Chicken with Mango Apple Salad

I know, I have been slack again with the posts!!!  I could tell a lie here and come up with a story that could possibly be plausible, but the truth is that I have been spending far too much time playing with my new toy (the ipad) and hence daydreaming via the ipad about my upcoming trip to Italy!!!  Don't quite have all the details worked out yet, so expect to see more breaks in transmission until it is all booked and sorted out!!!

A meal that I did make last week that I thought was bloggable was a lovely fresh spring time meal, and that was Thai Chicken with Mango and Apple Salad.

I will give you the recipe as it is printed, but as per usual I did make a couple of adjustments - see the notations!

Thai Chicken with Mango and Apple Salad
Recipe from Good Food Magazine, November edition

Serves 2

6 french eschallots, peeled, halved
1-2 small red chillies, seeded * I used 1 long red chilli
1cm piece ginger, finely chopped
finely grated rind and juice of 1 lime
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 chicken breasts, skin on
1 tbs coriander, finely chopped

Mango and Apple Salad
2 red apples, unpeeled, cored, cut into matchsticks
1/2 mango, peeled, cut into matchsticks * I used 1 whole smallish mango
1/3 cup mint leaves, roughly torn
2 green onions (shallots) thinly sliced
1/4 cup coriander leaves, roughly torn
2 tbs lime juice
3 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp brown sugar * I doubled this

Steamed jasmine rice to serve

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (fan).  Place the eschallots and half of the chilli in a food processor, and pulse until finely chopped.  Remove half, and set aside to use for the sauce.  Add the ginger, lime rind and remaining chilli to the food processor.  Process to form a paste.

Het the oil in a frying pan over medium heat.  Cook the chilli paste, stirring for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.  Let cool slightly.

Using your fingers, gently separate the skin from each chicken breast, to form a pocket.  Place half of the cooled chilli paste unter the skin of each breast.  Place the chicken, skin side up, in a small baking dish.  Season and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the skin is golden, and the chicken is cooked through.  Transfer the chicken to a plate, and cover with foil to rest for 5 minutes.

Place the baking pan with pan juices on the cooktop.  Add the lime juice and 1/2 cup of water.  Heat on medium, stirring to lift any cooked on pieces, until boiling.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, until reduced slightly.  Add the chopped coriander and reserved chilli mixture.  Cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

Mango and Apple Salad

Combine the apple, mango, mint, green onion and coriander in a bowl.  Whisk together the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar.  Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Add to the salad, and toss to combine.

Serve the chicken with steamed rice and the Apple and Mango salad on the side.

Yum, got to love it when the first mangos hit the fruit markets!!!!  My all time favourite summer fruit!!!

So how did I drag myself away from daydreaming to blog????  Well I still have not got the blog to work on the ipad, and I have two cakes in the oven at the moment (for our school's 60th birthday celebrations tomorrow) and so I find myself at a loose end and near the main computer!!!!

What's in the oven??  A Finnish Buttermilk Cake and a new recipe - a Thermomix Coconut Butter Cake - can't wait to try that one - I have heard good reviews from a friend with a TM!!!  Hope they both sell well at the cake stall tomorrow!!

The buzzer has just rung on the oven - so I can get back to daydreaming now - perfect timing I say!!!!