Hot Mess Kitchen

I have to be honest… I am always so nervous cooking chicken. I hate it because I’m afraid I’m either going to under cook it or way overcook it and then have dry chicken but, I am trying to do it more so that I get comfortable with it. Tonight’s experiment was crispy fried chicken and I was very very happy with how it turned out and would definitely do this again! As someone who absolutely hates frozen chicken tenders or wings, this recipe is a saving grace for when the husband wants them. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders
• 3 cups vegetable or canola oil
• 3/4 cups dill pickle juice
• 3/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cups corn starch
• 3/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 1/4 tsp seasoning salt
• pinch of cayenne pepper

Instructions:

1. Start by mixing pickle juice, milk, and egg in a bowl. Add the chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
2. Mix together corn starch, flour, garlic powder, paprika, seasoning salt, and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl.
3. Just before removing chicken tenders from the refrigerator, heat oil to 350-375 degrees.
4. Remove chicken tenders from fridge and create an assembly line of strips in liquid, bowl of dry ingredients, and then the hot oil. I like to have a pan lined with paper towels ready for when I remove chicken strips from the oil.
5. One chicken strip at a time, remove from liquid, dredge in the dry mixture, place back in the liquid and then cover in dry mixture one more time. So essentially you are double coating the tenders.
6. Finally place chicken tender in hot oil and cook for 5-6 minutes until breading is golden and crisp. I used a fryer with a basket and cooked them one at a time but a deep pan should work just fine as well and you can cook more at once.
7. Repeat previous steps with the rest of the chicken tenders and place on paper towel lined pan or plate to drain grease.
8. Enjoy with your favorite condiment, gravy, or waffles with syrup!