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!

Vietnamese Chicken Roll

Chicken and dim sim roll from King's Hot Bread Hurstville, $5.30. The very best Vietnamese chicken roll in Sydney! I like mine with lots o' chilli and coriander. Best eaten in the plastic bag to catch all the beautiful soy juices that leak out. This is the proper way to succumb to fast food.

Pan-Fried Salmon

As much as I love poached salmon in restaurants with fancy creamy sauces, my favourite way to eat salmon is with fresh herbs and crispy skin. Don't be afraid to buy salmon with the skin on, even if it means having to scale it yourself. After that messy affair, you've truly earned that delicious fillet of fish.

You'll need:

Salmon, preferably tail portion
Spring onion
Coriander
1 small chili
Bok choy
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
Juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger

Make deep scores along the salmon. Rub spring onion, chili and half a teaspoon each of garlic and ginger on the fillet and into the scores.

Marinate in soy sauce, fish sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice in the fridge for half an hour.

Pan-fry for about 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

I like to serve this with some gently smoked bok choy and a wedge of lemon. The crunchiness and freshness of the bok choy goes beautifully with the tender and salty flakes of the salmon.

Enjoy!