There's nothing better than a chicken sandwich...that is unless you're a vegetarian!

As promised......my favourite chicken sandwiches.

There's nothing better than a chicken sandwich, that is unless you're a vegetarian!

This one I cannot lay claim to inventing....an old friend of mine is the master of this creation (I just tweaked it a little).

The Classic Chicken Sandwich (with smoked almonds)

I really mean it when I say, I have never, ever in my whole 37 years ever had a better chicken sandwich.

What you need to make these oozing clouds of chicken fluff:

(This will make between 4 to 6 sandwiches depending on your bread size)

Get yourself a loaf of sourdough or the best bread you can lay your hands on - slice thickly

Add lashings of a really good butter

2 chicken breasts - poached (I used the chicken that I cooked my stock with) chopped up into smallish chunks - you could also use leftover roast chicken

a handful of smoked almonds - chopped as finely as possible

1 stalk of celery also chopped finely - (I didn't use celery this time because I didn't have any in the fridge)

1/2 a bunch of chives snipped very finely

2-3 tablespoons of either homemade mayo or whole egg mayo

salt and pepper

How they are assembled....

Simply smother your bread with butter

In a bowl mix your chicken, almonds, celery, chives, mayo, salt and pepper really well so it looks like my picture

Put about 2 tablespoons of your chicken onto your bread pop the lid on, slice and eat.....mmmmmmm

I swear you've never tasted anything better, that is unless you've tried my toasted mexican chicken sandwich?!

For the nights that Max and I feel like takeout this is my fail safe hit. Take away never seems to live up to my expectations, unless it's Miss Chu's......so why waste my time and money when I can whip these up in no time.

It's a kind of mexican in a toasted sandwich, crunchy, spicy, tangy, moorish. 

You'll need;

(makes 4)

2 chicken breasts - sliced wafer thin into strips

1 large red onion or 2 normal size onions - sliced thinly

1 green capsicum or red - de-cheeked, seeds removed and sliced very thinly (this time I used a little jalapeno pepper, just because they were at the market)

2 teaspoons of sweet paprika

2 teaspoons of ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1/2 a handful of fresh coriander per sandwich

a couple of tomatoes sliced thinly

around 1 cup of grated tasty cheese

sour cream

lime juice

tortillas or Naan bread

salt

paper towel

To put them together you....

Fry off your onions and capsicum till the onions begin to colour and your capsicum is a little cooked - on a highish heat. Then transfer onions and capsicum to a bowl 

Then your chicken in a little olive oil in the same pan till cooked through, then add your already cooked onions and capsicum back to the pan - turn the heat down

Now add your spices and mix well, cook for a couple of minutes stirring all the time - set aside

Clean your pan - ready for the toasting of your sandwich

Get your naan bread or tortilla - the reason I use the naan bread is that it has no preservatives, I am yet to find a pre made tortilla without preservatives (but I'm going to try and make my own) lay half of it on your pan (see my picture). 

Layer it like so.....sprinkle of grated cheese, some chicken-onions-capsicum, as much or as little sour cream as you like, tomato & salt, a squeeze of lime, coriander and finish with a little grated cheese (the cheese is the glue that keeps it together)

Close the sandwich up and pop on the heat (medium) place a piece of foil on top of the sandwich and some kind of heavy weight (I used a small cast iron pot) just so it flattens a little.

Cook until bubbling and golden then flip and cook the other side

Moorish.......make sure you have paper towel as it's very messy.

Kaye what score do I get for that one? Out of 10?

©Michelle Schoeps 2013

All photos taken by Michelle Schoeps

Another week down, one week to go!

APPLE CAKE

I've got 5 min free, so I had to share this recipe with you. We've been making seasonal cake on our menu at the tuck shop which means a little experimenting at home on my end, to come up with a gluten free, healthyish cake for our little ones to devour.

I'd like to just make a point of saying, no one in my immediate family has any intolerance to food. But whenever I can make something a little healthier, I do, and for this reasons I like to use brown rice flour. Not only can you not tell the difference in taste, between brown rice flour and whole wheat flour, but brown rice flour makes the lightest fluffiest cake. It's my flour of the moment!

And lnstead of always using raw sugar, I have also used honey (which is crazy delicious), but today I've decided to try rapadura sugar (it is dried sugar cane juice) simply an unprocessed sugar. It kind of has a golden syrup taste and recently I've been buying my daily coffee at Oovio which is across the road from School. They use rapadura instead of processed sugar, along with un-homogenised milk (It's the first time in years that I don't get a tummy ache after a coffee) any way back to my cake.....

It's Wednesday afternoon ("it was") and instead of putting my feet up and having a well deserved rest while the baby sleeps (as if) I'm making my apple cake! Insane?....maybe, but the cake I made for school today was unbelievable and because it was so good I want to make it again and deliver a taste to a handful of friends, along with that brownie that I am now having nightmares over. Its like the sound track from your kids favourite show (or song - Justin Beiber...arrrr!) that you can't get out of your head.....250g beetroot pureed....250g butter melted with 250g dark choc......etc....it never goes away.

My Apple cake recipe goes like this:

Ingredients;

1 1/2 cups flour - any flour is fine, brown rice flour is the best (no selfraising) 1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bi carb dissolved in 3 tablespoons of warm milk 250g raw sugar or runny honey or 300g Rapadura

4 large apples peeled and cored and cooked with 1/2 cup of water till soft, then either mashed with a fork or processed with a stick blender 1 cup butter or 250g melted

3/4 cup yogurt

2 eggs - beaten within an inch of their lives

a couple of pinches of salt - one for the eggs and one in the flour 1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup polenta

To make;

Heat your oven to 200c and line a large baking tray

Beat your eggs till light and fluffy - I do this in my kitchen aid on high, it's my new favourite thing to do when making a cake (add it keeps my little helper busy) 

Whilst that is happening melt your butter over a low heat, once melted set aside and measure out your flours, cinnamon and baking powder in one bowl and polenta in another 

Add your sugar or runny honey to the eggs and keep beating on high

Then add your yogurt and vanilla and slightly cooled butter very slowly, do this whilst your mixer is still on  

Now warm your 3 tablespoons of milk and dissolve your bi-carb, turn your mixer off and fold in the apples then the bi-carb/milk 

Followed by the flour mix which should be sifted in and then the polenta, mix well

This mixture is very wet

Pour into your prepared tin and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (just a little)pop into the oven

Bake for around 35min depending on your oven, if it browns to much on top but is still not cooked in the middle, cover with foil and turn your heat down to 180c. (Remember the cake should be on the middle shelf) 

Once cooked leave it in the tin to cool slightly, then slice it up and dust with a mixture of cinnamon and icing sugar.

Serve with a cup of tea......and custard (if you can be bothered making it). 

Now that I've made this cake a total of 4 times, I can tell you all the sugars work, but honey is the best of the bunch!

THIS ONE IS MADE WITH HONEY

Yum!

All deliveries made, except one......

Tomorrow I will be posting my favourite chicken sandwiches......stay tuned. Slowly but surely I'm coming back....I have been cooking and photographing like a mad women, if only my computer would cooperate...... 

©Michelle Schoeps 2013

All photos taken by Michelle Schoeps