Real African Dishes: [MC-AllEthnic-Recipes] Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Sunday, June 24, 2012

[MC-AllEthnic-Recipes] Homemade Chicken Nuggets

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Homemade Chicken Nuggets

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups buttermilk
3 sleeves of Ritz crackers, crushed to fine powder
1/2 onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/4 tsp black pepper (generous heaping!)
1/8 tsp cayenne

If the chicken breasts are very thick, put them one at a time into a freezer
bag so that it lies flat and pound with a rolling pin until the chicken is
uniformly flat, then take them out and cut them into nuggets.
You want pieces about 1 inch square. Do trim out any gristly bits, and trim
off any big pieces of fat or very thin pieces. You want uniform chunks for
even cooking.

Put the nuggets into a ziplock bag with the buttermilk, onion, garlic, and
peppers and leave in the fridge to marinate for 2 days. Do put the bag in a
dish to avoid spillage.

When you are ready to cook them, heat the oven to 425F.

Dump the crackers into a ziplock bag and bash them with a rolling pin until
you have fine crumbs. It helps to roll them with the pin to get a fine
texture.

Put the cracker crumbs into a 9x13 baking dish. Dump the nuggets and
marinade into a bowl and drop them into the crumbs a few at a time. I use
tongs to fish them out of the buttermilk. Coat them well by pressing them
into the crumbs.
Technique note: scoop the crumbs on top of the nuggets and press them down
quite firmly. I wear disposable gloves for this.

Lay the crumb-coated chicken nuggets on a lined baking sheet and bake for 22
minutes. Use pan release spray as they can stick.

Allow to cool completely, then arrange in a single layer in freezer bags on
a baking sheet to freeze for up to 3 months. After they are frozen, they no
longer have to be stored flat.

To reheat, heat the oven to 425F; arrange nuggets on a foil-lined baking
sheet and heat for 17 minutes, turning once about halfway through.

Serving size: For adults, 6 pieces.
For kids, 4-5 pieces.

Notes: The inspiration for this recipe was Nigella Lawson's Ritzy Chicken
Nuggets. I thought her recipe needed a few touches, though, and I prefer to
cook them all at once for freezing and re-heating.

This recipe makes A LOT of chicken nuggets, but that's the whole idea -
home-made convenience foods wherein you control the production quality, and
without the salt, sugar, & additives in store-bought ones. It's a bit of a
work-out to make, but very well worth the effort.