Try as I might, it is hard to survive on jam and fudge. Occasionally, meat is needed. Chicken tends to be my default meat any time I venture into the real world and order food. Because chicken is rad. We also had an eggplant in the fridge which was beginning to look a little sad. Eggplant chips don't have much flavour but are crispy and waaay better for you than deep-fried stuff, and so are excellent for that second gruelling week of healthy New Year's resolutions.
Eggplant Chips
Halve an eggplant lengthwise then slice thinly. Coat each slice in flour, whisked egg, then breadcrumbs. Arrange in a single layer on a baking tray and bake at 180°C for ten minutes. Flip them and bake for another ten minutes or until golden and crunchy. I served it with a tomato based sauce, but these would also be awesome with hummus, pesto, aioli, or anything else you have lurking in the fridge.
Chicken:
Whisk together even parts balsamic vinegar glaze (or balsamic vinegar with a little brown sugar) and olive oil. Cut a criss-cross pattern onto chicken breasts. This helps trap extra sauce. Mmm extra sauce. Paint the chicken with the oil and vinegar then arrange a few star anise on top. Leave to sit for at least 15 minutes. Fry on high heat until mostly cooked then lower heat and cover.
Noodles:
Fry udon noodles in oil with garlic, a teaspoon of peanut butter and the juice and zest of a lemon. Add chopped spinach, mushrooms and capsicum if you're like my dad and feel dinner is incomplete sans vegetables.
Jam (raspberry; strawberry; plum; yum) & fudge (from the Edmonds recipe book) - who says you can't live on that? There's all the food groups there (almost). We had eggplant chips at a restaurant in Sydney and they were SENSATIONAL. We tried to make them and couldn't duplicate the texture and taste, so asked the owner next visit how she did it = have to get them extremely hot. Wow, they were good.
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