Creamy Chicken Nuggets - Super Delicious!

Our favourite chicken nuggets

These chicken nuggets are a favourite of everyone in the house. I always make so many but still it is hard to save any for freezing because they get eaten too quickly. The recipe is adapted from Annabel Karmel's The Fussy Eater's Recipe Book which is one of my favourite children (and adult!) cook books. The secret is in the soaking of the chicken and adding the parmesan to the breadcrumbs. I cooked these for friends and one said it was like eating mashed potato, they were that soft. I also made a mustard sauce which is a nice change from the standard tomato.

Here's what you need:

Preparing to crumb the chicken

2 chicken breast, cut into 2cm cubes
200ml milk
1 tbspn lemon juice
1tspn Worcestershire sauce
1 tspn soy sauce
1/4 tspn paprika (if you want)
100g plain flour
1 beaten egg
75g breadcrumbs
45g grated parmesan cheese
4 tbspn canola oil

Here's what you do:
Place the cut chicken in a bowl and cover with the milk, lemon, Worcestershire, soy and paprika. Stir through, cover with cling wrap and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours or longer. When you're ready to coat the chicken, strain the marinade off the chicken. Lay out the flour, egg and breadcrumbs. Add the parmesan cheese to the bread crumbs and mix through. Coat the chicken in flour, dip in egg and then coat with breadcrumb/cheese mix. Repeat until all pieces are coated.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry on high for about 2-3 minutes. I used olive oil as I had no canola. Make sure to turn the nuggets over and keep an eye on them as they cook quickly. When cooked, place on paper towel to the side and repeat until all are cooked.

I also decided to make the mustard dipping sauce suggested in the recipe book and Oscar loved it. It is so quick and easy. Below is what you need and what to do.

Honey Mustard Dip
4 tbspn mayonnaise
1 tspn Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tspn honey
1 tspn cold water

Mix all the ingredients in a small dish, I used a ramekin. That's it! Stir the ingredients well and keep in fridge. Enjoy!

Roasted Pumpkin Sauce with Fettuccine

Pumpkin sauce pasta

This is one of my all time favourite pasta sauces and dinners. So easy and tasty. The best part about it is that you can add to the sauce. Next time I might add some fried bacon and pine nuts, even pesto. You can even use the sauce to stuff portobello mushrooms. The recipe was adapted from the Family Circle Quick Pasta Cookbook and originally says to use pappardelle pasta but I couldn't find any so used regular fettucine. The recipe also says to use butternut pumpkin but as I live in Thailand it was a lot cheaper for me to use chinese pumpkin and it still tasted great. I cooked the whole packet of pasta and it served 2 adults and 3 toddler serves.

Bake for 30mins

Here's what you need:
1 packet of pasta (papperdelle recommended)
1.4kg pumpkin, deseeded, cut in 2cm chunks
4 garlic cloves, crushed
100ml olive oil
3 tablespoons thyme leaves
salt to season
3/4 cup hot stock (vegetable or chicken)
2 tablespoons cream
Parmesan, grated to season at end

Here's what you do:
Preheat your oven to 200C and place water in a pan for the pasta and bring to the boil. Cut your pumpkin into 2cm chunks with the skin and seeds removed. Place in a baking tray and coat with the crushed garlic, thyme leaves and 60ml of the olive oil. Season with salt and place in the oven for 30mins. Place the pasta in the salted, boiling water and cook for about 12mins. When cooked, drain and pour the remaining 40ml of olive oil through the pasta. Keep the pasta warm.

Take the pumpkin out of the oven and place all contents of the baking tray in a Magimix or other food processor. Add the hot stock and cream and mix together. Pour the sauce over the pasta and stir through. That's it! Serve topped with parmesan cheese and thyme leaves if you want. Enjoy!

Cornflake & Herb Crusted Fish

Dinner!

