Something old, something new, something borrowed
Wednesday, 25 January 2012 00:00
We’re talking about three recipes here, so there's nothing blue, except that's how Mrs M feels when I don't wash the dishes after making dinner, which I’ve resolved to do more often this year (New Year's resolutions….. Pshaw!)
Combine hummus (something old), Jamaican jerk chicken (something new), the idea of a wrap as a healthy food item (something borrowed from a foodie friend), with some bread crumbs thrown in, and you have a delightful summer repast: spicy crispy chicken wraps.
You can either deep fry the chicken strips, or you can oven bake them, the choice is yours. Conventional wisdom says oven baked is healthier, but deep fried is crisper and also much quicker.
Ingredients, selection and preparation
- 8 Mexican-style tortillas
- 4 large chicken breasts: skinned, deboned and cut into strips about 1cm thick.
- 2 cups bread crumbs: you can buy them ready made, the Japanese Panko variety begin the nicest, or make your own. Trim the crusts off four or five slices of fresh white bread. Place the bread on a grid in the oven at 100 deg C until the bread has crisped completely, about 20 to 30 minutes. Crush to a powder in a plastic bag with a rolling pin, or in a blender jug.
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tbsp flour
- 75ml lime juice: fresh preferably, but with the price of fresh limes these days, bottled is okay.
- 2 cups canola oil: optional if you’re deep frying.
- Jamaican jerk spice
- 2 tbs salt
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 2tsp pimento (allspice) powder
Hummus
- 1 x 400g can chick peas: drained and rinsed.
- 1 tbsp tahini: a paste made from hulled ground sesame seeds, widely used in the Middle East. Not always easy to come by, so if you find a bottle, buy it and store it in the fridge.
- 2 cloves garlic: fresh, crushed.
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- Garnishes
- Washed lettuce leaves
- 2 x medium fresh tomatoes: chopped.
- 1 x medium red onion: chopped.
- Grated cheddar cheese
- 1 each small red, green and yellow pepper: deseeded and chopped.
Method
Trim and get the sliced bread in the oven right away if you’re making your own breadcrumbs.Pour the lime juice over the chicken strips and place in the fridge, covered for a half hour.
Make the hummus. Blend the garlic and salt thoroughly in a mortar and pestle. Put the drained chickpeas in a medium size mixing bowl, and puree to a paste with a stab blender.
Add the garlic and salt, tahini, lemon juice and olive oil. Mix thoroughly with the stab blender. Adjust the flavour with more lemon juice and salt if needed.
The texture is very important. It must be neither too runny nor too thick. To thin the hummus, add water, to thicken it add olive oil. Do so 1 tbsp at a time, and mix in well with the stab blender. Cover and place in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Combine the jerk spice ingredients and mix thoroughly. Mix 3 tbsp of the spice with 4 tbsp of flour and put it in a flat bowl.
Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl. Pour the breadcrumbs into a wide shallow bowl.
If you’re oven baking, heat the oven to 180 deg C while you prepare the chicken.
If you’re deep frying, heat two cups of canola oil in a small deep pot, or a medium sized wok. Shake off a chicken strip then roll it in the jerk spice flour. Dip in egg then coat it with breadcrumbs. Repeat with all the strips.
Oven baking: Arrange the strips on an oven grid, and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden brown.
Deep frying: fry the strips in batches until golden brown and crispy. Place in a bowl on kitchen paper towel to drain.
Warm the tortillas in the microwave for a minute or so before serving. This softens them and prevents cracking while you’re rolling up the wrap.
Spread hummus on a tortilla. Lay a lettuce leaf, followed by tomato, onion, peppers, cheese and chicken strips along the axis of the tortilla.
Fold the bottom over as shown, followed by the left flap, and finally the right flap. Turn the wrap over, to keep it from unrolling.
Voila! A perfect wrap.
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 20-30 minutes
Yield: 4
Written by Norman McFarlane You are reading Something old, something new, something borrowed articles
