DUKKAH-SPICED SCHNITZEL WITH HERB & FENNEL SALAD

From Last Minute Dinner Party

Iwould always advise avoiding a last-minute frying session when cooking for a crowd, which is where this sheet-pan schnitzel becomes a winner. You can crumb coat the chicken up to a day ahead and let it chill in the fridge before cooking. If you are eating it straight away, preheat the oven to 200C.

Method

1 Remove the skin from the chicken and place the skin on a small baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, and bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until crisp. Set the skin aside. Sandwich the chicken breasts between 2 pieces of baking parchment and, using a rolling pin, bash them to about 5mm thick. Add the flour seasoned with salt to a large plate, then add the eggs to another, and finally, add the panko breadcrumbs mixed with the dukkah to a third.

2 Drizzle a large sheet pan (or two, you don’t want them snugly together or they won’t crisp) with canola oil and heat in the oven. Dredge the pieces of chicken in the flour, then coat in the eggs, then coat in the crumbs. Carefully remove the sheet pan from the oven and add the chicken, leaving lots of space between them to crisp. Cook for 10 minutes, then turn over and cook for another 10 minutes, or until the outside is golden and crisp and the chicken is cooked through.

3 Add the herbs to a salad bowl, then add the pickles and fennel, and dress with the lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Chop the reserved chicken skin and sprinkle over the top. Serve the schnitzel with the salad on the side.

Dukkah

1 Preheat the oven to 150C. Spread the hazelnuts over a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes or until golden. Add the slivered almonds after 5 minutes. Decant them into a bowl.

2 Toast sesame seeds in a dry pan until lightly golden, then add to nuts. Put the coriander and cumin seeds in the same pan and toast for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add to the bowl. Pulse or bash half the mixture in a food processor or mortar and pestle, then return it to the bowl, with salt, and mix together. This is an edited extract from Last Minute Dinner Party by Frankie Unsworth: Hardie Grant Books.

Photography: Lisa Linder

But where things get really fascinating is the way that Champagne bubbles bead in a straight line up, when those in soft drinks and beers do not.

Research teams from both Brown University and the University of Toulouse published papers explaining how this phenomenon is achieved and what it could mean in the world of bubbles. The experiments included numerical and physical experiments, and plenty of “pouring out glasses of Champagne, beer, sparkling water, and sparkling wine”.

The researchers found that unlike other carbonated drinks, Champagne contains molecules that help reduce the tensions between the liquid and the gas bubbles. These molecules add to the flavour and texture, while also providing a smooth road from bottom to top of the flute.

Now all that’s left to do is pop a bottle and conduct your own research.

Want to discover more delicious drinks? Scan or visit delicious.com. au/drinks