Italian Herb Baked Chicken Breasts

ashus-Baked Chicken Breasts

In continuation with posting of the recipes from the Tandoori platter that I had cooked for lunch last week, sharing here the recipe of the baked chicken. (You can check picture and the recipe links at the end of this post)

I am very fond of Tandoori food and it is a favorite food at home, the meat or vegetable may change but the Indian spices used for marination always remain same. But my Jr was after me for a long time to make something that is grilled but not using the Indian spices. Having tasted the recipes using chicken breast in some fast-food joints here, I decided to use the home available ingredients and dish out something new for him. As I stock up on my dried herbs, I have an Italian herb mix that I had asked my hubby to bring for me during one of his tours to Rome. It is my most favorite herb mix, it gives the Marinara sauce that I make at home for my Pasta dishes the perfect taste. Sharing with you all what I made the other day and it was the most delicious baked chicken meat that I ate.

BAKED CHICKEN BREASTS

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken- 2 chicken Breasts

Garlic- 2 cloves

Olive oil- 2 Tbsp

Bread crumbs- 75 gm

(Readymade) Italian seasoning mix- 2 Tbsp

Grated Parmesan cheese- 2 Tbsp

Salt- To taste

Note: Ingredients of the Italian seasoning used were-dried Garlic, Tomato, Oregano, salt, Onion, Carrot and Celery.

ashus-Italian seasoning mix

In case you do not have readymade seasoning available, then you can make a homemade mix of dried Oregano, basil, red chili flakes, salt, pepper, and dried onions, and garlic. If dried garlic is not available then simply increase  the garlic cloves used in the recipe to 3 or 4 in number, depending on the size of the cloves. We want to impart garlic flavor to the oil, but it should not be too strong.

ashus-Italian Herb Baked Chicken

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C.

Clean and wash the chicken and pat dry using a kitchen towel or tissue.

Poke the chicken flesh with a fork, this will enable the oil and herb marinade to penetrate inside.

Take a small sauce pan, heat olive oil and then add crushed garlic cloves and the herb mix and switch off the gas flame. One could also use butter instead of oil, but my choice is always olive oil.

Mix the bread crumbs with the Parmesan cheese and a pinch or two of the herb mix. Season lightly with salt.

Apply the herb olive oil to the chicken meat, it should be rubbed well so that the flesh is drenched with the herb mix and oil. Leave it to marinate for 15-30 mins.

Note: (If in hurry to eat, bake it without marination time 🙂 )

Coat this herb oil drenched chicken flesh with the bread crumb mix.

Grease a baking dish with the herb oil and put the coated chicken breasts and let the dish then go into the oven for baking. Bake for 30-40 min.

ashusrecipe-The breadcrumb coated chicken meat is ready to go into the oven.

The chicken should be turned once so that both sides are evenly baked. It takes around 30-40 min for the chicken to get cooked. Once it is cooked, I turned on the top grill function of the oven for giving the chicken surface a grilled appearance. Grill it for 10 mins so that the top coat of the bread crumbs get crispy and gave the bite the perfect crunch.

The chicken was well cooked, perfectly marinated, with crispy outer coat. I also baked few baby corns and carrot cuts along with it.

Go ahead and try out this Italian herb seasoned baked chicken dish from ashusktichen 🙂 .

Alternative to oven: In case one does not have an oven, then use a frying pan to cook the chicken. Heat the pan and add 1 Tbsp oil to it and let the chicken cook in the pan for sometime and then only turn. Later tossing and turning it from time to time gives it a crispy outer coat.

If you would like to check out other recipes from the Tandoori platter picture below, do click the links (in red) given to open the recipe posts.

ashus-Tandoori Platter

ashus Tandoori platter- Tandoori Paneer , Tandoori Prawns, Tandoori Gongura prawns.

Using the ingredients that are available at home one can always dish out something new and interesting with just a bit of motivation. Hope you all liked this simple chicken bake and would go ahead and give it a try. Happy Baking 🙂

Enjoy!!

ashu.

