PHOTO: HEATHER CARSTON
SOMETIMES, cooking can feel like a chore. It’s hot, you’re tired… but the hordes still need feeding.
What I like about this recipe is that it is easy, quick to make and very filling. Throw it together with a fresh salad or eat it entirely on its own.
And as with many of my recipes, your imagination is the only limit. When I made this last week, I did one for my mother using apricots and apricot and mango spicy sauce to go with the chicken, while for the rest of us, I made using cranberries and rich plum sauce. You could use ham, tomato and a bit of pineapple, through to salmon and asparagus combinations if you choose.
This recipe can be made in a pie dish, or it can be made as I do, using the mini spring form cake tins – line them with pastry, just make sure you seal off the interior with your pastry, so the egg filling doesn’t leak. It will feed four comfortably.
Ingredients 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1.5cm chunks Readymade flaky pastry 1 tbs oil 1 tbs butter 1/4 C dried cranberries 8-10 eggs, depending on size 1/3 C cream Half round of Brie cheese 1 clove minced garlic 1 tsp tarragon Salt and pepper to suit (I use lashings of lemon pepper) Spicy plum sauce (about 1 tbs per person)
Method Before you start, put boiling water over the cranberries to help rehydrate them.
Leave for about 20 minutes or so. Preheat your oven to 175C.
In a frying pan, put oil and butter on a medium to high heat and cook garlic before adding chicken pieces. This could be done in a couple of batches. Set aside.
While that’s cooking, spray tins with good quality cooking spray – you need the tart to slide out when done. Line the bottoms with baking paper if not using springform pans.
In a bowl, whisk eggs, cream, tarragon, salt and pepper. You could if you wanted to add whatever herb mix you like at this stage.
Cut brie round into strips and cut those into 1cm pieces. Drain the cranberries.
Divide chicken, cranberries and brie into the tins and use about 1 tsp of the sauce to drizzle around the mix. Pour the egg mixture over until just below the rim of the tins. Bake for about 40 minutes until golden brown and the egg has set firmly.
