I'm a big fan of what I call 'low maintenance' food.

Life in this action-packed little country is busy enough, and I'm sure that I'm not alone when I say that I don't have the time to fiddle with unnecessarily complicated recipes, nor am I interested in temperamental dishes that spitefully burn and spoil if you turn your back on them for a moment too long.

I especially abhor recipes that call for the reluctant cook to stand over a spluttering frying pan, as fried foods require constant involvement, plus they're horribly unhealthy.

It's for all these reasons and more that I advocate oven baked chicken schnitzel that tastes even better than the real thing.

Chicken schnitzel conveniently baked in the oven with a minimum of oil and even less fuss?

You heard me right.

And not only that, you can also produce oven-baked 'fried' fish and crumbed steak in the same way.

This is the recipe I use most regularly to feed my family in a hurry, and once you've tried it, it's sure to become a firm favorite of yours.

NO FRYING PAN - OVEN BAKED SESAME CHICKEN SCHNITZEL STRIPS!

Ingredients

1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 cup plain crumbs
1/2 cup crushed cornflakes*
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons soya sauce
1/3 cup mayonnaise*
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
4 skinless chicken breasts, cut into thick strips
Canola oil for baking

Method

1: Mix sesame seeds, crumbs, crushed cornflakes, salt, thyme and ground coriander on a large disposable plate for easy clean-ups.

2: Mix soya sauce, mayonnaise and garlic on a second disposable plate.
3: Using a pastry brush – if you have one – brush chicken strips with mayonnaise mixture and then roll in crumbs to make a thick coating.

4: Chill for 1 hour to set the crumbs or place in the freezer for 20 minutes if you are short of time.
5: Lightly grease a baking sheet with oil, carefully place the crumbed chicken on the oiled surface, and then turn over so that both sides of the chicken are lightly oiled.

6: Bake at 180 C for approximately 20 minutes, bearing in mind that if chicken breast overcooks it becomes dry very easily.

*COOK'S NOTES: I hate not recommending Israeli products but you will get far better results with Kellogg's cornflakes and Heinz or Hellmann's mayonnaise than local versions. You can leave out the cornflakes if you prefer and use only crumbs but they do give a wonderful crunch. It is fine to use light mayonnaise here and the mayonnaise layer shouldn't be too thick or it will make the crumb coating soggy. Depending on the size of your chicken breasts, you may need to increase quantities of crumb coating.  Instead of chicken breast fillets cut in strips, you can use whole chicken pieces for a Kentucky Fried chicken appeal but then increase cooking time. For an alternative flavor combination, replace the ground coriander and dried thyme with grated lemon zest and dried tarragon (optional but great with chicken) and at the same time replace the soya sauce with a tablespoon each of honey and wholegrain mustard.

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