Kickin' Krispy Chicken

I asked my darling daughter if she'd like me to blog about this fabulous chicken recipe she makes. She said "Yes! I'd really like to get it out there."
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Get it out there? . . . Seriously? . . . Seriously!
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This stuff is actually so good the six of us ate 3 lbs of chicken breast yesterday! It was quite hedonistic on our part. I went to grab a piece for breakfast and it was MISSING! The disappointment was tremendous. Anyway it's delicious, relatively HEALTHY, and a 10 year old can make it. So we're golden right?

Start with some chicken breasts! These were on sale. I hear tell it's the only type of raw chicken many of you deal with? So you're good to go!

There it is, plain, limp, and flavorless! We're going to solve that! First though, cheap chicken breast has lots of extraneous things hanging on. You'll want to cut them off.

There's a sort of seam down the middle of most breasts. Cut it there. It'll probably cut your chicken into two pieces one of which is twice the size of the other.

She's found a chunky unappetizing bit of tendon and is cutting it off! Look at those knife skills. She really is her father's child.

Here she found a tendon. She's using the knife to scrape it out of the chicken. She's got skillz.

She got three nice juicy chicken strips out of each breast. If you wanted "nuggets" you could chop up the strips.

There's the chicken strips all sliced up. She throws on about a teaspoon of salt. The salt really brings out the flavor of plain old breast. If you let it rest in there long enough it'll also help it retain its moisture in the heat of the oven.  The seasoning she's adding doesn't have a bunch of salt in it so a full teaspoon is in order here.

She gave it a cursory toss so it could start to work its magic on the chicken. Now for some seasoning.

While I would of picked some lemon pepper or thyme and garlic the girl likes "kick." So Cajun seasoning is her first choice.  It's a delicious choice. Has all sorts of good things for chicken. There's a little garlic, thyme, celery salt, and red pepper in here amongst other things!

Be generous! She's shaking quite vigorously.

She got in there with her hands to make sure it all got mixed around well!

Now you cover them up and let them sit for an hour in the refrigerator. You can skip the wait but I really think it adds to the deliciousness!

Tick-tock . . . tick-tock . . . RING!!!! It's an hour later! Don't you love technology?

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

Put an egg in a little bowl.

Add a teaspoon of mustard to the egg!

See how we're layering flavor here? We added saltiness to the chicken with plain old table salt. We added bitterness with our dried spice mix. Now we're adding another type of bitterness along with a hit of sour! No wonder this stuff is so good.

After you mixed the egg and mustard together dump it on the chicken. It's going to help the coating stick.

CLOSEUP!  When darling daughter first said "Hey! How about we put this leftover rice cereal on our chicken strips." I said "Ewww." But the more I thought about it the more I thought they're really not all that sweet. At least they're not as sweet as some other cereal people put on chicken. Plus sweetness is the only flavor component missing from this recipe. So, I said "Go for it!"

Dump some of the cereal in a shallow dish.

Mix a tad bit of oil in the crispies so that they'll brown more easily in the oven.

Plus a little salt and pepper and toss it all around.

You'll want a nice big cookie sheet with a baking rack in it standing by. The rack helps the hot air circulate under the chicken and crisp the under side.

Put a piece of chicken in the rice cereal.

Pour some cereal on top of it.

Scrunch it down! Use some pressure. I am trying to crush the cereal into the chicken! Sometimes I even squish them in my hand and pour them on top before I squish them together.

You'll notice the change of hand. My daughter's favorite friend in the world called and asked her to play and I just couldn't let her skip out on that! I can bread and bake chicken with the best of them. She'll be home by dinner time!

Then I flip it over and repeat until it looks nicely coated. It's okay to have a few bits of chicken showing. It will shrink a little.

Aren't they pretty? Throw these puppies in your oven and check them after 15 minutes.  Mine took 20 but they were pretty hefty strips. If the topping isn't brown enough for you when the chicken is done throw it under the broiler for a minute.

Our 3 lbs of chicken made me head out for a 2nd cookie sheet!

I also find if convenient to keep the coating components readily available. It's so fluffy I often find myself going through it kind of fast.  So I keep one hand clean and mix up more as I need it.

This stuff is obnoxiously loud to eat! All the classic chicken strip condiments suit it well but frankly I put nothing on it. The chicken is moist and well seasoned with salt and spices. The mustard adds that touch of acid you crave with crispy fried food.  The coating has shattering crispness with a bit of sweet, salt, and peppery flavor that makes life perfect.

Darling daughter is ready for a Throwdown! Where's Bobby Flay?


Kickin' Krispy Chicken

2 lbs chicken breast
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon of mustard
1 egg
4-6 cups rice cereal
Up to 1 Tbsp of oil
salt and pepper

Trim chicken breast and cut into strips. Season with salt and Cajun seasoning. Use less salt if your seasoning is salty. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix egg and mustard together. Mix into chicken strips coating them well.  Put 2-3 cups of cereal in a shallow dish. Add 1 tsp of oil and a little salt and pepper. Toss together. Coat chicken with cereal and place on rack in a cookie sheet. Make more coating as needed for covering all the chicken.

Bake 15-20 minutes on a medium high rack in the oven.