Cornflake Chicken

Week 1 of the July recipe challenge: everyone's favourite - Chicken.

Now my first memory of crumbed/cripsy chicken was when my dad used to make Crispy Chicken Wings cooked to perfection and loaded with salt and vinegar spice.  Everyone would gather around the HUGE table located under the HUGE lapa, and naturally located next to the beer fridge, eagerly awaiting their precious gold.  And when I say everyone, I mean everyone! From the brothers and sisters, aunties and uncles, cousins and grandparents, neighbours and random neighbours, friends and uninvited friends... the list goes on.  These were so addictive you simply could not eat 1 or 2 but 5 or 6!  So its difficult to think of a different recipe.

However... (da-da-dummmm) this recipe is absolutely moreish!  And so easy! The use of paprika, cumin, and buttermilk for the marinade ensures the chicken is delicate and moist after cooking, despite the hard cornflake crust.

A must try recipe that would go down wonders for finger food as well.  If you are not mad about chicken on the bone perhaps try using chicken fillets.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

Marinade

4 chicken drumsticks
4 chicken thighs
500ml buttermilk
1tsp salt
2tsp paprika
1tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper

Crumb
3 cups cornflake crumbs (process the cornflakes in your food processor or place in a Ziploc bag and bash them with a rolling pin)
1/2 tsp salt
1tsp paprika

Instructions:

Coat the chicken with the buttermilk and spices and cover the bowl with cling-wrap. Allow to marinade in the fridge for up to 3 hours but no less than 20 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180°c.
Remove the chicken from the buttermilk mixture but don’t take off all the buttermilk, leave enough on so that the crumbs have something to stick to.
Combine the crumbs with the salt and paprika and coat the chicken.
Place the chicken on a wire rack over a roasting tray and place in the oven.  Cook at 180°c for 20 minutes then crank up the heat to 200°c for a further 10-15 minutes to crisp the coating.
Serve immediately.

Recipe from Simply Delicious Blog

July Recipe A Week Challenge courtesy of Claudz 

July Recipe a Week Challenge

Having only recently started my food blog I was delighted to receive a tip from my good friend Princess about a cooking challenge.  The challenge is to be hosted by a friend of hers Claudz, or by Purple Lips And Perfect Smiles.  

The idea is every week starting from June 24, to cook one new recipe from the Simply Delicious Blog.   Claudz has offered a few recommendations to cook each week and voila!  Too excited for this challenge :)

Week 1 - 24 - 30 June - Chicken 
Cornflake Chicken or Spicy Chicken Quesadillas or Indian Sticky Chicken

Week 2 - 1 - 7 July - Fish 

Pan-fried Fish with Lemon Sauce or Creamy Salmon & Courgette Linguine or Smoked Salmon & Dill Pate  

Week 3 - 8 - 14 July - Pasta 

Lasagne Cups or Spaghetti with Anchovies, Garlic, Lemon and Chilli or Fried Gnocchi

Week 4 - 15 - 21 July - Baked Goods

Potato, Pecorino and Rosemary Bread or Chocolate Truffle Tart or Zucchini, Feta & Mint Quiche
OMG I might have to make all of these... sounds delicious!!

Week 5 - 22 - 28 July - Vegetarian 

Nasi Goreng or Cheesy Leek Risotto or 3-Cheese Mac n Cheese

Week 6 - 29 July - 4 August - Dessert 

Lamington Slices or Pear & Blueberry Crumble orTiramisu

Vichyssoise

For those of you who think I'm talking gibberish - this is my Mom's wholesome Potato and Leek Soup.

As we near mid-winter in the Highveld, I wanted to cook something body warming and hearty.  But before I get on with this recipe I do have to comment about our Highveld Winter.  Some would argue that daytime high's of 20 odd degrees does not constitute winter temperatures, and I would have to agree.  This equates to a lovely summer day in Scotland, where locals sport small butt-munching shorts, revealing ghastly pale legs, among other things.  Now I'm not saying we as South African's should follow suit but just yesterday I sat outside in jeans and a tee soaking up the rays.  It was brilliant!  And warm!  Don't be fooled by "winter" day-time.

On the other hand, winter night-time is the evil schizophrenic side of winter.  Subzero frost bitten mornings and icicle steering wheel fingers.  Afternoon chills and bone piercing nights.  Brrr.

I had some left over leeks in the fridge which sparked the interest for the recipe.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• 6 Potatoes
• 4 Leeks
• 2 Onions
• 2 Cups of Stock
• Salt and Pepper for taste
• Cream/Plain Yoghurt
• Chives

Instructions:

Roughly chop the potato, leek and onion and place in a large pot.  Add stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until potato feels soft.  Blend until smooth (if the mixture is very thick, add some water).  A handheld blender is the easiest - just blend everything while it sits in the pot.  

Serve with a dollop of cream or yoghurt and sprinkle with some chives.

Best served with delicious fresh crusty bread for dipping!

Tip: Next time I make this soup I want to caramelize the leeks and onions first before adding to the pot.

Creamy Dijon Chicken

I started my first blog just about a month ago.  I had been toying with the idea for some time and a good friend convinced me to do it.  I had no idea what to call it, what to write about, and who would read it.  A month later I have 18 posts ranging from childhood stories to evaluating my worst traits, 7 followers some of whom I don't know, and some well gained confidence in writing.  Still, I felt I wasn't expressing my true self and my true passion - I needed a food blog!

So here we are.  Welcome to "What The Fork" following on from my introductory blog "What The Blog".  Here I plan to explore new (and old) favourites, as well as introduce some travelling food stories.

So... onto the recipe then!

As a novice blogger I tend to find most of my inspiration and advice from fellow bloggers, and well seasoned ones at that!  Yesterday I was tasked with cooking dinner and decided to search for some good food blogs to put my belief in blogs to test.

Voila! 

Here we have a rich and creamy introductory recipe.  Nothing like some delicious dijon to get the taste buds tingling, quite literally.  The mixture of the dijon and fresh lemon juice is quite something - I have never mixed the two together and the result is delicate but powerful.  

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• 4 large skinless & de-boned chicken breasts (Left whole, cubed or flattened)
• 2 large leeks, finely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 250ml cream
• 2tsp Dijon mustard
• 1tsp wholegrain mustard
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt & pepper to taste
• starch of your choice to serve
• fresh Parsley to serve
• olive oil for frying

Instructions:

Heat 2tbs oil in a large frying pan and fry the chicken until cooked through and browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.  Fry the leeks and garlic until fragrant and softened (about 5 minutes).  Add the cream, mustards and lemon juice and allow to simmer and reduce for 3 minutes.  Place the chicken back into the sauce.  Season to taste and serve with the starch of your choice and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

Tip: I think this could go really well with pasta as a creamy, fresh and zesty sauce.  Just a small twist of linguine should do the trick!  A nice white fleshy fish, like Sea Bass, would be a good substitute if you don't feel like chicken.