In that same regard, Happy February to you! January has come and gone lickety-split and we are cruising right into the month of love. I promise I will post a lovely recipe next week sure to knock the socks off your funny valentine.
But this week, let's focus on comfort, shall we? Specifically, let's talk chicken and biscuits. Does it get any more down home than that? I can remember growing up, one of my favorite meals was fried chicken (it should be known I would only eat the drumstick AND I mostly just picked the fried skin off and didn't actually eat the meat) with a biscuit. Since we were super classy, I remember having many a KFC meal and looking forward to eating that buttery biscuit with tons of honey on it. Is anyone with me on this?
Well, this past weekend, I decided to pay homage to my childhood years and whip up an old favorite with a couple twists. On the menu was panko-crusted chicken tenders, sweet potato fries, black beans, corn and sweet potato biscuits with honey.
I thought I was making a kid-friendly meal, but alas, picky Penelope (AKA Haylee) proved me wrong once again. She refused to eat her chicken fingers and only ate about half of her biscuit. However, the three adults had no problem doing some serious damage on the savory spread.
(loosely based on Cooking Light recipes)
Panko-Crusted Chicken Tenders
Ingredients:
1 1b. chicken tenders
1 C Japanese-style panko bread crumbs
2 T sesame seeds
2 egg whites
splash of milk
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a non-stick skillet, toast the panko crumbs and sesame seeds until golden brown (about five minutes). Remove from skillet into a shallow bowl.
2. Combine egg whites and milk in a small bowl and whisk lightly with a fork.
3. Dip each tender into the egg white mixture and press into the crumb mixture making sure to thoroughly cover each piece.
4. Place tenders on a baking sheet lined with non-stick aluminum foil and bake approximately 18 minutes or until cooked through.
We dipped our chicken strips into a sweet chile sauce which went great, but I think a honey mustard dipping sauce would also be quite tasty.
On an additional note, I ran out of the panko mixture, so I crushed up some basic corn chex cereal and coated a few tenders in that as well. This would also work with corn flakes.
And what's chicken without biscuits? Well not a proper Southern meal that's for sure. Since we all know of my affinity for sweet potatoes, it should come as no surprise that I would find a way to incorporate them into my biscuit offering.
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Ingredients:
1/2 C sweet potatoes, mashed (equivalent of 1 small sweet potato)
1/6 C milk
1 C all-purpose flour
2 1/2 T cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 T sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the sweet potatoes and milk.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture becomes "mealy."
3. Pour the sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until combined.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few times, making sure to add flour if the mixture is too sticky.
5. Roll the dough out about 1/2 an inch thick and cut out eight biscuits. (I used heart-shaped cutouts just for kicks and giggles).
6. Place biscuits on a baking sheet lined with non-stick foil. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Serve these warm out of the oven with butter and honey.
I hope these recipes take you back to a favorite childhood memory or just make things feel like home no matter where you are.
Until next time, happy eating and have a Tasty Tuesday!
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