Crunchy, gluten-free Chex chicken

*not my image, but my chicken looked exactly like this! I got the image here. 

So last week, I made very yummy coconut chicken strips on a night when my step-daughter was visiting. She doesn't eat gluten, so we couldn't share our chicken strips with her, and she was disappointed, so I decided to see if there was a way to adapt the recipe to be gluten-free. 

As it turns out, neither my hubby nor I wanted to eat coconut chicken again so soon. It's good, but it's definitely not a weekly dish at our house. So I decided to do just plain old panko-style chicken strips instead... seemed easy, right!?

First was figuring out how to get gluten-free panko. Turns out, Chex cereal is a great substitute! I bought a box and crushed up enough for the chicken and it worked perfectly. In fact, I liked it better than Panko because it wasn't as sweet. Next, I had to find a flour to use to coat the chicken. This, I think, will be an ongoing challenge. I looked first for coconut flour but nobody in my area had any, so I  chose an all-purpose baking flour that was gluten free instead. It smelled a little weird, but it was actually not bad at all. I might even use it for baking someday lol. 

Overall, the were good but bland. My step-daughter liked them, but she likes any meat she can get her hands on so this is not a surprise. My hubby and I found them good but a little bland to eat. The coating was super crunchy and delicious, but the flour was a little gooey, and since I didn't really season them, they didn't have any real flavor. Next time, I will add seasoning to the flour before dragging the chicken through. 

What you need:

1 to 1 1/2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips. You could use pre-cut tenderloin strips if you don't want to trim the chicken yourself. 

2 eggs, beaten

2C crushed Chex cereal. You could probably crush your cereal in a food processor, but I just did it in a bag and that was fine. 

2C gluten-free flour

salt and pepper (and other seasonings!)

What you do:

Set up your prep station as follows: chicken strips, then a bowl with your flour, then a bowl with the eggs, and then a bowl with your crushed Chex cereal. 

Turn on the oven to 400, and lightly spray a cookie sheet with Pam (Original Pam = gluten-free).

Take a piece of chicken and coat it in flour. 

Next, drag it through your egg wash, ensuring the entire strip is wet and eggy. 

Next, press the strip into your Chex cereal, coating both sides with Chex bits. I press my chicken in pretty hard so the Chex sticks well. 

Repeat with each piece of chicken, lining the finished pieces up on the cookie sheet. 

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Flip. Bake for another 10 to 12 minutes. Check your chicken for done-ness, but it should be ready to go. 

Take it out and eat it. I paired it with rice... I don't recommend this. Pair it with salad instead! I also dipped my strips in President's Choice Memories of Thailand spicy sauce... yum, yum, YUM! 

If you have any suggestions to make this recipe better, please post them in comments! 

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

*yes, this is my image... I'm doing my best to resist gobbling it all up before the hubby gets home!

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

I'm seriously starting to think I need a Pinterest intervention. A Pintervention! Anyway, I have seen this recipe floating around Pinterest for ages and finally decided to give it a go. Some claim it's the awesomest Sweet & Sour chicken ever. Some say it's "addicting", which, incidentally, drives me up the wall. The word is addictive. As in "That chicken is addictive" or "These bath salts are addictive". Addicting? Not a word. Non-addicting is a word. It means you cannot become addicted to something... it isn't an addictive substance. Kapish?! 

Now then. The recipe is on Life as a Lofthouse's blog, so go check it out already! 

As usual, I can't follow the darn directions, so I substituted fresh minced garlic (you know, fresh from a jar in my fridge?!). I also added a few hefty shakes of chili flakes to my sauce, to spice it up a bit. I highly recommend you do the same, because it's awesome. 

Start out by preheating your oven to 325...

What you need for the chicken:

1 to 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, thawed, trimmed, and cubed.
Salt and pepper to taste

1 C corn starch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 C canola oil

What you do to the chicken:

As advertised: thaw it, rinse it, trim it, cube it. Put it in a bowl or whatever makes you comfortable. 

Add salt and pepper to taste. I used none, because that tastes best to me. 

Pour the oil into a large skillet and start it heating. 

Next, roll the chicken cubes around in the corn starch, ensuring they are completely covered. 

Dip the corn starchy chicken into the eggs, ensuring full coverage. 

*Fry your chicken until it is lightly browned and sealed, but not cooked through. 

Remove from skillet and place in a 9 x 13 baking pan, ensuring they're as evenly spaced as possible. 

*Confession: I don't fry a lot of things. Ok, this was totally the first time I've tried this. So one thing I learned is, you can't overcrowd your skillet or it makes turning your chicken really difficult... and you end up with uneven batter. So, if you used lots of chicken (more than a pound), or if you're a pan-frying pro, you'll know to do this step in two batches. I didn't, and it wasn't catastrophic, but I recommend you don't overcrowd your pan. 

What you need for the sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt (as mentioned, I used about the same of "fresh" minced garlic"... in my continued boycott of any dehydrated garlic products.)