 

 

 

Parsley Pesto

Ashu’s-Parsley Pesto/Chutney

Today sharing with you all my Parsley pesto recipe, I have started making this only recently, from the last 2-3 years. I have always loved the Basil pesto in all the dishes that it is used, but it is not easily available in the nearby stores around my residence. Parsley is abundantly seen in every vegetable selling supermarkets, hence always on hand, and always in the list of purchased vegetables. While staying in India I always made the coriander chutney or coriander-mint chutney for any savory snacks, but this is one pesto that is equally loved by my kids. It has a strong and distinct flavor and has a different taste and hence quite a change for us from the regular green coriander and mint chutney (dhania & pudina).

Parsley has been added to my food list and cooking only after I started living here in the UAE. Parsley is used in many dishes in the middle east. It is seen in salads, well known being the Tabbouleh in which it is mixed with Bulgar wheat (will keep that as a separate post for future 🙂 ).

The recipe I am sharing is how I make this Parsley pesto in my kitchen, adjusted to our taste preferences and hence the selection of ingredients too. This may not be the traditional way of making the pesto. I used the pistachio nuts the first time I made this, pine nuts were not in my kitchen pantry, and hence have continued using them every time I make this pesto. The taste, different flavors and texture of the ingredients makes the dip a much relished condiment in my house, kids love it with sandwich, flat-breads, and toasted baguette slices. You can add it to your egg omelette too. When my elder sister visited my place this year, she too loved the dip, hence this post is also for all my family and friends who would like to use Parsley in regular meals but might have double thoughts whether to use or not because of its strong flavor. Go ahead and try it out and see if you like the taste. Parsley is a very good antioxidant, also good source of Folic acid, Vitamins C and A etc.

PARSLEY PESTO/CHUTNEY

INGREDIENTS:

Parsley: 1 bunch

Pistachios: 50 gm (increase the quantity if you want more nutty taste)

Green Chili: 2 small (Adjust it to own taste prefrence)

Garlic: 3 cloves

Olive oil: 3 Tbsp

Lemon: 2 Medium-sized

Salt: To taste

METHOD:

Clean and wash the Parsley leaves. Chop them roughly.

Put the chopped parsley leaves, chilies, garlic and pistachio nut in a mixer pot and grind to make a smooth paste.

Ashu’s-Parsley pesto

Add the lemon juice and olive oil after every few whisks, it becomes easier to grind to paste. Finally add the salt and give the final whisk. Remove the contents into a bowl, check the taste and adjust if more lemon or oil is needed.

Ashu’s-Parsley Pesto

We can add the extra oil, if required, when using as a dip.

Ashu’s-Parsley Pesto

Ashu’s- Parsley Pesto

The above picture shows what was made for dinner last Sunday along with the Parsley pesto as a dip, I will make that as the next post, so do visit to find out what the new recipe would be :). Our weekend starts, wishing you all a good day and a happy weekend to those who reside in this part of the world.

Enjoy!

ashu.

Olive Oil & Mint Dip

Olive Oil & Mint Dip

This recipe was the invention of the day I made Vegetarian Dough Balls, recipe 2. I prefer to call it my Desi twist to the Videshi oil.

Olive oil is one of the favorite oils that I use in my cooking. It is added to most of the chutneys and freshly ground Pestos that I make. I loved the slight minty taste giving to the olive oil by adding freshly made Pudina chutney, brushing this oil or serving it as a dip with the Dough balls was loved by all.

Sharing with you all here a very simple, but a distinctively flavorful dip. We can prepare ahead and keep the Pudina Chutney ready in the refrigerator and mix it with Olive oil to make this quick dip and apply it over bread, parathas, or serve with any savory baked dishes or also apply to toast and grab a quick snack at any time. Mixing this with freshly cut salad vegetables and tossing it makes a quick yum vegetable salad. The choice is yours on how you can use it, give it a try.

