Hi Drunks!
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| Chicken mailman |
So this is really three recipes in one -- this takes a little prep, but just throw foil on all your pans and then clean-up is just throwing away foil. Make sure to really spray the pans with cooking spray (or olive oil) so the stuff doesn't stick, especially true for the chicken and sweet potato fries. I usually make all three at once in the oven, so it's actually pretty easy. Just add some cooking time if you're doing that.
I stumbled across this chicken recipe recently, tried it, and it was incredibly good. I really don't know why, the ingredients aren't crazy but it's so delicious. The one thing I will say is that you do need to get the white vinegar. I know it's annoying because you may not have it at home, but you will want to make this over and over again. The vinegar makes the milk acidic so it breaks down the chicken a bit. You can replace the vinegar with lemon juice if you have that around.
"Fried" Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients:
- ~1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon white vinegar (or lemon juice); any milk is fine, I use skim. If you are a freak human that keeps buttermilk around, that would be delicious also.
- 2 large chicken breasts
- ~1/3 cup flour
- Seasonings (adjust to your taste -- I like it garlicky and spicy so this is what I use, but any combination of spices would work; be careful, this is pretty spicy!): 1 tablespoon seasoning salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, dash of onion powder
Instructions:
1. Place vinegar / lemon juice and milk in a decent sized bowl (needs to fit the chicken). Let sit for ~5 minutes.
2. While that is sitting, cut the chicken breasts into pieces. I use big costco chicken breasts and usually cut each into ~6-8 pieces, but it really doesn't matter.
3. Put the chicken into the milk/vinegar mixture.
Let soak for ~20-30 minutes. I always forget this part and then end up eating dinner 30 minutes later than planned. So don't forget it, go have a beer! Also make sure chicken is mostly covered in liquid, if not add more milk.
4. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees (my oven sucks so I usually do 425)
5. Put a 9x13 (or really whatever size) metal pan or cookie sheet covered in foil and coated in cooking spray and/or olive oil into the preheated over for a few minutes so it warms up
6. Throw the flour and all spices in a 2-gallon plastic bag
7. Transfer the chicken pieces to the plastic bag with the spices, making sure to shake excess milk off each piece. Throw away the milk mixture, unless you like chicken milk.
8. Shake it up until chicken is coated! I usually have a bit of leftover flour mixture, so no worries if that happens to you.
9. Remove chicken from bag and spread out on warmed-up pan (make sure the pan is nice and coated with spray otherwise chicken will stick).
10. Bake 25 minutes, flip, bake 20 more (or until crispy and brown -- will vary based on oven)
11. Mailman chicken. We usually dip in BBQ or hot sauce, and then mailman, but it's so good by itself also.
**Leftovers are AWESOME for a buffalo chicken salad the next day. Just throw on top of some spinach with veggies (I like carrots, celery, peppers, onions) and squirt on some hot sauce.
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The following two recipes are my go-to sides for chicken. So easy, so delish. If you don't have cornstarch for the sweet potato fries, that's okay, they just won't get as crispy (but will still taste awesome). Ditto if you don't have time to soak them.
Best Broccoli Ever -- so easy; can easily be made with asparagus or cauliflower instead of broccoli and it will also be awesome
Ingredients:
- Two heads broccoli, chopped and large stems removed (buy the pre-cut bag if you're busy)
- ~2 tablespoons olive oil, I don't really measure just dump a bit and toss until it's coated
- Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste
- Grated Parmesan (if desired)
Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400. If you're cooking something else in there, I'd recommend going to 425, but honestly anywhere between 350-425 degrees will work just fine, just adjust the baking time.
2. Cover a large baking sheet or 9x13 with aluminum foil. Coat in cooking spray.
3. Put broccoli in pan. Add olive oil and mix with your hands until broccoli is well coated.
4. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I usually mix again and sprinkle some more on so everything is coated well.
5. Bake 20-30 minutes, depending on how crispy you want it, shaking the pan once or twice while baking.
6. Sprinkle on some Parmesan if desired. Mailman. Repeat.
Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients:
- 2 small sweet potatoes, skin on, cut into thin fries (I usually get ~15-20 fries out of each potato)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ~2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)
- Spices: Salt, Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, anything else you would like. Can also just use a bit of seasoning salt if you're feeling lazy :) I would recommend the cayenne though -- nice and spicy!
Instructions:
1.
Optional: Let cut sweet potatoes soak in water for ~1+ hour. It'll be easier to get them crispy if they soak.
2. Pre-heat oven to 425 (also can be adjusted -- will just take longer if lower)
3. Coat a big baking sheet with aluminum foil, then spray with non-stick cooking spray
4. Shake sweet potatoes dry if you soaked them (don't have to be 100% dry)
5. If you don't have cornstarch, put fries on pan and skip to step 7. If you have cornstarch, throw a scant tablespoon into a large plastic bag, throw in a big handful of fries (about 1/3 of fries), and shake to coat. Remove fries and lay on baking sheet. Note -- I've found that using an empty vegetable bag from the grocery store (those long clear plastic ones) works best for this. Hold it near the top so there's an air bubble and just shake a bunch until the fries are fully coated.
6. Repeat until all fries are covered in cornstarch (I usually do it 3 total times)
7. Drizzle olive oil onto fries, mixing with your hand so they are all coated
8. Shake on spices, make sure to mix a bit with your hands so they get coated with everything.
9. Arrange fries so they are not touching
10. Bake 20 minutes, flip, continue baking until crisp (usually ~15 minutes, depending on oven; if I'm cooking everything together I usually bake them an extra 25).
11. Mailman. Mailman. Mailman.
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| Whole meal mailman |
