Basil & Parmesan Crumbed Chicken Breast on Lemon Cous Cous

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Ingredients

  • 500 g (1 lb) Deboned, Skinless Chicken fillets ( 4)

  • 1 bottle Nando’s Sun dried Tomato Marinade

  • 50g ( 1/4 cup) Bread crumbs

  • 50g ( 1/4 cup) Parmesan Cheese

  • 20g (1/4 cup) freshly chopped Basil leaves

  • 1 cup dried Cous Cous

  • 1 lemon

  • 30g pitted Black olives, coarsely chopped

  • 30g Italian Flat leave parsley, coarsely chopped

  • Salt

Instructions

Marinade Chicken breast in Nando’s Hot Peri Peri marinade for 25 minutes. Mix bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and freshly chopped Basil together.

Preheat oven to 350°F

Remove chicken fillets from the marinade and crumb in the crumb mixture.

Place on an roasting rack and bake for 30 min. at 350°F

In the meanwhile prepare the Cous cous:

Steam cous cous according to manufacturer’s instruction. Season to taste. Stir in the grated rind of one lemon, the chopped olives and the chopped parsley. Spoon cous cous into a flat serving dish, and place the Crumbed Chicken Breast on the Cous Cous. Drizzle with extra leftover marinade.

Picnic Bread with Layers of Grilled Brinjal, Avocado & Sundried Tomato Beef Fillet

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Ingredients

  • one large farmstyle round bread

  • small brinjal (=eggplant), 150g

  • medium avocados

  • 60ml olive oil

  • 50g crushed garlic

  • 1 medium red bell pepper, 150g

  • 500g rump minute steaks (or 1X 500g cunk sliced into very thin slices)

  • 250ml Hot Peri Peri marinade or Roasted Red Capsicum Marinade

Instructions

Marinade meat in the Roasted Red Capsicum marinade

Cut the top of the bread and hollow the inside out. Leave a 1 ½ cm wand.

Slice the brinjal into thin slices, and layer on a flat baking sheet.

Deseed the Capsicum and into segments. Place next to the brinjal on the baking sheet.

Drizzle with the olive oil and garlic and roast under a grill until slightly charred. Remove from heat.

Panfry the marinated meat quickly ( 1 minute on each side )

Layer the inside of the bread with the Roasted Capsicum. Season

Place a layer of grilled brinjal on the capsicum.

Layer the meat on the grilled brinjal

Slice the avocado into slivers and layer on top of the meat. Pour the pan juices over the avocado.

Press all the layers down firmly and replace the “lid of the bread”Slice into 5 cm chunks and serve with a green salad.

Butternut/ Pumpkin Roast with Chickpeas and Lentils

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Ingredients

  • 1kg butternut or pumpkin cut into chunks (Potato or Sweet potato can also be used)

  • 1 jar Nando’s Moroccan Curry Cooking Sauce

  • 250ml Cream

  • 60g (1/4 cup) parmesan cheese

  • 60g (1/4 cup) bread crumbs

  • 30g (1/4 cup) fresh coriander leaves, coarsely chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F

Boil Butternut/ Pumpkin/ Potato in 1 L boiling water and 5ml Salt for 20 min. Drain excess water off.

Place Butternut/ Pumkin/ Potato in an ovenproof dish.

Blend the Chickpea & Lentil cooking sauce with the cream and pour over the cooked pumkin/ butternut/ potato

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, Bread crumbs and Coriander and bake in preheated oven for 15 min.

Mole Negro

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Mole Negro sauce

Ingredients

  • 6 dried chilhuacle negro (or mulato) chiles, stemmed and seeded, seeds reserved

  • 6 dried pasillas negros, stemmed and seeded, seeds reserved

  • 6 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded, seeds reserved

  • 4 cups chicken stock

  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds

  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds

  • 1 (2-inch) piece canela (Mexican cinnamon)

  • 4 whole cloves

  • 2 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil

  • 6 cloves garlic

  • 1 small white onion, peeled and roughly chopped

  • 1 large tomato, roughly chopped

  • 1/2 cup dried plums, pitted

  • 1 dinner-roll-sized bolillo, piece of challa, or brioche, torn into pieces

  • 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

  • Salt and brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat the grill to high. In a cast-iron skillet set on the grate, cook the reserved chile seeds until blackened. (You’ll want to stand upwind of the grill.)Back inside, bring the stock to a boil in a saucepan over high heat.

In a cast-iron skillet over medium heat, toast the chiles on both sides until they soften slightly and become aromatic. Transfer the chiles to a medium-sized, heat-safe bowl and add enough hot stock to cover. Keep the chiles submerged with a small plate or saucer.

In the same skillet, toast the sesame seeds, almonds, canela and cloves until the nuts are golden and the spices become aromatic. Transfer the seeds, nuts, and spices to the blender.

Add the onion and the garlic to the dry skillet and cook until the onions char a little and the garlic gathers some golden patches. Add the tomato and dried plums and cook until the tomatoes release their juices and thicken. Transfer the mixture to the blender.

Add the bread, soaked chiles, and about 1/4 cup of the blackened chile seeds to the blender and puree, adding enough stock to make a thick, smooth sauce.

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of lard or oil. Add the pureed sauce and fry about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the chocolate, stirring until melted; reduce heat and simmer, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and brown sugar.

Smoked Eggplant and Asadero Stacks

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup hardwood chips for smoking

  • 2 medium eggplants, peeled and sliced into 3/4-inch-thick discs

  • 2 cups Mole Negro

  • 12 ounces asadero cheese, cut into 16 thin slices

Instructions

Put the wood chips in a deep bowl and pour in hot water to cover them. Keep the chips submerged with a small plate or saucer.

If you are using a charcoal grill, light the coals. When the flames have died down, but the embers are glowing brightly, use a long-handled tool to separate the coals into two piles. Drain the wood chips and sprinkle them over the coals. When they start smoking, add the eggplant slices to the parts of the grill over the coals and cook, covered, 10–15 minutes, flipping once. As the slices become cooked, move them to the center where they will still get smoky, but not char.If you’re using a gas grill, preheat it to medium. Drain the wood chips and wrap them in a tightly sealed packet of two layers of aluminum foil. With the tip of a knife, make several holes in the top of the packet, then place it over the flames, under the grill’s rack. When it starts to smoke, add the eggplant slices; cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes, flipping once. As the slices become cooked, move them to a cooler part of the grill or an upper rack where they will still get smoky, but not char.In a small saucepan, reheat the mole over medium-low heat.

On a plate, put one smoked eggplant disk, top with a slice of cheese, and repeat 2 or 3 more times, ending with an eggplant disc. Transfer the stack to a baking sheet. Repeat for the remaining stacks. Place the baking sheet on the surface of the grill and cook, covered, for just a few minutes, until the cheese melts.

Top the stacks with the hot mole and serve immediately.