Recipe #7

My latest method of selecting a new recipe to try was to ask Dan what he wants to eat, then go search for a recipe in one of my many cook books.

He wanted chicken fingers.

And this is where I went to find them:

I actually tried one of her online recipes for chicken fingers some time last year, but I wasn't wowed.  Now these...

Chicken Fingers with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce*
Vegetable oil, for frying**
1-1/2 lbs chicken tenders***
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tbls ground dry mustard
2 eggs
2 cups plain bread crumbs

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup grainy Dijon mustard
3 Tbls honey (3 gobs)

1. In a large, deep skillet, heat 1-1/2 inches vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
2. Season the chicken tenders with salt and pepper.  Set out 3 shallow dishes: Mix the flour and dry mustard in one.  Beat the eggs with a splash of water or milk in a second; and place the bread crumbs in the third dish. 
3. Coat the tenders in batches in the flour, then the eggs, and then the bread crumbs.  Fry the tenders in small batches, 6 to 7 minutes.  Drain on paper towels.
4. While the chicken is frying, in a bowl mix together the mayonnaise, grainy mustard, and honey to taste.

*I didn't actually make the dipping sauce, in fact, the recipe even included a salad to "throw" together - however, the list of ingredients didn't look like something I wanted to mess with... so I didn't... and we already had some yummy sauces we wanted to dip the chicken fingers in, so I didn't bother making an additional sauce.  Plus... grainy Dijon mustard?  What is that?  I figured if you knew what grainy Dijon mustard was, and wanted to make it, I may as well include that part of the recipe...
**The directions say to heat 1-1/2 inches of oil - well I had no idea what 1-1/2 inches of oil looked like, and I don't think I got it right, but I just ended up having to flip the chicken over about half way through the cooking time - I'd also recommend cutting into the chicken just to be sure it's not pink in the middle - one of mine was, so I just plopped gently set**** it in a little longer...
***I have no idea if you can buy "chicken tenders", but I just cut up boneless skinless chicken breasts so they were shaped like a chicken finger.


I was happy with this recipe because the breading didn't fall apart.  The other recipe I tried did, and we didn't like it.  Dan even suggested using the breading part to coat some of the tilapia I have in the freezer - I may just have to try that!

****Final side note - if you have never cooked with vegetable oil in a fryer - don't pick up what you are frying and "plop" it back in.  You end up with hot oil splashing all over.  Not necessarily saying that I learned from experience...