Chicken Nuggets and Chicken Strips

It's been almost 3 months now since my last update. Oh-oh. This definitely calls for one.

We had our longest holiday recently, and since it's the longest hol we've ever had, it took us even longer to get back to the routine at home. Ok, I digress. For our travels, we'd usually stay in apartments, kitchen included, for us to experiment with home-away-from-home food.

I don't know why but I made these a lot more when I'm overseas, compared to when I'm home. For our recent travel, I made them too, chicken nuggets and chicken strips. The original recipe's from the domestic goddess herself but I tweaked them a bit and they are still a hit.

It was super easy but make sure you marinate it for at least 48 hours, the minimum.

The chicken breast would need to be marinated with buttermilk and ritz or cheese crackers. I did just that, marinated with buttermilk, crushed some cheese crackers and kept it in the fridge for 2 days.

After 2 days, I minced 1/2 of the portion, shaped them into tiny nuggets, coat them with breadcrumbs and crushed cheese crackers and fry them.

The other half were cut in strips, again coated with breadcrumbs and crushed cheese crackers and fried. It was yummy!

The way I made it was a little more cumbersome since I minced the chicken meat (1/2 of the portion) as much as possible before I shaped them. I also marinated the chicken together with the cheese crackers. The original recipe didn’t call for both.

The good thing about the recipe is it’s great for kids and mummies can also hide tiny broccoli florets or julienned carrots into the nuggets, if your kids are a little skittish of their greens.

If you want the original recipe from none other than the domestic goddess, check it out here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/ritzy-chicken-nuggets-recipe/index.html

Here’s a direct copy and paste from the above site:

Ingredients

* 2 (each weighing approximately 8 ounces with the peg bone, less without) chicken breasts
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1/2 cup oil (if you are frying the nuggets)
* 1 3/4 cups cracker crumbs (recommended: Ritz crackers)
* Serving suggestion: Capery Salad, recipe follows

Directions

Cut off the chicken peg bone if there is 1, and put the chicken breasts one at a time into a freezer bag so that it lies flat. Bash with a rolling pin until the chicken is quite thin, and then take it out and slice into about 6 to 8 slices. Repeat with the other chicken breast. This is easiest done with scissors.

Put the slices into a freezer bag with the buttermilk and leave in the refrigerator to marinade for up to 2 days.

When you are ready to cook them, heat the oil in a large frying pan, or preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Tip the cracker crumbs into a wide shallow bowl, and then shake off the excess buttermilk from the nuggets and dip them in the crumbs. Coat them well before lying gently in the hot oil, and cooking for about 2 minutes or so a side until they are golden brown. Transfer to a kitchen towel on a plate to blot the excess oil.

Alternatively, you can lay the crumb-coated chicken nuggets on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. They can also be frozen once marinated and crumbed. If cooking from frozen, add 5 minutes to the oven cooking time.