chicken

Crispy Chicken Fingers

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

Chicken Fingers – the food of gods.

Well, if they are into chicken fingers.

But they definitely have to be. I can see no other way for them.

 

These thin strips of lean chicken meat which are seasoned, breaded and then fried to pure crispy perfection are the best thing to prepare for that special someone that you want to see completely happy and satisfied.

Whether they are your kids or your man, they will love you forever …and beyond!

It’s been tested.

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

Here are the ingredients.

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

1. To make your own chicken fingers, first rinse the chicken breasts under cold running water and pat dry.

 

2. Working one at a time, place a chicken cutlet between two layers of plastic wrap (or wax paper).

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

3. With a meat pounder, pound the chicken pieces to flatten them to an even thickness.

Try to make them really thin.

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

4. Cut the meat into 1-inch wide strips and place the strips on a plate.

Don’t worry if your strips are not even in shape. Homemade food is not supposed to be perfect. And that’s what makes it perfect.
5. Sprinkle each strip with some salt.
crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

6. Now set up your dredging stations: a plate with the flour that you’ve peppered and salted with about 1/2 tsp of salt, a plate with the lightly beaten eggs and a plate with the breadcrumbs.

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

7. Working one at a time, dredge the chicken strip first in the flour,…

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

8. …then in the egg mixture…

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

9. …and finally coat it with the crumbs.

I usually use two forks to press the crumbs on the chicken to adhere.

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

10. Pour the vegetable oil into a larger frying pan, place it over a medium heat and let it heat up.

 

11. Working in batches, lay the coated meat strips in the hot pan.

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

12. Fry for about 2-3 minutes a side.

Then remove from the pan and serve.

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

Oh, my.

crispy chicken fingers recipe with step by step pictures

I served these yummy chicken fingers with cooked potatoes.

They can also be served with some fries, over a salad or in a bun.

And, to make the things a lot more interesting, add a little ketchup, or mayo or some honey mustard sauce even.

Enjoy, dear friends!

This is good!

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Chicken Parmesan

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

If you are looking for a nice comfort meal that will satisfy you and your loved ones then you need to look no longer.

Because this is the right thing for you.

I just know it.

It’s Chicken Parmesan.

A flavorful combination of chicken, tomato sauce and cheese.

The best thing ever!

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

Here are the ingredients.

1. We are going to start by preparing the tomato sauce.

First, grate one half of the onion and place it into a medium saucepan.

It sounds like a strange thing to do – to grate an onion – but doing so will create smaller onion pieces and release more of the onion’s juices.

But then, you know how it works – rules are made to be broken. So if you don’t feel like grating it, then just give it a good chop.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

2. Pour two tablespoons of olive oil into the onions and place the saucepan over medium-high heat.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

3. Heat the mixture up and let the onions saute for about 2-3 minutes.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

4. Peel the cloves of garlic, press them and add them into the saucepan.

If you don’t have a press then just mince the garlic finely.
5. Cook until fragrant – for about one minute.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

6. Then add the tomatoes.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

7. Add the oregano, salt and sugar.
8. Bring to a simmer. Then reduce the heat to maintain the simmer.
9. Cook uncovered for about 10-12 minutes.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

Meanwhile, we can prepare the chicken.

 

10. Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C).
11. Rinse the chicken breasts under cold running water and pat dry – this is the thing I just always do, probably because my Mom said so.
12. Working one at a time, place a chicken cutlet between two layers of plastic wrap (or wax paper).

With a meat pounder, pound the chicken pieces to flatten them to an even thickness – between 1/4 – 1/2 inch (0.6 – 1 cm).

If you don’t have a meat pounder, you can use a rubber mallet, an empty wine bottle or a heavy rolling pin.

Working in kitchen can be a lot of fun sometimes.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

13. Salt the chicken pieces generously.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

14. Now we need two bowls.

In one bowl whisk together the eggs.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

15. And in the second bowl mix together one half of the Parmesan cheese (grated) and  the breadcrumbs.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

16. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
17. Dredge the chicken pieces (one piece at a time) first in the egg mixture…

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

18. …and then in the breadcrumbs.

I like to use tongs or two forks to do this.

Or both if I feel especially mischievous.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

19. Then lay the pieces in the hot pan.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

20. Turn the heat to medium, then gently fry the cutlets until they are golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per side.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

21. Spread about 3/4 of the tomato sauce over the bottom of a 9×13 inch (23×33 cm) casserole pan or baking dish.
22. Once the cutlets are nicely browned on both sides, arrange them on top of the tomato sauce.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

23. Spoon the rest of the tomato sauce over each of the cutlets.
24. Slice the basil leaves roughly and sprinkle them over the sauce.

Me love basil!

Me have my own plant!

Me is happy to have my own plant!

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

25. Grate (or slice) the mozzarella (or Edam cheese) thinly…

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

26. …and place the slices on top.
27. Sprinkle the whole dish with the rest (1/2 cup – 50 grams) of the Parmesan cheese.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

28. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

Oh my!

chicken Parmesan recipe with step by step pictures

Serve this scrumptious meal with spaghetti and the remaining sauce.

