Chooka's for the New Year.

Happy New Year everyone (I know we are now in Feb, but this is my first post for 2013). Work has started back and even after 2 days we have both been a bit stuffed. Since it has been a whacky and hot Summer I thought to start the new year with a light and refreshing meal of Black pepper marinated chicken skewers with a celery and parmesan salad and Eaton Mess.

Black pepper marinated chicken skewers

2 tbs ground black pepper
1/4 cup Olive oil
2 x 200g chicken breast fillets cut into 2 cm cubes
Juice of 2 lemons

Soak wooden skewers in water in cold water for 20 minutes.
Place black pepper and half the lemon juice and 1 tbs of oil in a bowl, mix, then add chicken tossing to coat. Set aside for 20 minutes.

Celery and parmesan salad

4 celery sticks
2 preserved lemon quarters (white pith removed and flesh removed, zest thinly sliced)
1 cup of parmesan cheese
2 tbs of chopped flat leaf parsely, plus extra to serve.

Whisk remaining lemon juice and 2 tbs of olive oil together in a bowl and season.
Place celery, preserved lemon zest, parmesan and parsely in a bowl, then tossgently with the dressing. Set aside.
Preheat barbecue or chargrill pan on medium heat. Season the chicken with salt. Grill the chicken 6-8 minutes turning for 6-8 minutes. Sprinkle CHicken with extra chopped parsely and serve with salad.

Andy's Mess

This is actually Matt Preston's Mess from his book which is actually an Eaton's Mess.

4 Egg whites
a pinch of salt
1 cup of caster sugar
500g of strawberries
1 ripe peach sliced
juice of 1 lemon
300ml of cream

Preheat oven to 120 deg C
Using a beater on high speed, whisk egg whites and salt to soft peaks. Reduce the speed to medium and slowly add the caster sugar into meringues.
WHen you've added caster sugar continue beating for a few minutes until meringues look thick and glossy.
Lightly grease a tray, line with baking paper. Dollop the meringue onto tray in generous dessertspoonfuls leaving space for spreading.
Pop in the oven for 20 minutes or until turn golden and crisp on the outside. Once ready turn oven off and leave in the oven to dry out.
Hull the strwberries and blitz them with the sliced peach and half the lemon juice. Pour puree into a plastic container and place in the freezer for a couple of hours.

To serve push a bit of strawberry slush in bottom of serving bowl add a bit of meringue and a bit of cream and repeat sequence. sprinkle o few nuts on top if desired and serve.