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Dazz Switalla Flavour Secrets No.1 The Strand Chef www.no1thestrand.co.nz |
Friends have often commented me on the beauty one of my favourite chickens, a greyish lavender-coloured, feisty araucana. It's a South American breed of chicken known for laying green-shelled eggs.
About 12 months ago I named her ‘Pearl' because of her lustrous-coloured feathers.
Now I call her a ‘him', as the bird rises at exactly 5.35am every morning with cock-a-doodle-do.
The appearance of the chicken has only changed slightly, with dark rings appearing under the eyes, like it's been up all night, and a bit more of a comb.
The chicken appears nervous, shifty and seems to know the game is up.
After googling the facts about late-developing roosters, I'm none the wiser. It appears to be one of nature's quirks.
Of course I can't dispatch one of my favourite chickens to this week's recipe, but I will share a yummy quick idea using chicken thighs and freshly-made guacamole.
Crispy lime chicken with guacamole
Snack-size serves for four
Ingredients 
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Juice of 8 fresh limes
2 Tbsp olive oil
Zest of 2 limes
1 bunch coriander, chopped
2 gloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp freshly cracked pepper
2 beaten eggs
3 Tbsp cornflour
2 cups of panko bread crumbs
2 ripe avocados
½ red onion
2 ripe tomatoes
Juice of 1 lime
Method
Cut the thighs in half and flatten between plastic with a steak hammer or rolling pin. Make sure each piece of meat is equally squashed flat.
Sprinkle most of the cracked pepper on top the meat, along with lime juice and zest, olive oil, chopped garlic, paprika, chopped coriander and marinate for four-five hours covered with plastic film.
Make the guacamole by dicing up avocados, tomatoes and onion all to the same size.
Mix together with a sprinkle of lime juice and seasoning.
Once the chicken has marinated, drain and dust with cornflour.
Dip meat in beaten egg mix, then crumb with panko crumbs. Fry off meat in a lightly-oiled pan until cooked through. Serve with guacamole on the side.