Fried Chicken Tenders

I really rarely fry. Rarely. But sometimes you just want something fried, like maybe some fried chicken.

My friend Carrie recently posted a fried chicken tender recipe on her blog. *sidenote: Carrie is the one who gave me the recipe for the lava molten cakes...she comes up with some good stuff!

I was sold. Easy sell. It just sounded SO good.

So I decided last night that it was time to attempt to fry chicken.

Pretty sure that it was my first time ever.

Won't be my last.

Not that I can do it very often. I know there are probably healthier ways to go.

But yum.

Just have to say, yum.

Here is a link to Carrie's blog. She tells it so much better than I will...
Fried Chicken Tenders

Fried Chicken Tenders

Ingredients:
Buttermilk (I used one container...it was low fat)
2 cups flour
2 tbsp seasoned salt (more or less to taste)
1-2 pounds of chicken tenders
2 eggs, whisked
oil (I used canola, in an attempt to be healthy...healthier. :)

Take the chicken tenders and cut into smaller pieces. I just cut each one once or twice. I had a variety of sizes. Oh, I used the frozen kind. Just defrosted in the microwave until almost thawed. It is so much easier to cut when it is a little frozen still.

Take a plastic bag or a bowl and "marinate" the chicken in the buttermilk.

I didn't do it for too long. Next time I will do it longer, but it still worked.

Next, put the flour and seasoned salt in a gallon ziplock bag. Mix together. (I just shook the bag a few times)

Put the chicken in the bag with the flour mixture. Shake well. (I wouldn't put it all at the same time...)

Then put the chicken into the egg mixture. Cover the chicken with the egg mixture.

I did this with a bowl, but honestly, next time, I think I will do this in a ziplock too.

Take the chicken out and dip into the flour again. I ended up having another ziplock of flour mixture just so I could have a rotation/assembly line going.

You can do all of this ahead of time and let it sit for a while. I think I will do that next time just so it is ready when I need to cook. The process ended up taking longer than I meant for it too since I was attempting to make mashed potatoes at the same time. By the way, I have yet to find a good mashed potato recipe. I welcome suggestions...

Anyway, when you are ready to cook, heat the oil in a skillet. (Pour about a half inch into the skillet first) Heat to around 350 degrees.

This is one other thing I think I will do differently next time. We have a Fry Daddy. We don't use it much other than for donuts and occasionally french fries. I think I will try it next time just because it is easier to monitor the temperature on it.

Fry for a couple minutes on each side until golden brown. I turned them constantly so they wouldn't burn.

"Drain" oil by putting the fried chicken on top of a paper towel on a plate.

Enjoy.

I told Carrie later how much I enjoyed this recipe. She said that if you use the buttermilk, it is so thick, you don't really need to double "dip". However, having done both not knowing this, I think I will stick to both...I loved the thickness of the buttermilk as well as the two layers of flour. Yum.

Enjoy!

Reba