I don’t want to sound like a stuck record but eating well is about making choices with lots of variety and balance. I always eat the skin of chicken but many people avoid it and if you are one who does then I repeat the advice of cooking slowly so you don’t dry out the chicken. You can buy dukkah, but it’s so easy to make your own. Store it in the refrigerator as it is predominantly made with almonds, and all nuts should be kept refrigerated. Tomatoes, on the other hand, shouldn’t be refrigerated unless they are so ripe they are going to burst. Cutting tomatoes half an hour in advance and sprinkling over a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper brings out the flavour enormously.
Ingredients
- 2 x 230 g chicken breast fillets, skin on (use a Barossa or other well-brought-up chook)
- Plain flour, for dusting
- 1/3 cup (45 g) dukkah
- 1 free-range egg
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Basil leaves, to serve
Heritage Tomato Salad
- 250 g heirloom tomatoes, halved
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon basil leaves
- 2 teaspoons verjuice
- Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan-forced).
- Pat dry the chicken breasts with paper towel. Place the flour and dukkah on separate plates and lightly beat the egg in a shallow bowl. Dust the chicken with flour, dip into the beaten egg, then coat in the dukkah.
- Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook gently for 2 minutes on each side or until light golden. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 6–8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the breasts. Remove from the oven and rest for at least 8 minutes before slicing.
- Meanwhile, to make the tomato salad, toss all the ingredients together in a bowl.
- To serve, thickly slice the chicken against the grain, then serve with the tomato salad and basil leaves.
