Citrus chicken skewers and Heirloom tomato and haloumi salad

Saturday 29 Nov 2014

The first lesson. I had a couple of new recipes, from magazines I subscribe to (I love food porn), and Tim and the kids cooked them while I relaxed with a book.

I forgot to take any pictures until we were halfway through the meal so we put some of the skewers back on the hot plate and pretended the kids were cooking them.

Citrus Chicken Skewers

6 chicken thigh fillets
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2 tbs canola oil
2 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp smoked paprika
3 cloves garlic, crushed
lime slices to serve

1. Cut fillets in to four pieces each. Thread onto skewers and lay in a shallow baking dish. Whisk juices, oil, chilli, paprika and garlic together in a bowl. Pour over skewers and chill for an hour to marinate.
2. Preheat a chargrill pan or barbecue grill over medium-high heat. Cook skewers for 5 minutes each side or until cooked and slightly charred. Serve with sliced lime.

* I bought the very last lime in the supermarket and it wasn't enough so they used lemon juice as well. Also we were very nearly out of paprika so only used about 1/4 tsp instead of 2 tsp.

Heirloom Tomato and Haloumi Salad

140ml olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbs red wine vinegar
50g unsalted butter
4 slices sourdough bread, torn
2 garlic cloves, crushed
250g haloumi, sliced, pan fried
500g mixed heirloom tomatoes, sliced
1 cup each baby spinach, rocket and basil leaves

1. Whisk 1/3 cup (80ml) oil, garlic and vinegar together in a bowl. Season and set aside.
2. Heat 2 tbs oil and butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook sourdough, stirring, for 4 minutes until crisp. Add garlic and remaining 1 tbs oil. Cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Drain on paper towel. Cool.
3. Combine croutons, dressing and remaining ingredients in a bowl to serve.

* I can't promise that the tomatoes were heirloom, I bought a punnet of mixed colours and shapes including black and yellow. Also the green leaves were a premixed bag including rocket and a few kinds of lettuce. No basil.
* The sourdough croutons went soggy very quickly in the dressed salad. I preferred mine scattered on top after it had been dressed and served. There was far too much dressing, as well, we used about half of it and a quarter would have been better.

Here is my half-eaten plate, at the point I remember to take a photo. As you can see, we also had corn on the cob.

The whole cooking process went well, the kids were enthusiastic about helping, and it all tasted great! Aiden said it was the best salad he had ever tasted, although he picked out the haloumi (he doesn't like cheese). An excellent first cooking lesson.