Being Good Friday and all I decided to cook fish for dinner. I always love fish served on a bed of mash and decided to use up my fridge supplies to make a pumpkin & potato mash plus the standard 3 steamed vegetables: carrot, cauliflower, brocoli.  To make the meal more exciting I went on the hunt for an interesting fish recipe and allrecipes.com.au came to the rescue. This crust mixture is just perfect. While eating dinner I brainstormed other uses for the crust: to stuff a portobello mushroom or tomato or on a grilled chicken breast. I seriously loved it and love the fact that one of the main ingredients are cornflakes! Definitely child friendly and you could substitute some of the ingredients for simpler ones if needed. 

So with the menu organised I invited some friends around, had a couple of bottle of wines and a perfect start to the Easter weekend. 

Here's what you need:

1 cup of cornflakes, crushed. I put them in a ziploc bag and crushed them up small with my hands

1 tablespoon chopped Italian basil

2 tablespoons grated parmesan (you could try cheddar cheese or another type)

1 tablespoon of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped up small (you could use standard tomatoes diced)

1 whole lemon zest

Olive oil

Fish - as I live in Thailand I am always cautious of the fish I buy. I used Dory fillets in this recipe.

*Any vegetables you want to cook to serve on the side

Here's what you do: (very easy)

Preheat your oven to 180c. Add your crush cornflakes and all other ingredients to a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. Place your fish on a foil lined oven tray and drizzle some olive oil lightly over the fish pieces. Use your hands to press the mixture all over the top layer of the fisher. Drizzle again slightly with olive oil. Bake in the oven for about 12mins. That's it!

* recipe would cover 2 large fish fillets

** I served Crispy Chocolate Wontons for dessert

Ricotta & herb gnocchi with tomato sauce

I adapted this recipe from the Healthy Eating cookbook by Family Circle and even my husband commented while eating that it "tastes healthy." I'm happy with the way it turned out and given how easy it is to make, we'll definitely have it for dinner again. Oscar loved it as much as we did too which is always a plus. The recipe made 3 big serves.

Ingredients

Here's what you need for the gnocchi:

450g ricotta cheese
35g grated parmesan
20g chopped mixed herbs (I used parsley, thyme, chives, basil)
pinch of nutmeg
120g white breadcrumbs (I used white sliced bread & put it through the Magimix)
2 beaten eggs
plain flour for rolling

Place the mixture in the fridge

Here's what you do:

To make the gnocchi combine all the ingredients (except the flour) in a bowl. I used my KitchenAid but it's easy enough with a wooden spoon as well. Once mixed, cover and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, longer if you wish. I've made it before and left it overnight.

When you're ready to make the pasta use the flour to dust an area on your kitchen bench. Take the mixture out of the fridge and use your hands to knead it gently. Add flour to your hands as needed so the mixture doesn't become too sticky.

Roll the pasta mix into long ropes

Divide the mixture into sixths and roll out each part with your hands on the flour surface. Roll the mix into a long rope shape about the thickness a finger and use a knife to cut the mix into 2cm pieces. Put a piece in the palm of your hand and use a fork to lightly press a ridge on both sides. You want the gnocchi to be a slightly rounded. Place each piece on tray lined with baking paper.

Place on a tray before cooking

Boil salted water in a large saucepan. You need to cook the gnocchi in batches and they only take about 2-3 mins to cook. You know they are ready when they float to the surface of the water. Don't take them out too quickly as they can go soggy. Use a large slotted spoon to collect each piece and make sure to drain it well. Place in a bowl and repeat process until all gnocchi is cooked.

Serving Sauce:
I served my gnocchi with a tomato sauce. I made the sauce while the gnocchi mix was cooling in the fridge.


Here's what you'll need:

Final product - delicious!

1 onion chopped finely
2 garlic cloves crushed
800g or 2 cans of whole tomatoes
2/3 cup of thawed frozen peas (optional)
a pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon shredded basil
1 tablespoon of olive oil

What to do:

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Cook over a low heat for about 8mins or until the onion is soft but be careful not to brown the onion. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 7mins then add the sugar and peas and cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the basil and cook for another minute or so.

Take off the heat and let cool for a minute. Place your cooked gnocchi in a bowl, spoon on sauce and shave (using a potato peeler) some pieces of parmesan.

Enjoy!