Game day snack: chicken schnitzel with honey mustard onion relish.

hello dear food lovers,

I just spent a week trying to sort out my life and priorities and here I am cooking away, my favorite stress buster regime again. 

Most of you must be wondering why game day snacks? This was inevitable as we all know that the football world cup is starting soon and since most of our TV sets will be entertaining football enthusiasts in our families, the least we can do is make some snacks (though mostly midnight snacks)  since the TV is not gonna be free for us anyway!!

 After much thought, I decided to try this recipe since most people eat chicken and it is easily available too.

A brief background first: A schnitzel is a boneless cut of meat (beef, veal, pork, turkey or chicken) that has been thinned with a heavy object (I used a rolling pin), coated with flour, eggs and bread crumbs and shallow fried. There are so many variations all over Europe itself because it is a sponge like recipe that can be adapted to satisfy so many flavour palates.

 I love the flavour of freshly ground pepper with chicken as it reminds me of my childhood. I come from a small town where 15 years ago, a pizza was hard to come by. A small joint used to serve chicken pizza (only other option being veg pizza...just veg, no specifications... LOL) and this pizza had chicken with freshly ground pepper and some random veggies like mushroom and the world's thickest crust but the 10  year old me loved it!! 

What you will require for the relish. 

• some red onion.
• 1 tbsp honey.
• 1 tbsp vinegar.
• 1 tbsp mustard. 
• 3 tbsp water.
• salt to taste.

In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil on medium heat and throw in the sliced onion. Once they are translucent, add in salt, vinegar and honey and turn the heat to low.

It should look like this. I do not want to add flour or any starch to my relish as we are already using flour in the chicken and I want to keep the relish as light as possible.

Now mix the mustard and water and add it to the pan and let it reduce to a thick consistency on low heat. keep it aside.

 

What you will require

• chicken breast 
• some eggs
• some flour
• some bread crumbs
• pepper and salt 
• canola/veg oil to fry. 

 

Buy chicken breast and slice them thin 2 cm thickness. Using a blunt heavy object start pounding the chicken gently but firmly till they become 1 cm thickness. (the size will become bigger on pounding, so cut accordingly in order to fit in your frying pan)
 Then its 4 easy steps:

1. coat the chicken in flour (I seasoned my chicken breast with freshly ground pepper and salt before coating int he flour) *remember to dust off excess flour
2. egg wash (here again remember to lightly season your eggs with some salt)
3. coat in bread crumbs. (just enough till the egg is not sticky anymore)
4. fry!! (oil should be hot enough to avoid soggy oily result but not too hot as to burn your schnitzel. Heat the oil on medium heat for 20 seconds and test it with some bread crumbs. Slight bubbles should mean the oil is ready.

Fry on medium heat till golden brown and serve hot after wiping off excess oil with a tissue. Chicken should be moist and soft and the coating should have a slight almost sneaky crunch :)

Just some ideas!!

You can use leftover vegetables and make a salad out of warm chicken schnitzel and some nuts and veggies.

Some  vinaigrette dressing will be perfect for summer (emulsion of vinegar, olive oil and some of your favorite herbs).

The salad can be enjoyed with some bread in a sandwich for lunch or enjoyed with a light soup for dinner :)

keep reading and remember to cook from your heart !!

Nutty Chicken Salad.

Hello kind readers!! 

Today I made a beautiful chicken salad for my sisters, who were delighted to my great relief :p

It is a basic recipe and can be enjoyed in a sandwich or just by itself.

What you will require:

• chicken breast
• celery stem
• coriander
• mayonnaise
• nuts ( I've  used walnuts and almonds)
• salt and pepper
• lime juice
• avocado

For the dressing, add juice of one lime and one tbsp freshly ground pepper to quarter cup mayonnaise.


Taste and adjust according to your taste.

Pan sear the chicken breast in canola oil on medium heat and keep the lid on to keep the chicken moist and juicy. I have seasoned the chicken with some sea salt.

Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes, then cut them into bite size pieces. 

Toast almonds in a hot pan.

In a bowl, mix the greens, the nuts, the chicken and the dressing.

You can eat this as it is or even use it to make a chicken sandwich.

Enjoy and remember to cook from your heart!!

Game Day Snack: Fish cakes and salad

Today I will show you how to make fish cakes the cheapest and easiest way and a beautiful salad that will leave you craving for more!! 

Enjoy with some chilled beer !!!

what you will require:

• 3 medium potatoes diced and boiled in some salted water.
• tuna flakes (I refuse to use delicate expensive fish for this rough and tough recipe)
• half a cup of bread crumbs.
• some salt.
• chilly flakes
• parsley (was a disappointment, use dhania/coriander, better suited to our taste.)
• 1 HAPPY EGG :)

Mash the potato and tuna and add your herbs and seasonings!!

 

This is what you will be staring at, if all goes well.

 

Shape the Cakes and give it an egg wash and a dry  coating of bread crumb.



On a hot griddle, rub some canola oil and put your fish cakes on as shown below on medium heat.

Eat it just like this or make the amazing salad!!

What you will require for the salad.

