Lime Glazed Chicken Fillets with Coconut Pancakes

Lime Glazed Chicken Fillets with Coconut Pancakes
SERVES: 4
PREPARATION: 20 MINS
COOK: 10 MINS 


These recipes are from a combination of 1 book being a Tupperware cookbook called Cook Some More which was given to me by my lovely friend Karen a couple of years ago for my birthday, from which the lime fillet recipe comes from, and secondly a free magazine I picked up from Woolworth's today when I went to buy limes & snow peas! and I was wondering what I was going to make with the chicken, lucky I had the ingredients for the pancakes handy!

Ingredients
Lime Glazed Fillets
4 large (approx 230g each) chicken breast fillets 
3 tbsp pure olive oil
1/4 tsp chilli flakes (I didn't have any so used fresh red chilli)
3 limes
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp honey
Rock salt and peppercorns 


Coconut Pancakes
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt flakes 
1/2 tsp white pepper
200ml coconut milk
1 egg
1/2 cup water


Snow peas to serve


Method
Lime Chicken Fillets
Trim the chicken breasts, removing the skin and excess fat. Seperate the tenderloin from the breast and cut the breasts in half lengthwise. Place all the chicken in a container, add 2 tablespoons of the oil and chilli flakes, seal container and turn to coat.


Zest and juice the limes. Trim, skin and mince the garlic, place in jug with the honey, cover and microwave on high (800 watts) for 1 minute. Stir to combine.


Lightly oil frying pan with paper towel. Heat pan over a medium -high heat until slightly smoking. Add the chicken to the frying pan, turn the heat to low and cook 4 - 5 minutes each side (the tenderloins will only need 1 1/2 minutes each side). Brush the chicken regularly with the lime and honey mixture. 


If the chicken fillets are very thick through the centre, cover the frypan for 1 - 2 minutes during the cooking to ensure the centre is cooked through. 


Remove the chicken and rest for 3 minutes. Add any remaining marinade to the pan and cook quickly until reduced to a thick glaze. Season to taste with freshly ground salt and pepper.


Coconut Pancakes
Combine flour, turmeric, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Whisk in egg, coconut milk and water until smooth. 


Heat 2tsp oil in a non stick frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add 1/4 cup portions of batter and cook for 3 minutes until bubbles form on the surface. Turn and cook for 1 minute or until golden. Transfer to a large plate and keep warm until time to serve. 


Plate Pancakes in a stack of 3, top with chicken fillets & drizzle with glaze. Serve with snow peas on the side. 

My Notes 


This was quite a nice dish, with a zingy chilli punch! I don't think there was enough honey in the glaze to balance the sourness of the lime but that would be easily rectified next time. 


The pancakes offered a nice twist to a work night meal, quick and easy to make! and would be even yummier with a sweeter glaze running through to them. 

Cute cover on this Tupperware cookbook, it didn't photograph very well but that has more to do with my lack of skill than the book lol 

It has some really nice recipes and great photos throughout and who knew Tupperware did cook books? not me! However it is quite easy to miss some crucial step or ingredient because you have to wade through all the Tupperware product placement throughout the recipes, which out of the kindness of my heat I have weeded out in my reproduction. 

The Woolworths "Fresh" issue 52 June 2010 I just picked up free at the checkout, worth picking up while your there for the weeknight meals and 1 pot pot luck dinners

This last photo is for nothing other than to admire the awesome plates I picked up today from Red Dot of all places for $2.99 a plate! I know! I couldn't walk past them.....bought the last 4 and got home and one was broken :( 

Red Apple Pie

Red Apple Pie 
Love at First Bite!
PREPARATION: 30 MINS + 30 MINS REFRIGERATION + 15 MIN STANDING TIME 
COOKING: 1 HOUR 
SERVES: 4

I picked up this old Mag the other night and was flicking through when this scrummy looking apple pie caught my eye. And since it was my birthday Saturday night and the kids were coming for tea I thought this would be lovely for dessert on a chilly winters night. The recipe comes from the May 2008 edition of Better Homes and Garden Magazine. 

Ingredients

Pastry  

200g unsalted butter 

2 tsp vanilla essence 

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 eggs 

1 1/2 cups self raising flour, sifted 

1 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted 

Melted butter for greasing 

extra flour for kneading 

1 tbsp sugar, for sprinkling  

Filling

1kg pink lady apples

1 cup frozen cranberries

2tbsp plain flour 

2 tbsp sugar

Method

Cut butter into pieces and put in the small bowl of an electric mixer. Add vanilla and beat until soft and creamy. Add caster sugar and beat until mixture is pale yellow and fluffy. Separate 1 egg and reserve the white. Add egg yolk and remaining egg to the butter mixture and beat until well combined. Transfer the butter mixture to a large mixing bowl and add the sifted flours. Stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.

Preheat oven to 180C. Brush a deep fluted, loose based 22cm flan tin with melted butter. Turn out pastry mixture onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently into a round. Wrap round in baking paper and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Cut two-thirds of the pastry from the round and knead into a ball; set aside remaining pastry. Put the pastry ball between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out into a round, 5cm larger than the flan tin. Remove the base sheet of paper and carefully ease the pastry into the prepared tin. Remove the base sheet; do not trim pastry edges. Put pastry lined tin in the fridge for 10 minutes.

