Sweet Fried Chicken Tenders

Menu today:

Fried chicken tenders with orange jasmine rice and vegetable stir fry.

 

 

Chicken tenders were on sale, so that's where today's meal is coming from, although if you have any part of of the chicken, you can use that meat in place of the tenders.

The chicken tender is that strip of meat lying under the breast itself, the pectoralis minor muscle.

I bought the strips already stripped, but if you have the whole breast, you can easily tear this part away from the main.  Be sure to remove that white tendon running the length. It's tough.

 

  Chicken and Marinade

2 knobs of ginger (a knob being almost an inch cube), juiced and minced

2 garlic cloves

2 TB Mirin

2 TB Soy sauce

 

Rosie Note:   Whenever making a marinade for something, know that the ingredient amounts are always subject to change and variation.  Remember to taste-test as you go along and adjust accordingly.  The amounts I've given you merely serve as a starting point. You can modify it for your palate.

 

Rosie Note:  About that ginger:  You won't get juice by pressing a raw piece of ginger.  What I do is buy the ginger root, cut it into cubes, then freeze it.  When your recipe calls for ginger juice, nuke a few cubes until soft. 15 - 20 seconds.  Depends on cube size and microwave.  Then simply press ginger with your fingers to release the juice.  I use a garlic press next to extract any residual juice and to scrape any pulp left on the press.

 

As for the garlic, I don't use a garlic press.  I finely mince with a knife. 

 

Now, mix everything together.

Place tenders in the marinade and let bathe about an hour. 

 

Prepare the wet batter:

 

Puffy Batter

6 TB cornstarch

4 TB flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda 

7-8 TB cold club soda 

 Mix all ingredients until smooth. 

 

 Remove chicken strip from marinade, letting excess drip off, then drop in batter.  Tong strips into hot oil and do not crowd the pan.  Fry hot and quick.

 

Fry in 375°- 400° in 9" skillet, 2 minutes, turn halfway.

Drain on rack, not paper towels.  

 

 Sweet Topping

Brown sugar

honey

soy sauce

toasted sesame seeds

 

And here's the good part:  While chicken strips are still hot, sprinkle brown sugar and drizzle honey over top.  Add a few drops soy sauce, then sprinkle on toasted sesame seeds.

 

Serve with orange jasmine rice.

 When I cook rice I usually want to flavor it with something that complements and enhances my main meal. For the chicken tenders I thought an orange flavor in the background would be nice.

When I cooked my rice (You can use jasmine, basmati, or jasmati ), I used both salted chicken stock and orange juice as my liquids instead of plain water.  Also, I grated orange zest into the cooking liquid as well.  When rice is almost done, I first taste test for seasoning and add more salt, if necessary.  Throw a big plop of butter in the middle, cover it up, and let it bathe in butter.

 

 Lastly, in the scheme of things, you want to do the stir fry:  sautéed sliced mushrooms, onions, snow peas, garlic, and ginger.

 

  

 

 

 Ingredients for batter:

6 TB cornstarch

4 TB flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda 

7-8 TB cold club soda 

 Mix all ingredients until smooth. 

 

For the stir fry: mushrooms, snow peas, onions, garlic, ginger

 

 

Vegetables are ready for the stir fry and chicken tenders are in the batter, ready to fry.

 

Use a laser thermometer to take the temperature of the oil.  Should be around 375° - 400°.  Drop in tenders, one at a time.  Never crowd the pan when frying.  And resist the urge to move the meat around in the pan.  Leave it alone!
 

FRY, BABY!

Drain on racks.  Drizzle on some honey and some soy sauce and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over top.

 

  

For the stir fry, I have my skillet over high heat.  Maybe just under 400°. 

I used Bertolli extra light olive oil for frying.  

   

Get the oil to temperature and add in the mushrooms first.  Cook about a minute, add in the peas, onion, and garlic and give it another minute.

At the end, I splashed in some mirin and let it go up in a nice steam.

And serve.

Enjoy.

Rosie Fries Boneless Chicken Thighs.

 

 

 I'm having a picnic today.  Indoors at my kitchen counter, but I can pretend.  And fried boneless chicken thighs are on the menu.

 Let me just tell you, I got this DOWN.

They were perfect. 

 

 

 The chicken was tender and juicy.  The crust was just the right thickness, full of nooks and crannies, and crisp as could be.  The flavor had a tang from the buttermilk bath and a spiciness from the seasonings I'd thrown in.  And it was all wrapped up with a sweet buttery sauce that balanced so very nicely with the spices.

Rosie's Fried Boneless Chicken Thighs With Special Sauce

 

8 boneless chicken thighs

Buttermilk, enough to cover thighs

 

Buttermilk Bath

Pour a little buttermilk to cover the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

Place the thighs in the dish.  Pour buttermilk over top and tong the thighs around during the bath.  Let thighs soak for at least an hour.

 

"What does the buttermilk do," you ask?  Or maybe you didn't, but I'm telling you anyway.

Well, the lactic acid in the milk breaks down the chicken's protein and muscle fibers, tenderizing the chicken, making it juicy, and giving a nice subtle tang to the flavor.  And the thickness of the buttermilk promotes a more substantial crust.  Dredging the buttermilk-soaked thighs through the flour/seasoning/breading mixture creates micro-clumps that adhere to the chicken and fry up a little bit thicker and deliciously crisp.

 

Breading Mix:

 3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup corn starch

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp ground pepper

Mix all ingredients completely.

 

Heat peanut oil (about 1/2 inch) in large skillets over medium heat to 375°.  I have 8 thighs, so I'm using 2 skillets.  You don't want to crowd the pan when frying.  Give the chicken some room

 

Pick thighs out of buttermilk, letting excess drip off, then dredge through breading mixture, coating the thighs.

 Gently lower thighs into hot oil, one at a time, 4 to each pan.  The temperature of the oil when I put the chicken in was 375°, but this will decrease. Keep the heat at medium.  Do not pick at and push the meat around.  Place it in and leave it alone.  After about 13 minutes, the first side was a lovely golden brown, so I turned the thighs over and cooked about another 10 minutes, or until golden brown.  If you have a temperature probe (which I highly recommend), chicken meat is ready at an internal temperature of 165°.  Remove thighs and drain on rack.

 

 

Sauce for fried thighs:

 In a small saucepan, combine:

4 TB unsalted butter

2 heaping TB honey

1 heaping TB brown sugar

Handful of pecans

 

Stir over medium-low heat until bubbly, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, and pay attention.  You want the color light brown.  Keep stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Add in a handful of pecans.  Remove from heat.

 

Be careful when you're cooking the sauce.  If your heat's too high, you can caramelize that sugar real quick and then it's just a step away from being burned.

 

 

 I started thinking about it and I could only think of one way this fried chicken could be any better.

 

And that's with a glass of champagne.

 

Bubbly with crisp chicken is how you take a picnic to the next level.

 

 Pour some sauce over fried chicken and leave some in a bowl for dipping.