Thanks to Mirj, of RecipeZaar fame, for this recipe.
Because I can’t leave a recipe alone, I changed a few things. Mirj’s recipe calls for chicken breasts – I used turkey fillets
because I had six frozen ones that needed to get used up. I also added seasonings. Finally, I ran out of plain matzah meal in the middle of the prep (using up last year’s supply still in the freezer) and finished the last half using matzah cake meal and potato starch. I think the matzah meal bites came out crunchier, and the cake meal/starch bites juicier.
This dish makes a good hot appetizer for a dinner party, or a light main course at a family dinner. I suggest using one chicken breast or turkey fillet per person, and 1 garlic clove for each piece of meat.
Get your butcher to cut the meat into chunks; I did it at home rather than buy specially.
Garlic Chicken/Turkey Bites
serves 6 as a main course; 12 as an appetizer
Ingredients:
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 6 turkey breast fillets (shnitzels), cut into bite-sized chunks
1/2 cup olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, minced finely
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 cup matzah meal or 1/4 cup matzah cake meal and 1/4 cup potato starch
Method:
1. Place the chunks in a bowl. Mix into the bowl the olive oil, garlic, and spices.
2. Cover; marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 475° F, 250°C.
4. Put the matzah meal or cake meal/starch mixture into a platter. Roll the poultry chunks around in it to coat them.
5. Arrange the chunks in a single layer on a baking sheet.
6. Drizzle them with a thread of olive oil.
7. Bake 10-15 minutes (turkey takes the longer length of time), till golden.
In the first photo see the part which had been coated in plain matzah meal, on the left. The the cake meal/starch-coated chunks are lighter.
I also added that last drizzle of olive oil to the original recipe, because the meat was looking rather dry. That little bit of oil brings the moisture up. The top photo shows a few little chunks that didn’t get doused in oil (bottom left) and they do look dry.
The family liked these very well. The recipe’s a keeper.