To make apple and cranberry filling, peel and quarter the apples. Remove the core from each quarter and cut quarters into paper thin slices. Put apple in a large bowl with cranberries, flour and sugar and toss to combine. Remove pastry lined tin from the fridge and spoon in apple mixture. Sit tin on an oven tray. Put remaining pastry between the 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out into a round large enough to cover the apples. 

Remove 1 sheet of paper and put pastry on top of apples. Remove remaining paper and carefully press pastry down on apples. Cut away excess pastry. Put reserved egg white in a small bowl and beat with a fork until foam firms on the top. Brush egg-white over pastry. Use small sharp knife to make a small cut about 5cm long on top of the pastry. Re-roll pastry trimmings, cut out leaves or other shapes and sit them on top of the pie. Brush pastry with egg-white, then sprinkle sugar over. Bake the pie for 55 - 60 minutes or until pastry is dark and golden and apples are tender. Stand pie for 10 - 15 minutes, then carefully remove from tin. Serve pie Hot, Warm or cold. 

Cooks Notes

The apples and pastry are cooked together in this recipe, which results in a firm, but tender apple filling.

Pink Lady apples are great for both eating and cooking. They're the best type to use for this pie as their sweet flesh teams beautifully with the tart of the cranberries. 

The pastry can be made up to 8 hours ahead and stored, wrapped in baking paper or plastic wrap, in the fridge. Bring the pastry to room temperature before rolling.

Once the apples are peeled and sliced they should be used immediately, otherwise they'll turn brown (or you can do what I did which is to squeeze lemon juice over them, they were fine prepared an hour in advance) 

Frozen cranberries are available in packets from supermarkets; they can be used straight from the freezer for this recipe. 

Dried cranberries, called crasins, can be used if frozen cranberries are not available. They'll add the same delicious tart flavour. 

This apple pie is best eaten within 2 days of making. 

My Notes 

I couldn't find a deep side 22cm pie tin the best I could get was 24cm from Matchbox pretty reasonable too at $14.95. 

I had trouble with the rolling of the pastry between the 2 pieces of baking paper thing...1 was the baking paper wasn't wide enough, and the pastry kept ripping, however it did stick back together easily :) 

I am going to go out and hunt down a pastry sheet, I know my Mum had an awesome Tupperware one eons ago....Karen goes off to look at the Tupperware site :) 

Oh and we ate this pie hot with double cream, it was mouth puckering sour in spots with the cranberries! next time i will sift in a little sugar with them and let them sit for a while. 

We did have it again for breakfast this morning (Yes breakfast! lol) But this time cold with the cream, and it was gob smackingly gorgeous!

As for it serving 4...only if you are a huge piggy, it serves 8 big slices easily :) 

Omelette with Sweet & Sour Tomato Sauce

Omelette With Sweet & Sour Tomato Sauce

SERVES: 4

PREPARATION: 10 MINS

COOK: 10 MINS

There was a definite plan on my part this weekend to be lazy! In the plan was lying about on the couch reading, watching movies and cooking something quick and tasty. Daniel had earmarked this Kylie Kwong recipe from the August 2009 edition of Australian Good Food Magazine so I thought it was time to give it a whirl :) 

Ingredients

1/4 cup (60ml) peanut oil

6 eggs, lightly beaten

1 long red chilli, finely sliced diagonally, to serve (optional)

Sweet & Sour Tomato Sauce 

2 tbsp peanut oil

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1cm piece ginger, cut into matchsticks 

1 tsp brown sugar

6 red cherry tomatoes, halved

6 yellow cherry tomatoes, halved (I couldn't get yellow cherry tomatoes so doubled the red) 

3 green onions (shallots, spring onions), finely sliced

2 tbsp shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine) or dry sherry (I used the dry sherry)

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp brown rice vinegar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

Method

To make sauce, heat peanut oil in a wok on medium, until surface seems to shimmer slightly, add garlic and ginger and stir fry for 2 mins until fragrant. Add sugar and cook for 30 secs, until caramelised. Add tomato and green onion and stir fry for 1 min, until starting to soften. Add wine, soy sauce and vinegar and stir fry for 30 seconds. Stir through sesame oil. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Heat oil in a wok on medium-high. Add egg and cook for 30 secs, without stirring. Using a spatula, pull outside edge of egg toward centre, allowing uncooked egg in centre to run to edge. Repeat until omelette is almost set. Transfer to a serving platter.

Meanwhile, reheat sauce on low. Spoon over omelette and serve with chilli & steamed rice 

My Notes

The cooking time for this dish is over estimated, it is SO quick to make so have all your ingredients measured out and ready to go!

I didn't halve my tomatoes I squished them as they softened. 

You would be hard pushed to serve 4 with this dish :) or maybe we are just greedy! it served 2 with no rice. 

Absolutely mouthwatering delicious snack :)