all the things I wanted but then again, I didn't buy a lot of junk either.

P.S.
My family didn't like the Friday's chicken wings. The Prem luncheon meat is pretty good. My son loves the Reese's ice cream. The Blue Bunny cherry with chocolate ice cream tastes like medicine and is a far cry from Ben and Jerrry's Cherry Garcia.