Chicken Schnitzel

Making use of left over whole wheat bread, I cooked some chicken schnitzel. My inspiration... Junior Masterchef Australia. :-) And since my boyfriend wants to eat it with rice and sauce, I made chicken liver adobo on the side.

You can find the original recipe here, For the pinoy version, check below. :-)

Good for two.

Ingredients:

4 pcs. chicken thigh fillet

3 pcs whole wheat bread

3 tbsp parmesan cheese

1 tsp rosemary

salt and pepper

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

1/2 cup plain flour

2 tbsps olive oil

Directions:

1. Process whole wheat bread and parmesan in a food processor until fine crumbs. Add rosemary and season with salt and pepper, process until finely chopped. Transfer to a plate.

2. Cut the chicken thighs 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. Heat olive oil and fry chicken thighs for 4 to 5 minutes each side.

5. Serve with rice or salad.

Mini Quiche Lorraine

My pack of puff pastry has been sitting in my freezer for a few months now. I've been planning to make quiches but never had the chance. This weekend, I made it my experiment.

Ate Lilian, Kuya Marlon and Rosie, visited us (minus Glenn though coz he had to set up for Ate Lally's party) and I was so happy to serve them my Quiche Lorraine with freshly ground and brewed coffee. Thank you, Rose for mixing the coffee... pang Starbucks owner ka talaga! :-)

Recipe is from Yummy Magazine May 2010 but I doubled the recipe to make more.

Ingredients:

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (325g), thawed

1/4 cup butter

1 onion sliced

6 strips bacon, chopped

4 eggs

1 cup cream

1 cup grated tasty cheese (such as cheddar)

nutmeg

spinach leaves to serve

balsamic vinegar as sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Lightly grease muffin pans and pie tins

3. Using a rolling pin and sprinkling flour on the puff pastry, flatten the pastry

4. Arrange pastry into prepared pans.

I used 6 cups muffin pan, 4 mini tart pans

5. Fill each with either kidney beans or rice grains.

6. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until pastry puffs a little bit (don't allow it to be golden brown)

7. Remove kidney beans or rice grains. Make sure that nothing is left.

8. Reduce oven to 350F

9. Melt butter in a frying pan on high. Saute onion and bacon until onion is tender.

10. Fill each prepared pastry with an even amount of onion mixture.

11. In a bowl, whisk together eggs and cream. Sprinkle some pepper. Pour into prepared pastry.

12. Sprinke with nutmeg and then cheddar cheese.

13. Bake for 20 mins or until firm and pastry is brown and crispy.

14. Garnish with spinach leaves

15. Use balsamic vinegar as sauce if desired.

Improvements:

1. I'll use kidney beans as weights next time. It was so difficult to remove all the rice grains from the pastry

2. Will bake the pastry puff longer on the ones on tart tins.

3. I won't put water in the pan while I'm pre-baking the pastry to make it puff a bit more

Notes:

1. Don't use too much salt since the bacon, butter and cheddar will give the needed saltiness.

Little Lemon Meringue Pie

So thankful that I was able to find a Lemon Meringue Pie recipe good for two people. We would not have been able to finish the whole pie. Found this recipe in http://allrecipes.com.

Glenn and I are not big fans of lemony desserts but this was pretty good. :-) Also, the colder it is, the better it tastes. Of course, its best to have it on the same day.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon shortening
• 1 tablespoon cold butter (no substitutes)
• 1 teaspoon cold water
• FILLING:
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter
• MERINGUE:
• 1 egg white
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in shortening and butter until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Divide in half. Roll each portion into a 5-in. circle. Transfer to two 10-oz. custard cups. Press dough 1-1/8. up sides of cups. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees F for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown

Crust before I placed them in the oven.

2. In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. gradually stir in cold water until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat. Stir half of hot filling into egg yolk; return all to the pan. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in lemon juice and butter. Pour into pastry shells.

3. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg white and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peaks form. Spread evenly over hot filling, sealing edges to crust. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until meringue is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour; refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Things to improve on:

1. I would have used smaller custard cups (ramekins) so its not fattening in one meal.

2. Lesser sugar for the meringue

3. Use iodized salt for the crust

** For custard cups, you can get it in Landmark, Makati at P40.00 each