INGREDIENTS:

Olive Oil: 100 gm

For Pudina Chutney:

Fresh Mint: 1/2 Bunch (100 gm)

Green Coriander: few springs (25 gm)

Green Chili: 1 or 2

Garlic: 1 Clove

Salt: To taste

METHOD:

• Clean the mint and coriander bunches and wash the leaves.
• Grind the garlic, green chili, mint and coriander leaves together in a mixer pot and get a smooth paste. Add salt as per taste.
• Take the olive oil in a bowl.
• Take 1 tbsp. of the mint and coriander chutney and mix it with the oil.
• Our Olive oil with Pudina chutney dip is ready.

Mix the Pudina Chutney with the Olive oil

I used this dip with the Dough Balls.

Vegetarian Dough Balls with Olive oil & Mint Dip

 

Vegetarian Dough Ball with the dip.

Have fun trying out the dip in your kitchen.

ashu

Idli Fry-my Italian combination

 

Idli , a personal favourite breakfast food that made my Sunday mornings special, as a child. It is something that I prefer even now for our weekend breakfasts, with the full family in attendance. But it also happens to be something that is on a ‘Not to Eat’ list of my daughter, so even though me and hubby would look forward to this breakfast she would always be absent from the breakfast table on these days under some pretense.

Idli’s are made up of a fermented batter of ground rice and Urad dal (Black gram), are a complete balanced food, rich in protein, one of the best breakfast foods. They are usually served  with Chutney and Sambar that makes it a wholesome balanced meal, the Sambar is made with lentils that has vegetables added.

This particular recipe was made as an attempt to make my daughter give the idli’s a try. As she never relished the plain steamed version, hence I used some pizza topping ingredients and made this dish and served to my hungry kiddo as her evening snack. She simple loved the taste, and thus this simple recipe was created. It is simple and hence young kids who are interested in cooking can also try this out. The left over Idlis can be best used in this way.

INGREDIENTS:

Idlis: 4 number

Olive oil: 1 Tbsp

Red Chilli Flakes: 1 Tsp

Parmesan Cheese: 2 Tbsp(grated)

Salt & Dried Oregano Herb: As seasoning.

Mozzarella Cheese: Optional

Note: Any cooking oil of choice can be used. The cheese used also can be of choice, but using Parmesan was my choice.

METHOD:

Steamed Idlis cut into small

1.  Cut the idlis into small cubes.
2. Heat a pan on the gas flame and add the cooking oil to it. Add the idli cubes to the oil and toss till the cubes become crisper.
3. Sprinkle the chilli flakes, salt, oregano herb and toss well so that the idli cubes get coated.
4. Grate the Parmesan cheese on the idlis and give it final toss. Then switch off the flame of the pan. The yummy idlis are ready to be served with a tangy chilli sauce.

With grated Mozzarella cheese on top.

This simple yet nutritious food can be served in many ways. Here I have made my kiddos favourite recipe as the first one on Idlis, many more posts will be posted as my upcoming posts, as and when I make them in my Kitchen. Until then if you find this interesting then do give it a try.

Wishing you all happy and healthy eating days!

Enjoy! 🙂

ashu

 

 

 

 

Baked Thalipeeth with Spicy Tomato Chutney, my alternative for a Pizza Dinner.

Most of us are fond of eating pizza, I am no exception. Pizza is something the kids would never say no and possible would eat almost regularly, every day, only if I allowed it. When the mood is for eating pizza, but to avoid the frequent intake of refined wheat flour and yeast to make the pizza base, for those evenings this is my quick menu to satiate the pizza hungry kids. My mother used to make something similar to this recipe but used the regular gas stove for cooking, but I baked it and the family was happy with the final product. It does not take very long time for making this recipe, except for the baking time.

Thalipeeth: Thalipeeth is a type of flat bread, a dish from Maharashtra state in India. Though typically it is made of multigrain flour mix, but for today’s dish I am using only wheat flour as the main ingredient.  It is mixed with onions, spring onions, green chillies, seasoned to personal taste and baked to get the desired crunch and crispy taste. An extremely spicy tomato dip/chutney is served along with it.