Or… mm… in a large roll.

And most importantly – enjoy, dear friends!
(This recipe was adapted from SimplyRecipes.com.)

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Chicken Steaks with Green Onion Potatoes

As you might have noticed, my greatest passion is to prepare simple and healthy dishes for this blog.

Okay, sometimes I just break loose and prepare a sweet little dessert.

Okay, okay …you mostly see me preparing desserts and you might have heard me saying about a million times how much I love baking and how I can’t live without it, but listen folks – I am attending a wedding this Saturday and really need to squeeze myself into that cute dress I haven’t even bought yet. That is the main reason why I’ve been treating myself to vegetable diets or lemon juice afternoons recently.

Yes, lately I’ve been determined to lose the weight of at least one well-fed elephant.

Or even more.

Because when I think, I think BIG.

So that is for the theory.

In practice, I’d like to note that chocolate has never tasted better than it does these days and I’ll also be posting about those wonderful, wonderful cream cheese crepes soon.

And you know what?

I think I’ll just blame the lack of my self-control on the full moon.

Yeah, that’s exactly what I’ll do.

Now, back to the Chicken Steaks with Green Onion Potatoes.

This dish is truly wonderful, light and the determined ones will definitely appreciate its low calorie count.

In the picture above I am showing the ingredients that I’ve used to prepare it.

1. First, grab the young, green onions.

Aren’t they just cute?

Place them on a cutting board and lop off their tops.

2. Slice the onions into little rounds.

Set aside a couple of the rounds for later.

Then play with the chopped onions – form various shapes and take pictures of it all …let this activity last for the next 30 minutes or so, then start feeling really hungry and continue the cooking process.

3. Heat up some oil in a medium pot and throw the onions in.

Fry them for a little while over medium heat.

4. Peel, wash and slice the potatoes.
5. Add the potatoes to the onions.
6. Add the salt.

7. Then add the other spices –  red sweet paprika powder, ground black pepper and the ground cumin.

Stir it all together.
8. Add a little water – about 1/2 cup (125 ml), cover and let cook.
9. Keep your eye on the potatoes while they are cooking – stir them every now and then (!) and when the water evaporates add some more (this thing likes to burn a little so make sure there’s always at least a little water in the pot).

The whole process – just until the potatoes were done – lasted (in my case) about 30 minutes.

10. In the meantime, wash the chicken breasts and slice them in half lengthwise.
11. Pound the breasts lightly so that they are of even thickness.

12. In a pan, heat up some vegetable oil.
13. Put the breasts in the pan and sprinkle them with your favorite grilling spice.
14. Fry over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes. Then turn the meat, sprinkle the other side with the grilling spice and  fry for another 5-7 minutes.

Now place your lovely, fragrant steak on a plate…

… and add the delicious, irresistible potatoes.

Yummy!

Sprinkle with the remaining onions that you’ve set aside.

And enjoy, dear friends.

It’s really good – even my man said so!

(This recipe makes 2 portions.)

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Crunchy Chicken Drumsticks

These drumsticks are yummy and crunchy and flavorful.

And it takes just a couple of minutes to prepare them.

Like really.

To top it all, they are fun to make.

And that’s pretty much all I want from my food.

I think you’d love them too.

Come and have a look at how they are made.

It’s fun!

I promise!

This is what we need.

I guess many of you have these ingredients on hand right now.

Right?

1. First, wash and skin the drumsticks.

2. Then, in a separate bowl, mix the egg lightly.

3. Add one tablespoon ketchup and 1/4 teaspoon salt to the egg and mix again.

4. In a Ziploc or any plastic bag, mix the breadcrumbs along with the ground peanuts.
5. Add the remaining salt (1/4 teaspoon) and the grilling spice (the one I use is a gorgeous mixture of sweet paprika, black pepper, cumin, sage and salt).

And then close the bag and shake it.

Shake it, baby!

Shake it like there’s no tomorrow!

Sorry!

Got carried away.

6. Dip a drumstick in the egg …

7. … and then in the breadcrumbs mixture, turning it to coat.

Like this.

I love this way of coating drumsticks.

It eliminates the ‘mess factor’ to minimum.

And that is good.

8. Now pour the vegetable oil into a larger frying pan and place it over medium heat (set aside a little oil for oiling the baking pan).
9. Place the coated drumsticks into the pan and fry both sides shortly just until they become golden in color (about 2 minutes for each side should be enough).

Note: If you’d like your dish to be a tad healthier, than you can skip the whole frying part and bake the drumsticks straight away. Just like in Shake ‘n Bake.
10. Transfer the drumsticks onto an oiled baking pan and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 30 minutes.

And that’s it.

Very easy, right?

Yet so delicious… and finger-licking good.

You can serve the drumsticks with yummy fries or baked potatoes and some scrumptious vegetable salad.

Enjoy, dear friends.

Update: I got asked about how I made the potatoes. They were peeled, quartered, sprinkled with some vegetable oil, some grilling spice (the same I used for the drumsticks), salt, a little paprika, rosemary and cumin – and that all was baked for about 30 minutes (along with the drumsticks, actually). Enjoy!

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