Crispy Baked Chicken Fingers

Crispy Baked Chicken Fingers

Ingredients:
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. canola oil
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
3 large egg whites
1 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme or ¼ tsp. dried
Cooking spray
1½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾-inch wide strips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 475˚ F.  In a large skillet, toss the panko with the oil.  Toast over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes.  Transfer the toasted crumbs to a shallow dish or pie plate.

In a second shallow dish, whisk together the flour, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne pepper.  In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites, water, mustard and thyme.

Spray a wire rack lightly with cooking spray and place over a rimmed baking sheet.  Working in batches, dredge a few pieces of the chicken in the flour, then the egg whites, and finally the breadcrumbs to coat, shaking off the excess between each step.  Lay the coated pieces on the prepared wire rack and repeat with the remaining chicken.

Spray the tops of the chicken pieces lightly with the cooking spray.  Bake until the chicken is cooked through, 10-12 minutes.  Serve warm.

Chicken Tikka Masala

1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper**
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon salt
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• Combine all ingredients except chicken. Pour sauce over chicken and refrigerate for one hour. Grill or cook chicken in frying pan. Discard marinade

1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 cup cream (I didn't have cream, so I used half-and-half)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

• Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for one minute. Season with cumin, paprika and salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve over hot rice.  I used jasmine rice and it was perfect.

**It's a fairly spicy dish, so adjust the seasonings according to taste.  I also including a few potatoes that I cut up and boiled until tender then added when I put the chicken in.  I would also add cashews and golden raisins just before it's done cooking.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) Philadelphia® Cream Cheese, cubed
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1 large russet potato
• 1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp. onion salt
• 1 tsp bay leaves
• Pie crust for top and bottom

Directions
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Boil potato until tender.
3. Cook cream cheese and broth in large saucepan on low heat until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently with whisk. Stir in chicken, vegetables and garlic salt, onion salt, and bay leaves.
4. Prepare pastry using Double Crust pie recipe.  Roll out half and place in pie tin.
5. Spoon chicken mixture into pie tin. Roll other half of pie dough, make three slits and lay onto of chicken mixture.  Dab with milk and sprinkle garlic salt on top.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

 

Chicken and Rice Casserole

2 cups cooked rice
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
1 1/2 cups cooked, chopped chicken*
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 Tbsp diced jalapenos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a casserole dish.  Combine all ingredients into bowl and stir well.  Pour into prepared casserole dish and spread evenly.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

*For some more flavor I marinated the chicken in a Southwest marinade.  I cubed the chicken into approximately 1 inch pieces then marinated for several hours.  Brown the chicken in just a little olive oil.  Chop with food chopper and it's ready to go.  The marinade adds a nice kick to the overall flavor of the casserole.

Chicken Chile Rub

6 chicken breasts
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder

In a large bowl, toss the chicken breasts with the oil to coat well.  In a small bowl, comine the chili powder, oregano, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Sprinkle the spice mixture over both sides of the chicken.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Preheat grill on high, then reduce the heat to medium.

Lightly oil the grill rack.  Cover and cook over medium heat, rutning once, about 15 minutes total.