Baked Cajun Chicken with Mango Salsa and Jackfruit Tartlets for Dessert

This morning I woke up with an urge to bake something. I checked out my fridge, my herbs, spices and my cookbooks then I found this cajun chicken recipe. It is supposed to be grilled but as I have said I want to bake.

The combination of dried herbs and spices are so tasty. The mango salsa add sweetness to the chicken. Just be careful with the salt though, mine turned out a bit salty. Best serve with rice.

baked cajun chicken
1/2 kilo chicken ( I used leg and thigh part)
3 tbsp oil
3 gloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp paprika
pinch of salt and pepper

• Preheat oven to 190C.
• Combine oil, garlic, oregano, thyme, paprika salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add chicken and turn to coat.
• Transfer the chicken in a non stick baking pan. Pour over marinade and cover with foil.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven for 45 minutes. Then lower down the temperature to 160C, remove foil and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

mango salsa
1 mango, peeled and diced
3 tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp spring onion
1 tbsp lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

• Combine the mango, tomatoes, spring onion, lime juice and mix well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Serve chicken with mango salsa and rice.

Jackfruit Tartlets

I made this last night. It was the left over sweetened jackfruit from the Maja Blanca I made last time. This dessert is so easy to prepare yet very delicious. Coco loved it.

jackfruit tartlets - makes 20 mini muffin cups
1 cup crushed graham cracker
1/4 cup sugar
5 tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup puree sweetened jackfruit
1 cup cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatin

for the base

tip: before the base is made and press into muffin cups, each muffin cup needs a strip of parchment paper. This is done so the tartlets can be removed easily from the cups, simply by lifting the ends of the paper.

• In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker, sugar and melted butter with fork until well combined.
• Press onto the bottom and side of the muffin cups
• Place in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

jackfruit filling

• Place the water in a small ramekin and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let it bloom.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the cream with the sugar until the cream is just about to boil, stirring occasionally to make sure the sugar dissolves completely.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the gelatin until it is completely melted. Let it cool then add the puree jackfruit. Let cool to room temperature.
• Once the cream is cooled, slowly pour over the graham cracker crust and let set in the fridge.

You might have extra jackfruit filling. Pour over ramekins and let sit in the fridge. The filling tasted great even without the graham crust.