Halloumi-crumbed chicken breast

Halloumi-crumbed chicken breast

Yes another post about halloumi but stay with me on this one you won’t regret it. When I’m not buying at the markets, I try to buy most of my meat from Super Butcher. It’s a warehouse-style butcher that sells to the public at wholesale prices. You need to be a bit tough to go in there. It’s really just a giant fridge so you have to dress warmly (they provide jumpers as well) and be prepared to see hanging carcases and buy big chunks of meat. They chop them up however you like so that’s an added bonus.

One special I always look out for at Super Butcher is the chicken breast sale. Every now and then they offer it up at $6.99 a kilo which is a great deal. The only thing is you have to buy the whole tray which is usually about 3kg. I take it home, chop it into various sizes and freeze it in double portions. As you can imagine I often have quite a supply of chicken and am always looking for new ways to prepare it – enter halloumi. I’ve seen chicken crumbed in parmesan before so figured halloumi couldn’t be that different. It was so tasty. The halloumi seemed to seal the outside of the chicken so it was nice and succulent and it added such a wonderful flavour.

The crumbing station

Here’s how you make it. Lay out three shallow, wide bowls. In one, combine the halloumi, crumbs and lemon zest with a little salt and pepper. Whisk the egg in another bowl and place the flour in the third bowl.

Chicken in stage three

Dip the chicken fillets in the flour first. Make sure they’re totally coated then shake off the excess and dip them in the egg. Let the excess drip off and then press them into the crumb mixture.

Ready for cooking

If you have time, refrigerate the fillets for 20 minutes. I didn’t have time so moved straight on to cooking.

Browning the chicken

Heat a little oil in a frying pan and cook the fillets for 2 minutes.

Golden halloumi chicken

Flip them over and cook for another 2 minutes on the other side. They should look golden brown. A word of warning – the halloumi pops quite a bit and some hot pieces jumped out of the pan. If you have a splatter cover, use it or beware.

Baking time

Transfer the chicken fillets to a lined baking tray. I scattered the leftover crumb mixture on top of the fillets. The sweet potato chips were coated in lemon zest and pepper. Bake the fillets for 15 minutes or until they are cooked through.

Halloumi-crumbed chicken

They puffed up beautifully and were so juicy and tender.

Halloumi-crumbed chicken breast

Serve the halloumi-crumbed chicken with vegetables and a wedge of lemon. Enjoy!

Halloumi-crumbed chicken breast

Halloumi-crumbed chicken breast a Claire K Creations original recipe

serves 2

• 80g halloumi, finely grated
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tbsp bread crumbs
• 2 chicken breast fillets
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup flour
• salt and pepper
• vegetables to serve

Mix the halloumi, bread crumbs and lemon zest together in a wide shallow bowl and season it with a little salt and pepper.

In another bowl, whisk the egg.

In another bowl, tip in the flour.

Crumb the chicken fillets by dipping them in the flour bowl. Shake off the excess then dip them in the egg. Let the excess egg drip off and then place them in the final bowl – the halloumi crumb. Press them in firmly so they’re well coated.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C fan-forced.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan and cook the chicken for 2 minutes on each side until it is browned.

Transfer the fillets to a lined baking tray and cook them for a further 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve the chicken with vegetables or salad.