Monday, May 17, 2010

Oprego Burger Deconstructed and Deep-Fried Cheese

It was my boyfriend Dan's birthday yesterday and I'd say his two big loves (after me!) are fast food and gaming. And so on the eve of his birthday I made him a fun little dinner combining the two. I present to you the Oporto Oprego burger deconstructed... and invading space!

This little baby has chicken drumsticks, bread wrapped with lettuce, chili and coriander sauce and Oporto's "legendary Prego sauce". It doesn't have tomato and mayo like the genuine Oprego burger but it's finger-lickin' goood! The idea is, you grab a bread and lettuce cube, dip it in the Prego sauce and eat it with a bite of chicken. And unlike a regular burger where the juices soak into the paper wrapper, you can lick every drop of flavour from the plate!

Bread, cut into cubes
Lettuce leaves
6 chicken drumsticks
1 bottle Oporto's Prego sauce
1 large red chili
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons coriander leaves
Lemon juice
Olive oil

Wash and dry drumsticks. Season with salt and cook in butter (in the oven at 180°C for roughly 45 minutes or in a pan on medium-low heat with the lid on until cooked through).

Wrap strips of lettuce around the bread cubes and secure with a toothpick.

Finely chop up chili, garlic and coriander until almost a paste. Place in a bowl and add enough olive oil to cover. Add equal amount of lemon juice. Drizzle over chicken.

Serve with Prego sauce.

I know you're wondering, "Where's the cheese, yo?" Don't worry, I would never ever skimp on cheese. That's why I also made these bad boys!

Deep-fried camembert with fresh tzatziki

I tried these at Mizuya during a food blogger meetup in Sydney and I remember thinking that my boyfriend would love them. This recipe pretty much replicates the ones I had that night and the batter is perfect.

1 wheel of camembert
1 egg
¼ cup plain flour
Bread crumbs (fresh is better)
Vegetable oil for frying
200g Greek yoghurt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
1 tablespoon chives

Using a wet knife, cut camembert into 8 triangular slices. Carefully cut the white casing off. Insert a toothpick into the wide end.

Whisk egg and flour together in a shallow bowl.

Holding the toothpick, dip the cheese into the egg batter. Be careful to coat it all, including part of the toothpick, so the cheese doesn't ooze out in the pan. Allow the excess to drip off.

Coat in breadcrumbs and place on a plate. edit: Coating this batter in breadcrumbs is essential as it inhibits the batter from rising and forming the texture of really bad bread.

Freeze for 2 hours.

Deep-fry until brown.

Combine yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice and chives in a bowl for a dipping sauce.

Serve immediately!

Dan would probably like it if I mentioned that he doesn't actually play Space Invaders. He plays cool games like Modern Warfare 2, that also happen to ruin girlfriends' lives.

I'm kidding. I love you baby! :) Happy 22nd!

10 comments:

  1. squee i love deep fried cheese! all time favourite food!

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  2. Thank you for the recipe Lily!I'm still kicking myself for missing out on those...:D

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  3. Mmmm deep fried cheese, my favourite health food. I love your deconstructed burger and who doesn't love Space Invaders.

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  4. Oh oh, deep fried camembert! *swoon* And boo coz Mizuya was sold out of it when I was there =(

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  5. LOL that is so cute! I think he must have rated you very highly as a gf after that effort! ;)

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  6. Deep fried chhheeeeeeeeeeeeesssee!! so.. much.. awesomes

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  7. Ngaww...the deconstructed burger is so cute! and clever too! I've never tried deep fried cheese though but this looks delicious!

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  8. @ Suze
    Hehe I remember photos of your love affair with cheese on a stick at the Easter Show ;)

    @ Maria
    Wish you were there too :(

    @ Mark
    Haha thanks, I'm trying to clog my arteries to live longer :)

    @ Rita
    Oh no! Should have demanded to eat for free!

    @ Lorraine
    Thanks! I'm pretty sure this is the birthday to beat.

    Thanks Richard and Von!!

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  9. i tried these fried brie cubes yesterday and loved em! yummy

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  10. Oh, the deep fried cheese. So many memories... :)

    What an awefully sweet and creative way to show off your cooking prowess. Bet he would have been pleased :)

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