Chicken Pakoras

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Who doesn't love a pakora? And an Indian Chinese exotic version using Chicken? Swooooooon!
Bookmark this page asap and watch the video for step by step instruction!

Ingredients
1 lb boneless chicken breast or thigh
1tsp each ginger and garlic paste
Juice of a lime or lemon
1 tsp pepper
Salt to taste

Batter
1 cup gram flour(Besan Ka Atta)
1 cup corn starch
salt to taste
2 tbsps each dark soya sauce, fish sauce, chilli paste(sambal oelek)
1/2 cup chopped coriander

1 - 2 cups oil

Process

Heat the oil. Test the batter in the oil and taste for oil.

Dip the chicken in the batter and fry for 4 - 6 mins.

As a sanity check cook the fried chicken in a hot oven for a few more minutes.

Delicious Arabic Pizza

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This is one of my all time favourite recipes. I developed this when I competed on the hit TV show, Come Dine With Me Canada. Since then I had lost the recipe due to a hard drive crash. Luckily for me one of my friends had saved the print out all these years and I was able to salvage this amazing recipe. You can prepare your own pizza dough or buy it ready prepared, but I have to tell you making a batch of dough is easy and so worth the effort. The topping is a chicken or turkey mixture and the whole pizza is cooked in an oven to middle eastern flavoured perfection!

Makes 4 medium pizzas and about 60 mini pizzas

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

7 tsps instant dried yeast

Pinch of sugar

Salt

Warm water

Splash of Olive Oil

Additional flour for dusting and rolling

Topping

1 pound ground chicken or turkey meat

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp sumac

1 tsp ground black pepper

Salt

1/2 red onion chopped fine

1/2 red tomato deseeded chopped fine

1/2 cup chopped mint

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1 1/2 tbsps pomegranate molasses

In a bowl add the yeast and sugar and top with a half cup of warm water. Leave till frothy

In a stand mixer add the flours and salt and mix.

Add the yeast mixture and enough water in slow additions to make a soft and supple dough.

Oil a bowl, add the dough ball, rotate to coat with oil and then cover with cling film.

The dough can take anywhere from a few hours to overnight to double in size when stored in a warm, dark oven.

Mix all of the topping ingredients well together.

It's a good practice to fry a small sample of the topping to check for salt and seasonings.

When the dough is doubled in size, remove and lightly knead using extra flour

Dust with flour and roll out into a single pizza round or cut out little mini pizzas with a cookie cutter as per your preference.

Add a teaspoon of the topping to each pizza base and smear over the surface.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 – 15 mins till cooked.

If using multiple sheets, rotate them to ensure all pizzas get cooked evenly.

Garnish with more fresh herbs.

Watch my step by step video - click here

Mini Meatball Stuffed Mushrooms

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Mushrooms and Beef are the perfect pairing and great to blend and extend your budget. This delicious appetizer is tasty and has an extreme wow factor. When I shop for mushrooms for this recipe, I never buy them pre packaged, instead I pick them by hand to ensure that they are the same size. A tiny block of cheese on top of each is optional and helps keep this together. Since mushrooms are super delicious and juicy, either provide your guests with tiny appetizer plates or stand them on some kitchen towel to absorb the juices before serving. This filling is enough to stuff a minimum of 48 mushrooms.

Ingredients
48 white button mushrooms (picking, storing and care)
1 lb medium ground beef
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp pepper
1/2 finely chopped red onion
1 tsp ground garlic paste
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Coarse salt to taste
2 tbsps olive oil
48 small nuggets of cheese of your choice

Process
Heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a baking dish with 2 tbsps of olive oil brushed at the bottom and sprinkle with some salt

Remove the mushroom stalks and shave the bottoms so they are stand.

Chop all the removed bits of mushroom really fine and add to the beef.

Add the cumin, pepper, onion, garlic paste, parsley and salt to taste and mix vigorously.

For ease of preparation, take 3 - 4 golf size balls of the mixture and blend it in your food processor.

Add this to the rest of the meat.

Using a small melon baller with a release lever as a guide fill the meat mixture to the level.

Continue doing this till you have 48 mini meatballs.

Place the mushrooms on the baking tray.

Leaving the meatballs aside, stuff the cavity of the mushroom with the remaining meat mixture.

Roll the measured meatball into a perfect ball shape and top each mushroom.

Cook for 15 - 20 mins.

Remove from the oven and top with a nugget of cheese of your choice.

Return to the oven for another minute or so.

Garnish with more chopped parsley.

Easy Entertaining - Guacamole and Chipotle Salsa

Last minute guests? Whip up this delicious treat in no time. Or set this out on your table for fuss free entertaining.

Ingredients

1 ripe guacamole

Juice of one lime

salt

pepper

1/2 cup chipotle salsa

Garnish - Olives & Cilantro

Serve with tortilla chips

Process

Scoop out the guacamole and mash it. 

Add the juice of the lime, salt and pepper.

Add the guac at the bottom of the bowl.

Cover with salsa.

Garnish with olives and cilantro.

