Monday, January 05, 2009

Week #1 recipe - Coconut Chicken fingers

I originally saw this recipe in Parents or Parenting magazine but I couldn't find the magazine when I wanted it (most likely it was sacrificed to one of Ryan's many art projects). I used this one from
Allrecipes:

INGREDIENTS
1 cup BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast halves , cut into 1-inch strips
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 cup apricot preserves (optional)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (optional)



DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Mix coconut, flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder in medium bowl. Dip chicken strips into egg, then coat with coconut mixture. Place in a shallow baking pan. Drizzle with melted butter.
Bake 25 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked through, turning once. Serve with Apricot Dipping Sauce, if desired.
Apricot Dipping Sauce: Mix 1 cup apricot preserves and 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard until well blended.


So here is what I did differently:
I didn't use garlic powder because I didn't have any
I used spray butter instead of melted butter to cut some fat and calories
I put them under the broiler for, well, too long actually, in an effort to make them crispy!
My review:
They were okay if I had:
1. Used enough butter to totally coat the chicken fingers
2. Not burned them under the broiler - 5 minutes on high was too long! Maybe 2 minutes next time.
They were easy to make, and tasty - I didn't make the sauce, we just used BBQ sauce (and the kids used ketchup). Joey ate them (but he eats everything), Ryan ate them (YAY), and Rachel picked the coconut off and ate the chicken! I served them with tater tots and butternut squash (since it is the only veggie all 3 kids universally will eat!)
Will I make them again? Probably, but I'll use more butter and try not to singe them this time!!!
So on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = the dog won't even touch it and 10 = everyone had seconds!) I'd give them a 6

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