I knew mum was good for something...

I have very fond memories of my mother in the kitchen, even if those memories do not stretch to the results of her time in there. Mummy has become a better cook with time, but as a child I recall her preparing me overcooked (boiled) veggies and meat that I found impossible to chew. I have no doubt that my recollections are unduly darkened due to my being an impossibly picky child, but nevertheless, there were very few things that I remember my mother cooking that I actually liked.

One exception to this was her breaded chicken, which I remember very fondly. She would cover chicken breasts in flour, dip in egg and then cover in breadcrumbs, before sealing them off in a frying pan and then finishing in the oven. I used to love these, but surprisingly this dish is not something I've cooked very often in my adult life.

Until the other day however, when I had brought some turkey steaks out for dinner and was struggling with what to do with them. After all, there are only so many times I can eat a stir fry. The idea popped into my head as I was poking about the fridge and found that I had plenty of eggs, and I also just happened to have some slightly stale brown bread in the bread bin. So decision made - turkey schnitzel for dinner, with mediterranean egg fried rice on the side. For real! Here's how I went about this incredible simple yet messy recipe.

Turkey Schnitzel + Mediterranean Egg Fried Rice

Schnitzel

Turkey steaks

stale brown bread

mixed herbs/fresh thyme

eggs

flour

Mediterranean rice

brown rice

peppers

onions

thyme

green beans

sundried tomatoes/fresh tomatoes

carrots

Method

Lay out three plates. In the first, put flour with some seasoning and mixed herbs. In the second, crack two eggs and whisk. In the third, put blitzed brown bread breadcrumbs, with seasoning and chopped thyme.

Egg and flour plates

Get out the turkey steaks and wrap in cellophane. Grab a rolling pin (or a meat hammer if you're lucky enough to have one), and gently hit the turkey steaks until they're pretty flat. Remove the cellophane, and get a frying pan on the heat with some oil in it.

Bashed turkey steaks

Before starting to cook the turkey, get your rice on the boil. You ideally want to have it done five minutes before you cook your turkey.

Place the turkey in the plate with the flour, and coat thoroughly. Then put it in the eggy plate and also coat thoroughly. Repeat with the flour and egg, so that the turkey has a nice double layer of both. Then put your steaks in the breadcrumb mix, and cover as thoroughly as possible. Then place your steaks in a hot frying pan, and the rest is easy. They won't take long to cook through, but won't dry out because of the various coverings.

Turkey schnitzel - just about done

Once the rice is cooked through, drain and keep it on the side. Heat some oil in the same saucepan, and add the chopped onions, peppers, carrots and green beans. Stir whilst cooking for a couple of minutes, then add the rice, the leftover egg and breadcrumbs, herbs and tomatoes. Keep stirring until the egg is cooked through and serve up. Yum yum!

The final product - so tasty!!