• Some veggies (be colourful in your choice, I've used cabbage and lettuce)
• tomato and onion
• Dressing (one teaspoon sugar, one tbsp fish sauce, one tbsp sesame oil, salt to your taste, 2 tbsp vinegar)

Make your dressing and chop your veggies and mix just before serving or else your cabbage will bleed colour!!

Serve and remember to cook from your heart!!

berry blast summer lolly!!

Let's beat the heat this summer with this simple and healthy berry blast lolly. These are perfect for breakfast on the go, or a mid afternoon snack...or just dessert. Simple and so much space for creativity with fruits and flavours!!

what you will require:

• light juice ( I used cranberry but you can use fresh home made watermelon juice if you have time. )
• sliced up kiwi cut as shown below.
• Ice lolly mould (available online in Kitchen Accessories section .)
• Patience for the freezing time :p

Throw in your fruits.

Pour in the drink.

Freeze (took 4 hours for me.)

Lick in the sun !!!

A 5 year old could do that... so get up and do something this summer. Use different berries and fruits, even gummy bears...make your own fruit juice or use milk with chocolate chips!! 

Enjoy and remember to cook from your heart!!

Game day snack: Yogurt Shrimp Slider

Hi everybody!!

This week was very stressful for me, but now I can finally make something super easy and delicious at the same time. Since World Cup fever is finally setting in, I will show you how to make the perfect snack: a super simple shrimp slider ( a small sandwich with typically 3 inches diameter).  

The recipe calls for 3 large spoons of mayonnaise but I have replaced  2/3rd s of it with sour hung curd. I know the burger bun is not very healthy but everyone gets to eat one during the World Cup !!! 

What will you require:

• 2 small burger buns
• 250 gm shrimp (which i cooked in a saucepan with quarter cup water and salt and pepper on high flame for 3 minutes till the water got evaporated)
• 2 tbsp hung curd ( get regular mother diary curd and hang it in a clean muslin cloth and squeeze out all liquid, takes 2 minutes)
• 1 tbsp mayo
• one small onion minced as shown in the picture.
• juice of half a lime (optional but recommended)
• some seasoning ( I used onion powder, sesame seeds and chilly flakes..some cilantro would have been awesome)
• Here i want to mention, If you don't want to use mayo at all, then you can add some minced pineapple or even an apple to the mix. It will give you a good crunch and add a sweet and fresh dimension to your slider.
• some salt and pepper.

 Dice your cooked shrimp as shown below.

In a bowl, mix your shrimp, hung curd, mayo, onion, seasonings, juice of lime, optional fruits and salt and pepper.

Lightly toast your bun on a pan with a tiny bit of butter or olive oil as this will help you achieve a golden brown lightly crisp textured center. Now they are ready for stuffing.

These sliders are so simple to put together and make for an excellent snack while watching a game or your favorite TV show. Serve you sliders with some chips if you want.  :)

Enjoy and  remember to cook from your heart !!

pancakes and mango compote

Pancakes are the perfect b'fast for weekends. I have been requested by friends to share my recipe. Today I will show you how to make pancakes at home using none of that pancake mix you get at the stores. I will serve it with some simple homemade mango compote and fresh watermelon juice.

There are 3 elements to this:

• the pancakes.
• the mango compote.
• the watermelon juice. (made at home in a juicer with all the seeds and pulp and no added sugar)

 mango compote ingredients: 

• 1 large mango diced
• 1 lime juice and zest.
• 3 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 mug/100ml water

                                  

Add all ingredients to a sauce pan and boil on low heat with lid on till all the water evaporates. Mash the pulp, transfer to a bowl and chill it.

Pancakes ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour (atta/ maida, I used atta)
• 2 eggs.
• 1 tbsp cinnamon powder (optional)
• 1 tbsp baking powder.
• 3 tbsp powderd sugar or 4 tbsp honey.
• 250 ml buttermilk/ half packet of plain mother diary chaach (can be substituted with milk or curd+water, but buttermilk is the best)
• 4 tbsp olive oil ( you can use melted butter or refined oil)

Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and all wet ingredients in another bowl.

After that slowly combine the wet into the dry bowl,  using a spatula in a folding motion.

Once you have a thick-ish runny consistency (should be perfect if you use the exact amounts, they made around 14 mini pancakes of 3 inches diameter), use a ladle or a small bowl to start pouring in small quantities of the batter into your griddle/pan which has been on medium low heat on the stove.

*Use a non stick pan for best results, no one likes oily pancakes.

You will notice small bubbles, its normal because of the baking powder we added. Once you pancake looks like it's edges are firming up(should take about 2-3 minutes), gently flip it.

Dont worry about the shape , they will soon look adorable and taste like heaven

Once you flip it, it needs just 1 more minute on the griddle. Then you can  trim them and dust some castor sugar and cinnamon powder on top while they are hot.

Don't they look amazing ? (This one is for you :* )

Make any fresh fruit juice, I've made watermelon juice because they are in season and easily available.

 Eat the pancakes while they are hot. They go very well with come creamy peanut butter topped with crispy bacon too. 

Enjoy your Sunday and remember to cook from your heart!!