Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Fried Chicken Strips


I have a secret. Psst -- I love fried food! Giving up the crunchy greasy goodness hasn't always been easy. Sometimes I slip. I've learned to make do with crispy skin bits and I fry cheese on my eggs... but sometimes all I want is a good ol' fried chicken strip. With ketchup. And mustard.

Well, I felt adventurous today and I just so happened to have a package of chicke
n tenderloins in my fridge. Cue inspiration! Since I winged this recipe, I didn't mark down all the amounts I used but this is a recipe that can be easily customized to suit your specific preferences. I decided to try two types using coconut flour and almond flour.

Ingredients:
  • 1-ish pound of chicken tenderloins
  • 1/4 cup tapioca flour
  • 1 egg
  • some milk
  • almond flour
  • coconut flour
  • lots of oil (use olive or coconut if you've got it)
Ta da! Easy enough, yes? Then you set up your stations:

1) Tapioca flour -- dredge the tenderloin (after snipping off any pesky tendon lingering) in tapioca flour until completely covered.

2) Dip the floured chicken in egg/milk scramble, covering completely.

3) Dip the eggy chicken strip into the flour of your choice: almond or coconut.

4) Place strip into pan with lots of oil. I used a cast iron pan and filled it pretty generously so the strip was about half covered with oil.

5) Flip, flip, flip. I flipped the strips every couple of minutes and at first some came out very dark because the oil was too hot. Nice and easy does it. They will brown darker than conventional flour, especially the almond flour, but it doesn't adversely affect the flavor.

6) Eat them until your tummy hurts!
** Thoughts **
After testing both the almond and the coconut flour I feel the almond has a richer flavor while the coconut makes a better base if you're going to add seasonings and spices to the flour. I added nothing to either (I forgot) and liked them both plain. They are also very filling. I ate one of each then had one atop a salad -- this was pushing it. A lot. This would be a perfect food for kids (or adults) who want a fun dinner food you can dip but its versatile as is or on salad. Bagged the rest in the fridge. I'll follow up on how they turn out being reheated.

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