Not only are nuts good for you, they are so versatile when it comes to cooking.
Words and photography by Simone Costi
Pecan Chicken
Add some crunch to your chicken schnitzel
2 skinless chicken breasts
150g pecans
1 cup of breadcrumbs
1 cup of flour
2 eggs, beaten
Butter and vegetable oil for cooking
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease an oven tray. Remove any fat from the chicken and cut each breast into thirds. Chop the pecans finely or whiz them in the food processor. Combine the pecans with the breadcrumbs and put them on a plate. Place the flour on one plate, the eggs in the bowl. Dip the chicken in the flour, then the egg, then the pecan and breadcrumb mix. Repeat this with all the chicken pieces.
Pour a splash of oil into a frypan and add a knob of butter. Once the butter has melted, add the chicken pieces carefully. Cook on one side till they are slightly coloured, then turn and colour the other side. Using tongs, take them out of the frypan and place them on the oven tray and pop them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the chicken pieces. The thinner the pieces, the less time it will take to cook.
Serve with salad and your choice of condiments.
Caramel Macadamia Slice
This sweet treat will have you coming back for seconds
Base
1 cup of self-raising flour
1 cup of desiccated coconut
1 cup of brown sugar
160g butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence Pinch of salt
Topping
400g tin of condensed milk
3 tablespoons of golden syrup
1 teaspoon of butter
250g macadamias
Base
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease a lamington tin.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Melt the butter, then add the vanilla essence to it.
Pour the butter into the dry ingredients and stir it till it combines.
Press the base mix into the lamington tine and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, but leave the oven on.
Topping
Put the butter, condensed milk and golden syrup into a small saucepan over a medium heat and stir continuously. It will slowly thicken. Once it is nice and gooey, take it off the heat.
Roughly chop the macadamias.
Pour the caramel mix over the base evenly. Sprinkle the macadamias over the top and press them down lightly.
Return the tray to the oven for a further 10 minutes or until the macadamias and caramel are slightly coloured. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tray before cutting it into squares
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