Crispy Pesto Chicken Balls

I recently made a Pesto cook book for my sister for her birthday, it was interesting finding that many Pesto recipes so i had to be a bit creative!
This recipe turned out really nicely, and the kids really loved it too.

Basil Pesto

1/2 clove chopped garlic
Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups of fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/4 cup pinenuts, lightly toasted
1/4 cup freshly grated parmasen cheese
squeeze lemon juice
extra virgin olive oil

Pulse garlic with a pinch of salt and basil in food processer.
Add pine nuts and pulse again.
Turn into bowl and add half the parmesen.
Stir gently and add just enough olive oil to bind to desired consistancy.
Season to taste and add remaining cheese.
Pour in more oil and taste again.

Crispy Pesto Chicken Balls

400g Chicken breast cut into bite sized peices
1/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1-2 tbsp pesto
1 egg, beaten
1-2 cups penut oil


Take three small bowls.
Place flour in one, breadcrumbs mixed with pesto in another, and egg in
the third.
Take each peice of chicken, toss lightly in flour.
Coat in egg then breadcrumb mixture.
Fry in hot oil until golden brown.
Drain on a paper towel.

Mango Crush

I have been craving the Mango Tango Crush that you get at Boost, so i thought id have a go at making it myself - and i replicated it very closely!



Just put a large scoop of mango sorbet, a cup of frozen orange juice, a tablespoon of frozen tinned passionfruit pulp and a few peices of tinned mango into a blender and blend, adding water and a little of the mango juice from the tin until a smooth, creamy consistancy is reached.

Makes 2

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Raspberry Truffles

Im going out to dinner with my family tomorrow and having some left over chocolate cupcakes i thought i would make my sister some rum balls. After finding some left over cadbury raspberry dark chocolate in the fridge, i decided to experiment and make raspberry truffles and they turned out Yum!!

Ingredients

100g Cadbury Dark raspberry chocolate

1/8 cup Cream

15g Butter or Margarine

25g Chocolate cake crumbs

1/2 tsp vanilla

Red Twinkles for rolling in. ( i found these in the shop today, they are colourful crystal things...you could also use sprinkles or cocoa.

Directions

Heat chocolate in microwave for about a minute, until soft but not fully melted.

Heat butter and cream in microwave until butter is melted and mixture starts to boil.

Pour cream mix into chocolate and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is well combined.

Stir in vanilla and chocolate cake crumbs.

Refrigerate for about 20 minutes until mixture is hard enough to be rolled into balls. ( i put into the freezer to speed up this process)

Roll into balls and roll balls in the twinkles (or sprinkles) till covered. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Ais Kacang

I first tried this refreshing asian dessert at Chinatown with my husband years ago, i thought it was pretty strange at the time, but it really grew on me. Now i get it at haymarket when i can, but i dont get into the city often so this my version that i make at home when im having a craving!

Ingredients

Coconut Gel
Palm seeds
Thin Mango slices
Coconut milk
Shaved Ice
Gula melaka

Directions

Place 1-2 tablespoons each of the first three ingredients into a large cup, cup or bowl.
Fill with shaved ice then pour on coconut milk.
Drizzle with Gula Melaka. (I often just drizzle with some of the syrup from the coconut Gel)

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Cinnamon Pretzels

These are so yummy, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups plain flour
2 tbsp butter (melted)

1 cup warm water
1 tbsp baking soda

Extra melted butter
1/2 cup Caster Sugar (aprox)
1-2 tbsp Cinnamon (aprox)

Directions:

Method 1: (better in winter as it rises better)
Place all ingredients in breadmaker, in this order: 3/4 cup Water, butter, brown sugar, flour, salt, yeast.
Set to dough then proceed to step 4.

Method 2
1. Sprinkle yeast on warm water in mixing bowl, stir to dissolve.
2. Add butter, sugar, salt and stir to dissolve.
3. Add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour or until doubled in size.
4. Prepare a baking soda water bath with 1 cups quite warm water and 1 Tbsp baking soda. Stir until dissolved.
5. Take peices of dough and roll into long, thin snakes, the longer and thinner, the better!
6. Shape into pretzel shape.
7. Dip into baking soda bath and blot with paper towel, place on a greased or lined baking tray, and let rise while
making the others.
8. Bake at 220 degrees for about 7 - 10 mins or until nicely browned.
9. While they are cooking melt extra butter in a shallow bowl and mix the caster sugar and cinnamon in another.
10. Dip hot pretzels into butter then cover with the cinnamon sugar.

Eat while piping hot! Hope you enjoy!



(This is not the greatest photo, as the dough was a day old, but it still tasted great!)

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Cooking Buzz

As the title suggests, i am on a bit of a cooking buzz, so i thought i would start a blog to share some yummy recipes!

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