Grown Up Chicken Fingers
So Evan’s request this week was that we have chicken tenders for dinner. The thought of reheating the frozen ones was not too appealing to me so I set out to the grocery store to find something that would do. Just my luck! Chicken tender strips were $1.99 a pound! I love a deal!
Instead of covering them in plain old bread crumbs I decided to use panko bread crumbs. These are a Japanese crumb used in tempura I believe. Nonetheless, they are the new chic ingredient on Food Network, and I bought some a while ago from Earth Fare to use in Chicken Parm.
I kept things simple; a 400 degree oven, a cooling rack placed on top of my baking sheet so that the hot air would create a crisp crust all around. A simple egg wash with 3 eggs, some salt and pepper. The coating was about 1 cup of panko crumbs, a tablespoon of dried parsley, and a teaspoon each of garlic powder and paprika. These only took about 20-30 minutes to cook, just look for the toasty crust. A healthy alternative to the fried ones, Evan said they taste just as good!
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February 21st, 2006 11:21
They look nice and crunchy.mmmm.
Emily
http://madmommychronicles.typepad.com/biscuits_and_blues
February 22nd, 2006 09:55
OK i made these for my picky husband and he LOVED them! Whenever I don’t know what to make for dinner I come check out your blog, keep it up girl!
Sam
February 22nd, 2006 13:36
Yum! Jennifer these chicken fingers look great! I’ve been wanting to make my own but wasn’t sure quite how to ensure that they stay crispy all the way around. Your cooling rack idea is definitely the trick to it I believe.
So are panko crumbs crispier? I’ve been them in the asian food aisle of my grocery store.
Thanks for sharing!!
February 23rd, 2006 05:27
Thanks for the compliments gals!
I do think panko crumbs are crisper, since they are larger than regular bread crumbs they toast up nicely in the oven. Panko crumbs also make a great chicken parmesan or fish sticks.
Another tip is to spray the nuggets with a just a touch of oil (like one of those sprayers you can add your own oil to) and that helps crisp them nicely too.