Corn Chip Chicken Schnitzel
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 15 minutes (plus 30 minutes brining time)
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes 4 schnitzels
- 1/4 cup fine salt
- 1 litre water
- 4 skinless chicken breasts
- 250g/8.8ozs. corn chips
- 3 tablespoons flour (you can also use cornflour if you want them gluten free)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- A little oil for drizzling
Garlic Crema sauce
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream (light)
- 1/2 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
Two Corn Salad
- 3 cobs corn
- 5 baby corn
- 1 tablespoon fresh coriander, chopped
- 4 tablespoons of the above garlic crema
Step 1 - Firstly, brine the chicken breasts - this helps to keep them moist as we will be baking these, not frying them. Dissolve the salt in water (I dissolve it in 1 cup hot water and then add cold water and ice to cool it down completely). Place the chicken breasts in the liquid and brine for 30 minutes.
Step 2 - Preheat oven to 220C/440F and line two baking trays with parchment. Grind up the corn chips in a food processor until they resemble fine crumbs. Mix the flour in a shallow dish with the paprika and cumin. In another shallow dish whisk the eggs. Place the corn chip crumbs in a third shallow dish.
Step 3 - Place a chicken breast in a large ziplock bag. Using a pestle or a rolling pin flatten the chicken breasts one by one. You may have to trim off some jagged bits. Then dip the chicken breast into the spiced flour, then the egg and then the corn chips. Place on the lined baking trays and drizzle with a little oil bake for 15 minutes.
Step 4 - While it is cooking make the garlic crema sauce. Just mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, garlic, lime zest and juice together and serve with the schnitzels and lemon wedges. I also served it with a tomato, green onion and avocado salsa.
Step 5 - To make the corn salad, grill or boil the corn cobs. Cut the kernels from the husk. Slice the baby corn and toss all of it with the coriander and salt. Drizzle with the garlic crema.