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Thursday, November 20, 2008

CEiMB: Oven Fried Chicken Strips

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This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe was the Oven Fried Chicken. I love fried chicken so I was pretty happy with this pick. The others in this house have an aversion to chicken on the bone (I don't really care, but they do) so I decided to make these into homemade chicken strips.

I switched out the bone-in chicken pieces for boneless, skinless breasts that I cut into strips - about 1 1/2 lbs. I used buttermilk instead of yogurt because that was what I had on hand, and for a little zip I added a little bit of chipotle hot sauce to the mixture as well. Because I split up my prep work to when I was actually going to be baking these, and because I like the tang and tenderness it gives the chicken, I let the chicken strips soak in the buttermilk mixture for a couple of hours in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, before baking.

I didn't have any whole wheat saltines so I used Wheat Thins and Ritz crackers with the corn flakes in my breading. I also just used the whole eggs instead of egg whites - just leave it to me to unhealthy all these recipes I'm sure! About the only other tip I can think of is that I baked these on a parchment lined (and still sprayed) baking sheet for a bit easier cleanup.

Now, you may have noticed the darling little badge the Leanne created for the group. I created one to match the new header as well (you can see that below). I really like Leanne's badge a lot, but since I am the queen of unhealthy-ing (and apparently making up ridiculous words) I'm not so sure I can call my version Healthy Living Approved anymore, but I still think it is darn cute anyway! Thanks go out to Leanne for creating the badge and to Natalie from What's For Supper? for keeping the group going.

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I really enjoyed this and thought it was nice and simple to make, but the amount of cayenne pepper was a bit too much for everyone else. Since the recipe made enough chicken strips for about 5 or 6 servings I placed several of them in a baking pan, wrapped it and put them in the freezer. Once they froze solid, I put them in a freezer ziptop bag and set them aside for a quick meal some other night.

The chicken strips were moist, tender and flavorful - a really great recipe! Check out the new CEiMB blog (with new header, created by me) to find out how the rest of the Ellie-istas did this week. You can find the original recipe for the Oven-Fried Chicken found on Page 213 of The Foods You Crave or here. My version of the recipe can be found below. Thank you to Lonely Sidecar, this week's host for choosing a great recipe.

Oven Fried Chicken
20 Wheat Thins, pulsed in a food processor until fine
20 Ritz Crackers, pulsed in a food processor until fine
3 cups corn cereal flakes, pulsed in a food processor to fine crumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I would decrease this next time to probably only about 1/4 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (I used a chipotle sauce)
1 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Olive oil cooking spray
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips about 1-inch across, rinsed and patted dry, about 1 1/2 pounds chicken)

Combine the crackers and corn cereal in the food processor and pulse together until fine (there will be some flakes a little bigger, but most of the texture should be pretty fine). Combine with the sesame seeds, cayenne, kosher salt and garlic powder in a shallow bowl. Reserve.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, hot sauce, and Dijon mustard. Add the chicken pieces and coat thoroughly with the mixture. Allow to soak for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
One at a time, dip the chicken pieces in the cracker mixture, packing crumbs onto chicken. Arrange the chicken on a baking sheet and spray lightly with olive oil cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil. For chicken strips, bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife and the coating is nicely golden brown and toasted.

10 comments:

Manggy said...

It's a constant struggle for me not to gravitate to fried chicken every time I see it. Having this oven recipe would sure take a huge load off :) I do love my cayenne pepper, though!

Cathy said...

I did strips, too, and it was too much cayenne for my kids as well, even though I cut it down a fair bit. I agree this was a great recipe! Yours look perfect!

Kalyn Denny said...

Sounds like a tasty recipe that could have infinite variations. I might substitute almond meal for some of the crumbs to add more protein.

Mary said...

Wow, these look great! And you've convinced me that I'm going to have to get this cookbook!

CB said...

Mmmm... chicken strips. Everything tastes better when its a strip! HAHA. Love the badge and banner you made. Awesome job! Way to adjust the recipe for your tastes too. Glad you and the fam enjoyed the recipe!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought

Marthe said...

Thanks for designing the banner and badge: they are amazing! I'm afraid I have no knowledge about those kind of things.... But I'm learning every day!!

Your strips look great, they are much more tanned than mine! I liked these a lot!!

What's for Supper? said...

I will have to try your recipe sometime too. My boys would love the chicken strips!

Anonymous said...

Great idea with the strips - finger food!!

I bet the Ritz gave it a delish buttery taste!

Heather B said...

Strips would have been perfect as this! Great job! It looks fab!

Peabody said...

These are the kind of meals my husband loves. I swear there is a 10 year old boy trapped in that man. ;)

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