Ingredients For Thalipeeth:

Whole Wheat flour-3 cups (300-350g)

Oil: 3 Tbsp

Onion: 1 large (finely chopped)

Spring onions: 1 cup (finely chopped)

Green chillies: 3-4 Medium sized (finely chopped)

Green Coriander: 1-2 Tbsp (finely chopped)

Carom seeds: 1 Tsp. (Ajwain)

Flaxseed: 1 Tbsp (I use it, its a good source of fibre and omega-3 essential fatty acid)

Sesame seeds: 1 Tbsp

Salt: To taste

Turmeric powder: 1/2 Tsp.

Curd: 2 Tbsp

Baking powder: 1/2 Tsp

Water: As required to make a medium soft dough.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan assisted. Grease a square baking tin, I used a brownie baking tin.
2. Sift the wheat flour and baking powder together.
3. Take a clean, dry bowl and add the sifted wheat flour. To it add the finely chopped onions, spring onions, chillies, coriander,  the three types of seeds mentioned above, salt, turmeric and curd.
4. Mix all the ingredients of the bowl thoroughly. Add 2 tbsp oil to it and mix well.
5. Using the required quantity of water make a medium soft dough and knead well.
6. Taking the greased baking tin firmly press the dough inside the tin. Press with fingers to get even thickness on all sides.
7. Brush the top of the dough with oil and drop few drops along the walls of the tin.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes or till we get golden brown crust.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One can enjoy this dish with chilli sauce or a curd dip, but I prefer the tomato dip. Recipe of the tomato dip follows.

Spicy Tomato Chutney/Dip:

Ingredients:                  

Ripe red tomatoes- 2 Large

Onion-1 small

Green chillies- 2-3 (spicy variety)

Garlic-2 cloves

Salt/ red chilli powder/ turmeric- As per taste.

Oil- 1-2 tsp.

Mustard seeds- for seasoning

Method:

1. Heat oil in pan and add the mustard seeds, chopped green chillies, garlic and onion. Sauté till they are soft.
2. Then add the red chilli powder, turmeric, and salt.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook till done.
4. Remove from heat into a bowl and cool.
5. Blend this in blender to get the smooth dip.

Tip: If one does not wish to use a blender, then you can add a little water to the tomatoes and cook them to a very soft and saucy consistency.

Tandoori Chicken

I take this opportunity for wishing you all a very Happy New Year 2014. This is the first blog of 2014, so it had to be written on a special day. Today is a very special day for me as two awesome people, my elder sister and brother-in-law, are celebrating their 25^th wedding anniversary. In this journey of my life, they are among the list of people who have always mattered most; their presence, association has contributed a lot, enriched this journey, and I definitely feel blessed to be related to them.

As every celebration calls for good food, hence I took the occasion to cook Tandoori chicken (grilled chicken) to celebrate this momentous event. This dish is a perfect blend of different spices, hung yogurt, and lemon, and the chicken needs to be well marinated to enjoy flavor of the spices with every bite.

I purchased the whole dressed chicken( 900 gm), a day in advance, coated the clean chicken with a mix of: 1 Tbsp Oil and some salt and garam masala.

Method: 

1. In a bowl make a marinade by mixing 3 tbsp of Tandoori chicken masala + 2 tbsp of hung yogurt + salt to taste + 1 tsp of red chilli powder + half lemon juice.
2. This mix is then coated over the chicken that has now been cut into 4 pieces, with the chicken legs and breast pieces deeply slit so that the marinade can be rubbed into each piece till it reaches the bone. Coat all the pieces with the marinade thoroughly.
3. Leave it to marinate for 5-6 hours or as I left it in the refrigerator overnight for best result/taste.
4. Heat the oven grill to 180 °C. Prepare tray by covering it with aluminium foil, brush the chicken with oil and arrange on the tray.
5. Grill the chicken for 30-40 min, depending upon the desired grill effect. After the first 15 min of grilling, check the tray and turn the chicken pieces over so the other side gets done evenly. Remove tray from grill when chicken is completely done.

Serving Option:  This can be served with sliced onion and tomatoes dashed with lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste or with yogurt mixed with ground fresh mint and salt to taste.

Enjoy.

ashu 🙂