Popcorn Chicken

Everybody loves chicken! We are not an exception and for that reason we present you the wonderful recipe which Lai Kuan, the creator of the blog ” Food 4 Tots” http://food-4tots.com/ sent to us for Popcorn Chicken!

Food4Tots 2012

Ingredients:

230g chicken breast, skinless (2 small chicken breast halves)
100g cornflakes (I used Nestle Whole Wheat Cornflakes)
60g plain flour
2 eggs

Seasonings:
For the marinade
1½ tsp oyster sauce
1½ tsp light soy sauce
½ tsp sesame oil
¼ tsp white pepper
pinch of sugar

Food4Tots 2012

For the breading
4 tsp garlic powder (refer to photo)
15g (about 4 tbsp) Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

How to make?

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Trim excess fat, rinse and pat dry chicken breast with kitchen towels. Put inside a plastic bag, pound with a rolling pin/ empty glass bottle to flatten it. Cut into 1 inch small cubes. Mix together the seasonings for the marinade in a large bowl. Add chicken cubes to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. You can do the coating in a reusable bag and transfer the bag straight to the fridge.
3. Put the cornflakes into a food processor and process until they become small crumbs. You can also put the cornflakes into a plastic bag and crush with your fingers or rolling pin to make the crumbs. Add in Parmesan cheese, paprika and black pepper and mix well. Set aside.
4. Set up your assemble line. Get ready with 3 bowls (even plates or small pan sheets are possible) which are large enough for coating the chicken cubes.
5. The FIRST one is for flour.
6. The SECOND one (preferably use bowl) is for egg white. Crack an egg, extract the egg white and whisk lightly.
7. The THIRD one is for cornflakes mixture.
8. Use a pair of tongs or clean hands, dip chicken cubes in the flour, egg and then cornflakes mixture.
9. Prepare a baking tray lined aluminum foil. Grease the tray with oil to prevent the chicken cubes from sticking to it.
10. Arrange the coated chicken cubes on the tray. Drizzle/ spray some oil over them.
11. Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Turn the chicken cubes over halfway through. Do not overcook the chicken as they will be dry and hard.
12. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Transfer to serving plates.
13. Serve warm and best to go with dips such as tomato ketchup, sweet chilli sauce or tartar sauce.

Notes: To minimize messiness, complete the entire batch for one particular step before moving to the next one. Instead of cubes, you may also cut them into strips. You may not use all the coating, but having more will make your work easier. If you don’t have oven, you can pan-fry them. To add extra crunchiness, you can do double breading for the chicken cubes. After step (8), dip the chicken cubes again to the egg mixture and then the cornflakes mixture. (Remember to complete the entire batch for step (8) first before proceeding to the second round breading. This is to ensure you have enough leftover egg mixture and cornflakes for that.) If your kids who are not ready for paprika and garlic powder, you can omit them. It works equally well too.

Paella

Are you looking for a more extraordinary recipe to prepare for your beloved people? This is our latest Spanish suggestion for Paella recipe!

Taste of Home 2012

Ingredients:

• 600 grams of rice (short grain)
• Half a chicken cut into small pieces
• 2 artichokes
• 2 medium-sized red peppers
• 2 mature tomatoes
• A bit of black pepper, garlic,parsley & salt
• A strand of saffron
• One glass of olive oil
• 1/2 lemon
• A sprig of rosemary and thyme

How to make?

1. Put some olive oil in a frying pan and put the browned chicken pieces into a pan with 8 glasses of water, and bring to the boil. Leave simmering for half an hour.

2. Cut the artichokes and red pepper and fry them.

3: Fry the tomato and garlic in olive oil in a large frying pan then add the rice, stir for a minute and then add the chicken, chicken stock (there should be 6 glasses), artichokes, red peppers, the juice of half a lemon, black pepper, parsley, thyme, rosemary, the saffrón strands (grind them first)

4. Put all of the ingredients in a big pot, then, turn the heat up to maximum and boil for about 10 minutes. Then lower the heat and leave to simmer for another 10 minutes. After 20 minutes, the liquid should have evaporated. Turn off the heat, and leave to stand for five minutes. If possible cover while it is standing

Bon appetite!

Thank you

Thank you all for sending your lovely recipes to pr.dragonfly@yahoo.co.uk. We really appreciate them all!

Dairy Delivers 2012

Sweet Corn Ice Cream

Are you looking for something new and extraordinary to impress your beloved people? Here is our recipe suggestion for  Sweet Corn Ice Cream!

Ice Cream Journal, 2009

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin

1 tablespoon of water

2 cups of corn kernels

2 cups of low-fat milk

1 14-ounce can nonfat sweetened condensed milk

3 large egg yolks

 1 cup of buttermilk

 

How to make?

1. Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl; let stand, stirring once or twice, while you make the base for the ice cream.

2. Combine corn and milk in a large saucepan. Heat over medium heat until steaming. Whisk condensed milk and egg yolks in a large bowl until combined. Gradually pour the hot milk and corn into the egg yolk mixture, whisking until blended. Return the mixture to the pan

and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the back of the spoon is lightly coated, 3 to 5 minutes. Do not boil.

3. Remove from heat and, using an immersion blender, puree the custard. Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean large bowl; press on the solids to extract the liquid. Whisk the gelatin into the custard until melted. Whisk in buttermilk. Transfer to the refrigerator until chilled, at least 2 1/2 hours and up to 1 day.