What you do for the sauce:

Well, this is easy: Put the ingredients into a bowl. Whisk them together. Ta-da!

Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken. I was a little leery when I saw that my sauce wasn't going to actually cover the chicken, but it's ok... it works fine because you're going to be turning the chicken throughout the cooking process. I gave mine a few shakes once it was in there, just to ensure even-ness.

Place your baking pan in the oven. Close the door. Bake for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes. 

I served mine with steamed white rice and steamed mixed veggies (broccoli, peas, water chesnut, carrots, etc... I think it's called "Asian Mix".) Well, I served what was left anyway. Some serious snacking occurred when the chicken came out of the oven. 

Baked Chicken Parmesan

*Yes, this is my image, and it was my chicken parm... delish!

Chicken Parmesan Bake

I've never been a huge fan of chicken parmesan, but this recipe has totally changed my mind. It's easy, delicious, and hearty. We decided within three bites that this recipe is a keeper. It's originally posted on the Food Wishes blog, which I highly recommend because it's awesome! Great recipes, great tutorials, and Chef John has a pleasant voice and a great sense of humour too. 

Here's the recipe... but be sure to read  the *Disclaimer* at the end... it's important if you're making this for a date! 

What you need:

1.5lbs of boneless, skinless chicken. (Could go up to 2lbs I think)
2Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Cloves garlic, crushed
Crushed chillies or hot red pepper flakes, to taste
2 C pasta sauce
1/4C chopped fresh basil
8 oz mozzarella, shredded
4 oz Parmesan, grated
1 (5 oz) package of garlic croutons*

Preheat oven to 350. 

What you do:

Grab yourself a baking pan. I used a 9x13 Pyrex dish which was fine. You know what you've got, go get it! 

Drizzle the olive oil into the pan and add the chopped garlic. Smear it all around so the garlic and oil cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle your hot peppers lightly across the pan, making it as spicy as you want it. 

Next, lay your cleaned and trimmed chicken breast (I used pre-cut chicken tenderloins, but whatever your preference is will work fine) on the bottom of the baking dish. I wouldn't leave much space between them... I put mine close together down the middle of the pan because I had some extra room. 

Spread your pasta sauce (we used a Classico variety) evenly over top of the chicken, making sure to cover the chicken completely. Sprinkle half of your mozzarella cheese over the pasta sauce, then half your Parm. 

Spread the croutons evenly over top of everything else, then sprinkle the rest of your mozzarella and Parmesan on top of that. Basically make everything into a big pile of Italian goodness. 

Bake for 30-40 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken breasts. Take it out, check the chicken for done-ness, then let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. If you're going to serve it over pasta, try to coordinate so that your pasta is ready when the chicken has rested for 10 minutes so it's nice and hot. 

Enjoy!

*Disclaimer: This recipe is super, super garlicky. Think about it: you're using chopped garlic in the pan, garlic croutons, and depending on the sauce you use you will probably have garlic in there as well. If it's date night, I would suggest cutting back on the garlic by using plain croutons or using a non-garlic sauce or cutting back/skipping the chopped garlic in the pan. Just a thought. 

Coconut Chicken Strips

*Yes, this is my (gloriously blurry) image

Baked Coconut Chicken Strips

This was a Pinterest find, and I'm glad I found it! So easy, so yummy... a great upgrade to classic chicken fingers. It was originally posted on Back To Her Roots' recipe blog. Here is what you need:

What you need:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (Or one package of pre-trimmed chicken breast tenderloins, 1 to 1.5 lbs)
3 C white flour
2 eggs
Splash of milk
Salt and Pepper
2 C each unsweetened shredded coconut and panko bread crumbs (I used coconut flakes, but I would recommend shredded if it's available.)
Oil spray (I used Pam).

Here is what you do:

Preheat oven to 400°.

If you're using whole chicken breasts, place them in a large zip-top bag and pound down to about 1/2″ thickness. Slice into 3/4″ strips.

Next grab three bowls, each larger than your chicken breast strips. 

Bowl 1: Just the flour, baby. 

Bowl 2: Whisk together eggs and splash of milk. 

Bowl 3: Mix panko and coconut in one bowl, season with salt and pepper.

Here comes the fun part! You can use any technique you like. I prefer a wet-hand / dry-hand system. 

You'll want to run your chicken through the bowls in order... first in the flour, then in the egg, and then press it into the coconut-panko mix. If you're using coconut flakes, like I did, you'll really want to press the chicken into the coconut-panko mix to get the larger flakes to stick. 

Place each strip onto a greased cookie sheet. 

Bake at 400 for 20ish minutes, flipping after 10. Let your strips rest for a few minutes before serving. 

I paired mine with President's Choice "Memories of Thailand" spicy chili dipping sauce. Unfortunately, it's only available in Canada, but if you can get it, it's worth it! If not, I think any sweet and spicy sauce would add a little zing to these yummy strips.