Schnitzel Thyme

So hello again!

• Lots going on in this corner of Paradise - check
• Lots unbloggable - check
• All jobs going well - check
• Both children growing and amazing - check
• Husband reading my mind and anticipating my every whim - ha ha ha ha ha - check

Lovely to see you still have your sense of humour. V does pretty well, but half the time I have no idea what I am thinking, so he hasn't got a hope...

Still, we will keep the carnage we shall forever refer to as "THAT Mother's Day" close to our chests, and just enjoy the highlights of the week prior.

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So, the biggest material highlight of the week was bounty courtesy of Gourmet Garden! I occasionally meander into the Digital Parents site and pretend I am a real blogger, and there was an invitation for bloggers to sample products and create.

Now, I have a confession - this is not my first sighting of Gourmet Garden Goodies. I happen to know another blogger who uses these religiously. My mother is another with a stash (but unfortunately not a blog - at least, not one I know about.)

They are great to have in the fridge (or - shhh - in the freezer if you are too far from grocery stores and/or your children are too fussy to just roll with herbs and spices being used with abandon and vigour) - but enough of a plug. I am a serious product tester here. (ha)

Anyhow, besides the excellent new lunchbox esky, I am truly impressed with the fact that they arrived still cold!! Paradise is not exactly capital city territory, and a few folk have been known to take the fact that there is a lot of Australia falling into that category a bit too lightly.

So - my brief is to use their product in my everyday fare (or even create amazing dishes etc, etc, etc). Will do my best. Saturday night was my first opportunity...

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Crumbs
Due to budgeting, freezer and grocery restraints, chicken was on the menu on Saturday. I decided to test out a bit of an extension of the usual schnitty with my new goodies, and therefore the Gourmet edge to our dinner was to create awesome crumbs.

Being ever frugal, I had a few old crusts in a plastic bag at the back of the freezer, and so I threw them into the food processor with a squirt of the Gourmet Garden Thyme paste and about a cup of cornflakes (we were at the bottom of the cereal container, so there were some extraneous bits of cereals prior to our current cornflake obsession that found their way into the mix too) and whizzed it all up.

Please take note of the matching white crockery. That's called "Thought and Effort" folks. Admire.


I am not sure if our counter-space is enhanced by the vibrant yellow or diminished by the brown mini-tiled "splashback", but there is definitely an art to bashing breasts without hitting the cupboards above, the plates either side or either major appliance.


At this point in dinner preparation, it is always important to stop and appreciate the beauty available - it helps with the inner calm (and indeed the outer - Paris has been known to think about whinging and veer into "beautiful sunset" mode on more than one occasion). Ahhh.


Okay, so it being impossible to dredge, dunk, crumb AND photograph at the same time, so between the last photo and this one was indeed the dredge, dunk and crumb step. I am yet to discover the art of doing so without needing to do a degunk or two (or eight) between pieces. I once read having a wet hand and a dry hand was the secret, but I keep on forgetting which is which.

You may note the sultana pieces - lets pretend they are deliberate and truly gourmet, shall we?


A mix of butter and olive oil and sizzle away. The Thyme really packs a punch to the old olfactory system, but in an "oh yum, I want to eat you" way.


Yeah, well this is why I am in Paradise surrounded by a family that loves me and not on Masterchef - me and artistic talent nod at each other in passing and are fairly cool towards each other.

The verdict from my patrons, however, was a double thumbs up. The thyme really made this every day schnitzel into something smooth and delicious and very much something that will be used!!

Chicken Schnitzel Like What You Would Find If Jeanie Cooked For You
Ingredients

• 2 Double Chicken Breasts
• Plain Flour
• Salt and Pepper
• 3 Eggs
• 4-5 Slices Old Crust/Bread
• 1/2 tbsp Gourmet Garden Thyme
• 1 cup cornflakes (and secret other bits and pieces>
• Olive Oil
• Butter
• Steamed Veges
• Mashed Potatoes
• Fresh Lime Juice

Method

• Whizz bread, thyme and cornflakes until the right texture. I thought the thyme might make it too moist, but I was wrong.
• Cut breasts into half horizontally bits and bashed to even thickness.
• Have 3 bowls - the first with seasoned flour; the second with beaten eggs and a splash of water; the final one with crumbs - and with each chicken piece dredge in flour, dunk in egg wash and crumb.
• Heat oil and butter in pan and sizzle well on each side.
• Drain each piece well.

Serve with veges etc - our lime tree is really producing at the moment, so I can HIGHLY recommend a drizzle of lime juice.

Through the Digital Parents site, I also discovered Mummy's Undeserved Blessings does a Weekend Cookbook every Friday. This week she will be linking other recipes for the Gourmet Garden challenge.

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In other news...
Paris passed off wearing Pigtails with great aplomb. I currently get Fridays with her, and a few girlfriends and I had finally got our acts together to share some time with our charges (grandchildren in their instances - I cannot lie, I am of more mature mother stock).

You may note that I treasure the artwork that both of my children create - the smudge in the mirror is not mess, but rather "Abstract Interaction of Toddler with Dental Hygiene Products #52".

We kept those plaits in all night, because there is still that eighties child within me hoping that perfect kinky look will adorn my (or my offspring's) head with style, grace AND longevity. Yeah, right - that would be nought from two who have escaped the genetic doom that is hair that won't hold a curl.


Meanwhile, my elder offspring is well into being both stylish AND gracious without any resortion (is that even a word?) to the frizz. Here she is in a modern installation "Life Imitating Art" - posing with my Mother's Day present from last year.

(Mother's Day this year had high points also - just went very close to being ruined by some moody cow getting her nose out of joint at the slightest shadow...)

How was yours?