4. Whisk the ice cream mixture and pour into the canister of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. If necessary, place the ice cream in the freezer to firm up before serving.

Bon appetite!

Cranberry Nut Swirls

Here is the amazing recipe for Cranberry Nut Swirls that Teresa Ambra sent to us!

Can’t Stay of The Kitchen, 2012

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened

¾ cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 ½ cups flour

¼ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup finely ground cranberries

½ cup finely chopped walnuts

1 table spoon of grated orange peel

½ cup brown sugar

2 tsp. milk

 

How to make?

In a large mixing bowl, combine first four ingredients. Beat until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl occasionally. Combine dry ingredients; add to the creamed mixture. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. In a small bowl, combine cranberries, walnuts and orange peel; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 10-inch square. Combine brown sugar and milk; spread over dough. Sprinkle with the cranberry mixture, leaving about a ½-inch edge at both ends of dough; roll up tightly, jelly-roll style. Wrap with waxed paper; chill several hours or overnight. Cut roll into ¼-inch slices and place on well-greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 14-15 minutes or until edges are light brown (I cooked about 18 minutes at 350). Yield: about 3 ½ dozen.

Note: 

1 bag of cranberries = 2 cups shredded cranberries. Avoid the tendency to overcook these cookies because they don’t look done after 14-15 minutes. Once they get to the lightly browned stage all over they will become crispy cookies, which is not what they are supposed to turn out like.

Bon appetite!

PS. Thank you Teresa!

Shopska Salad

Do you need something healthy for your diet or just something to go well with your steak? Well, we have this suggestion for you! It’s the Shopska Salad* recipe!

Eko, 2012

 

Ingredients:

4 tomatoes

2 cucumbers

2 roasted peppers or fresh green peppers

a bit of parsley

2 table spoons of chopped onion

1/2 pound of white feta cheese

a bit of salt,vinegar and oil

How to make?

Chop the vegetables in small pieces. Put them in a big bowl, then add the salt, vinegar and oil and stir well.

Bon appetite!

 
*The salad is a traditional Bulgarian dish, named after the citizens of the Bulgarian capital city Sofia who are called "shopi".

Baba Ganoush

Fancy something exotic and different.. maybe something tasty from the Middle East? Why don’t you try our suggestion for Baba Ganoush, recommended by Kamelia Petrova?

Food, 2003

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
1/4 cup tahini, plus more as needed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus more as needed
1 pinch ground cumin
salt, to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup brine-cured black olives, such as kalamata

How to make?

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Place eggplant on baking sheet, and make holes in the skin with a fork. Roast it for 30 to 40 minutes, turning occasionally, or until soft. Remove from oven, and place into a large bowl of cold water. Remove from water, and peel skin off.
3. Place eggplant, lemon juice, tahini, sesame seeds, and garlic in an electric blender, and puree. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer eggplant mixture to a medium size mixing bowl, and slowly mix in olive oil. Refrigerate for 3 hours before serving.

Mini pizza for huge pizza fans!

Few days ago we showed you an amazing video from Little Chefs because we all love pizza so much! Kids love it because it’s tasty; students love it because it’s cheap and easy to prepare; men love it because it’s perfect with beer and Italians love it because it’s pasta. However, ready-made pizza is not healthy at all while the one you can get directly on your door step is quite expensive. This is why we found an amazing solution for you! It’s the mini pizza recipe!

Gummies Daily, 2012

Ingredients:

Sliced bread

Tomato sauce

Yellow cheese

Salami/ Ham

Mushrooms/Corn/Pickles/etc

How to make?

Put some tomato sauce on each on of the bread slices. Put few pieces of salami or ham . Add some corn, mushrooms or pickles – anything that you like and cover them with cheese. Bake in pre-heated over for a couple of minutes. Usually takes about 15-30 minutes but you will know when they are ready when the cheese melts perfectly on the slice.

To avoid burning the bread, cover the bottom of the backing dish with foil!

Homemade Chinese rice

Craving for some Chinese? Why not make it at home in less than 20 minutes with our suggestion for homemade Chinese rice!

Top Indian Recipes, 2012

Ingredients:

2 satchets of rice (to serve 4)

1 can of corn

1 can of peas

3 eggs

 

How to make?

Boil the rice. Fry the eggs and when they are ready add the peas and the corn and stir. After about 3-5 minutes, add some salt and then add the rice. Stir again.

This is how easy it is! You can also add some chichen or some noodle but it’s all up to you!

Chicken Soup

Feeling tired? You want something to help you recharge your batteries but you’re on a diet as well? We have the best suggestion for you… It’s our Chicken Soup recipe!

Real simple, 2012

Ingredients:

300 grams of chicken breast

2 onions

2 carrots

200 grams of potatoes

100 grams of vermicelli

A bit of oil and black pepper

A bit of parsley

1 lemon

How to make?

Put some oil on the frying pan, then chop the onions and meat and put it on the frying pan for 20 minutes. Put the carrots on the hob to boil for 10-15 minutes, then put the potatoes to boil as well. After the carrots and potatoes are boiled, we add the vermicelli and the salt and pepper. After the meat is ready, we add it in the pot with the other ingredients and let the whole mixture to boil. Once the soup is ready, add a bit of parsley and lemon and stir well.