POLENTA CHICKEN PATTIES / NUGGETS

I’ve been cooking these chicken patties for a few weeks now, as they are a great dinner / lunch for my fiancée Chris and me. I usually make them in the afternoon, place them in the fridge and cook them when we get home late at night. I love using polenta as it holds the patties together in the place of breadcrumbs. Chris once likened these chicken patties to tasting similar to chicken ‘nuggets’ hence the name. I use this method of frying in a pan and then baking in the oven when I make any patties. Use free-range chicken mince as it tastes the best!

INGREDIENTS

• 500g free-range chicken mince
• 1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, finely grated
• 1 medium zucchini, finely grated and excess water squeezed out using a cloth 
• 2 heaped tablespoons black sesame seeds
• 2 heaped tablespoons white sesame seeds
• 2/3 cup polenta,  1/3 cup for mixture & 1/3 cup to coat 
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• Optional - 1 tablespoon fresh chives, roughly chopped, to garnish 

COOKING 

1. Combine the mince, egg, soy sauce, spring onion, carrot, zucchini, sesame seeds and 1/3 cup polenta in a large mixing bowl. Mix using clean hands to combine all ingredients. 

2. Shape into even sized patties (I like to make 8 patties; you may want to make smaller or bigger ones). Have a large plate with the 1/3 cup of polenta spread out on it and coat each of the patties well with the polenta, placing them side by side on a clean large plate once they have been coated. Wrap in cling wrap and place in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. 

3. Once the 30 minutes (or longer) has passed, preheat a fan force oven to 200 degrees celsius. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. 

4. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat on the stove and add coconut oil, swirling to coat the pan. Place the patties in the pan and cook for three minutes each side, then remove from the pan and place the patties side by side on the prepared baking tray. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (you will need to cut the largest patty in half to make sure that no pink flesh remains). 

Makes / 8 medium patties 

Total Preparation time / maximum 10 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 55 minutes (including 30 minutes refrigeration time) 

x Emily 

GLUTEN-FREE CHICKEN NUGGETS

Chicken nuggets are such a pastime for me. I remember my mother making them for us four kids when we were little (healthy chicken nuggets of course, with cornflakes and no oil). After tasting her delectable chicken nuggets, I never understood why my friends loved the same dish at MacDonald’s. A massive blow with my new gluten-free diet was that cornflakes and breadcrumbs were out of the picture. Or were they? These days gluten-free bread has become almost as ubiquitous as white floury bread. So much so that when I was ordering breakfast at a brand new café the other day (open for 3 days at the time) the waitlist apologized to me profusely for not having gluten-free bread on the menu as of yet and told me that they would get it in just for me! So, my longwinded point is, I use gluten-free breadcrumbs instead to make chicken nuggets. And I’ll let you in on a little secret- my nuggets taste BETTER now.

INGREDIENTS

• 600g chicken breast fillets, cut into even cubes / pieces
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 4 pieces of gluten-free bread (preferably seeded)
• sea salt 
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten 

COOKING 

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius fan-force. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. 

2. Tear the gluten-free bread into pieces and place in a blender. Blend for around 30 seconds, making sure that all bread pieces have been processed into fine breadcrumbs. Remove from blender and place in a small bowl and combine with sesame seeds and salt. Place lightly beaten eggs in a separate bowl. 

3. Prepare the chicken by placing each individual nugget in the egg first, then covering with breadcrumbs and lastly placing on the lined baking tray. (Having a kid help you with this can be super fun!)

4. Bake chicken nuggets in the oven for around 15-17 minutes. Remove after this and slice the biggest chicken nugget you can find, making sure that no red flesh remains. 

These chicken nuggets taste great served with plum sauce. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 17 minutes 

x E