OK, that was a terrible joke...
So in my need for warmer weather today I decided to make some homemade chicken strips and macaroni and cheese. And just for the hell of it, cinnamon rolls! I think I was trying to distract myself from work and the frozen bathroom pipes!! Anyways, the chicken strip 'recipe' is my own concoction and the macaroni and cheese is Alton Brown's from foodnetwork.com . I'm not going to post his recipe, you're a big kid, you can google it.
Chicken Strips
1 chicken breast, cut into strips
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 egg
2/3-1 cup veggie oil
1. Mix the flour and seasonings together in a bowl. In another bowl, beat your egg. These will be your dredge pans.
2. Put your oil in a small frying pan and add oil. Turn to medium high and let warm up while you do the next step.
** You need about an inch or so of oil in the pan. I'm really bad about measuring oil for frying...I eyeball it, sorry.
3. Pat your chicken pieces dry with a paper towel. Dip the pieces one at a time in the egg mixture and coat completely. Then, coat each piece with flour. Set them aside as they are coated and while you're waiting for the oil to heat.
4. To test the oil for readiness, drop a little bit of flour in the oil. If it bubbles up immediately, you're ready. If it falls to the bottom, wait a little longer. If it doesn't seem to ever bubble up, turn up your heat some. (WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GET WATER IN THE OIL! IT'LL POP AND BURN YOUR AND MAKE A MESS!!)
5. Gently place a few pieces of chicken in the hot oil. Cook about 5-7 minutes then gently flip the pieces over so that both sides cook evenly. You'll know the pieces are done when they are nice and tan. If you're not sure, it's ok to cut a piece open to check. If it's pink, cook it longer. If it's white you should be good!
6. Drain the pieces on a couple paper towels so that you're not eating a ton of oil. Add a little salt as you like, just for flavor.
Serve them up with whatever sauce you like. I'm a fan of ketchup and the Texas favorite, ranch dressing (:
On a side note, I thought I would try panko bread crumbs instead of flour...bad idea. They're nice and crunchy, but not what I was looking for from chicken strips. The breadcrumbs are good for other things, just not my chicken strips!
The macaroni and cheese was delicious...but don't pull an Amy and forget to add the salt before you mix everything up. I had to add salt to my mac before I ate it. It was a good without, just a little bland.
I also thought I would try my hand at making cinnamon rolls. I don't think I've tried to make any since....the 90s. Literally. I didn't have a recipe in the cookbooks I have here, so I found Fairy Godmother Paula's recipe on foodnetwork.com. They turned out great! I was a little unsure of the glaze, but once it spread its sugary goodness around, it was perfect. I should never doubt my Fairy Godmother.
Hope y'all are staying warm and eating delicious food!
Happy Cooking!
Amy
No comments:
Post a Comment