And the Winners Are...
First of all apologies for being a bad blogger of late. My little one is teething like mad and making all our lives miserable as a result. This has been going on for months and she's still only four teeth at 18 months! GRRR!
I did have a lot of fun this week preparing the wonderful finalist recipes, in fact the entire family did! So without further ado, let me present the winning recipes and the photos of my version.
Bridget's Heart Shaped Chicken Nuggets and Fruit Kebabs
First thing you'll notice is that I had to make star shapes as I had no heart cookie cutter (it's a hard life) but the kids were just as excited! I also omitted the kiwi from the kabobs and didn't dip in coconut as I can only imagine what they would say to that!
Heart-Shaped Chicken Nuggets
- 3/4 lb chicken cutlets, cut into chunks (not cooked)
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley
- 1 small apple, peeled and grated
- 3/4 C fresh white bread crumbs
- 1 chicken bouillon cube, crumbled
- 1/2 C dry bread crumbs
- 2 oz. cheese and onion flavored chips, finely crushed
- veggie oil for frying
Put the first 6 ingredients in a food processor and chop for a few seconds until well combined. Shape mixture into a flat disk.
Use a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter to press out heart shapes. Mix the bread crumbs and chips on a plate, and press the pieces into the coating.
Heat enough oil in a large skillet for shallow frying. Add the nuggets and cook for about 6 minutes, turning occasionally, until lightly golden and cooked through.
Easy Fruit Shish Kabobs
Ingredients:
1 banana
1 kiwi fruit, peeled and cut into chunks
handful of strawberries
small bowl of melon (e.g. watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew)
4-5 oz. of cheese, cut into medium chunks
1/4 C orange juice
1/4 C coconut
wooden skewers
Cut the banana, and melon into large chunks. Place the fruit and cheese onto the skewers in whatever order you wish. Dip in orange juice then roll in coconut.
In this recipe, you can pick and choose the fruits that you desire if you don't like one or the other fruits. Can also be doubled, or tripled for the amount of kabobs you need.
The verdict: Delicious!!! My three year old devoured these and just loved the fact that they were shaped. They are really tasty with or without dipping sauce. Very moist and flavourful they would please adults or kids. They do take a while to assemble, especially if using the cutter, but would be less time consuming if you just made flat nuggets. The skewers whilst simple were a novelty and very well received!
Daisy's Chicken and Apple Empanadas
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
- 2 granny smith apples, peeled and shopped
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 small white onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup shredded smoked cheddar
- salt and pepper
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F.
Fry apple, garlic and onion in the butter until soft. Add thyme, salt and pepper, honey and chicken. Allow to cool slightly and mix in the cheddar.
Roll out the puff pastry until about 2-3 cm thick. Using a glass cut out circles of the pastry. Roll the scraps and keep making circles until you've little to no pastry left.
Place about a tablespoon of filling on each circle and seal the edges with egg wash and use a fork to press down to seal.
Brush with egg wash and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. You can deep fry these as well, but you will only need to fry for about 3-4 minutes.
The verdict: Another winner, both kids devoured these as did the husband and I. This will definitely be added to my party repertoire - it's a great recipe that everyone will enjoy.
Baked Ziti with Sausage
8-10 servings
1 lb. mild Italian sausage, casings removed
2 T. oil
1 sml. onion, minced
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 T. minced garlic
1 T. oregano
2 T. sugar
2 t. pepper
6 T. butter
¼ cup flour
2½ cups milk
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
1 lb. ziti, cooked
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
Brown sausage in oil in a large skillet. Add onion, tomatoes, garlic and spices. Cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add flour and stir, but do not brown. Add milk and bring to a boil, stirring until thick, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in Parmesan.
Layer ziti, Béchamel sauce and tomato sauce in buttered 13 x 9 pan.
Top with mozzarella. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes.
The verdict: My personal favourite, this was incredible. I had great fun as I wasn't able to get into Naas Farmers Market to get my usual Italian Sausage, so I had to make my own. It turned out really well and I think I will be doing that in the future! The husband and oldest loved this as well. This dish makes a lot! I have half of it in the freezer for a quick meal next week.
And the winner is...
This was tough as I wanted to judge it myself, but the point was it was the recipe the kids preferred the best, which makes Daisy's Empanadas a clear winner! They were gobbled up by both kids and I will definitely be making them again.
Second place is Barbara's Baked Ziti as the whole family loved it with the baby eating a little, but she didn't really get into it!
Finally in third is Bridget, which although the adults and oldest loved, the baby was not impressed at all - which really surprised me, but that's the way it works I guess!
So ladies, thank you ALL and please email me with your postal address and I will get your prizes out on Monday. You too Frannie!
On another note - today is one of my friends first year anniversary. She died last year just before we went to the states. Amy was a troubled soul, a beautiful talented troubled soul. She tried so hard to please and to be loved. She struggled with anorexia, bulimia, drugs and alcohol and had been through many drug rehab programs, as well as eating disorder programs. Each time she came through them and it looked like she would start over, but old ghosts always came back to haunt her and in the end kill her. Today I mourn my friend, who she was, not who she became.
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