3 Oscar Worthy Appetizers

Not everyone gets a ticket to the Oscars. There's nothing stopping you from glamming it up however, slip into something fancy, call your friends and gather around sipping some bubbly. The food makes the mood however and here are three Star performances.

Pepper Parmesan crisps with Salmon mousse and caviar
A sure winner and the star of your Oscar celebration. Baked Parmesan crisps are served with a dollop of decadent smoked salmon mousse and embellished with caviar. See recipe

Mini Cheeseball with Jalapeno jelly
An upscale mini cheese ball on a cracker slathered in jalapeño jelly(or jam) and topped with a caper. See recipe

Mini Shrimp Ceasars
One  tiger Shrimp sits atop a celery salt rimmed glass with Clamato and Olives. Vodka optional. See recipe

Oscar Worthy Mini Shrimp Ceasars

One Shrimp sits atop a celery salt rimmed glass with Clamato and Olives. Vodka optional

Ingredients
Makes 12

12 Cooked Tiger Shrimp
24 Olives
Celery salt to rim the glass
300 - 500 ml of Clamato (depending on size of glass)

See other Oscar winning appetizers!

Oscar Worthy Mini Cheeseball with Jalapeno jelly

An upscale mini cheese ball on a cracker slathered in jalapeño jelly(or jam) and topped with a caper.

Ingredients
Makes about 30
1 pkg Philly Cheese 8 0z
2 cups shredded cheese
salt
pepper
30 capers
5 tbsps jalapeño jelly
30 small crackers

Warm the cream cheese in the microwave. Add the grated cheese some salt and pepper. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least and hour till it's nice and firm.  Using a small ice cream scoop with a self release lever,  fill the cheese in the scoop till it's at level and scoop it out.

Slather some Jalapeno jelly on a small cracker and add the half cheese ball on top. Garnish with a caper.

See other Oscar winning appetizers!

Oscar worthy Pepper Parmesan crisps with Salmon mousse and caviar

A sure winner and the star of your Oscar celebration. Baked Parmesan crisps are served with a dollop of decadent smoked salmon mousse and embellished with caviar.

Ingredients
Makes about 24
2 cups grated parmesan
2 tbsps breadcrumbs
Fresh cracked pepper

50 gms smoked Salmon
2 tsps Sour cream
salt
1/4 pkg gelatin

2-3 tsps Caviar to garnish

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees and using parchment paper or a silicon mat, place a 1.5 inch cookie cutter and pour in thin layer of grated Parmesan. Continue doing this till you get around 24 circles. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs and pepper and bake for about 10 - 15 mins. Remove when warm with a spatula and store.



Pulse the smoked Salmon and add the sour cream. Pour a few tsps of hot water into a 1/2 tsp of gelatin. Wait till its cool(but not set) and add it to the mousse. Refridgerate. You don't have to use gelatin, but it does help the mousse hold together.


Top with a little caviar

See other Oscar winning appetizers!

Eggsplosions - A twist on Deviled eggs

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A twist on deviled eggs, these eggs are overstuffed with filling to look like they are about to explode. Perfect for a spring buffet, Easter brunch, baby shower or an appetizer for any occasion.

Ingredients
12 boiled eggs
1 cup chopped cooked chicken
4 tbsps mayonnaise
Sprinkle Oregano
Sprinkle Chipotle
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
Coriander leaves

Cut a little off the top and the bottom of the eggs. Gently scoop all the yolks out and place in a bowl. Break all the lumps and add 1 tbsp at a time of mayonnaise. In a separate bowl, mix about a 1/4 cup of the cooked chicken with come chopped coriander and oregano and stuff this into the eggs like a pinata! Using a piping bag and large tip, pipe the yolk and mayo mixture and pipe it into the egg. Cover the exposed yolk mixture with more chopped chicken. Sprinkle oregano and chipotle and garnish with a single coriander leaf.

You can use any flavour combinations you like - be creative!

Chilli Prawns

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Perfect for a snack, appetizer or an accompaniment to a main course, this 5 ingredient delicious is sure to make your mouth water. While prawns and shrimp are very different to a marine biologist, it's used interchangeably in many recipes. You can use anything you like from prawns that tend to be a bit larger to tiger shrimp. Fresh is always best, but I also use frozen quite often to satisfy my families Chilly prawn 'kravings' If possible, leave the tail on, it serves as a handle and also imparts additional flavor.

Ingredients
300gms tail on prawns or shrimp
2 tbsps very finely minced garlic
2 tsps Sambal Oelek or Chilli paste
1 tsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp all purpose flour

Salt
Water
Oil
Optional - 4 Spring onions cut in half.

Marinate the prawns or shrimp with the garlic, sambal oelek and the soya. Keep aside for at least half and hour. Make a thick paste with the corn starch and flour and a little bit of salt to taste. You can omit the flour and use double the cornstarch to make this recipe gluten free. Mix the paste with the shrimp. Add a few tbsps of oil and when it's hot, shallow fry the prawns till golden brown on each side. Add the Spring onions and caramelize. Drain on kitchen towels and serve.