A few months ago I went to see The Help with Taryn and some Army wife friends. After the show, I got a request to make fried chicken and put it on the blog. My response was that I don’t make fried chicken. I do not eat chicken with skin or on the bone. Don’t be gross.

However, thanks to Pinterest I came across a fried chicken recipe that suited my tastes. For starters, it’s made with boneless, skinless chicken hooters. Yay for that! It also calls for panko and parmesan in the breading. Yeah…I could eat that. I made it last night, it was a big hit.

Panko And Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Slightly Adapted From Bell’ Alimento

Ingredients

4-6 Chicken Hooters, fat trimmed off

Salt & Pepper

3 eggs, slightly beaten

3 1/2 Cups Panko Bread Crumbs

1 1/2 Cups Grated Parmesan Cheese

2 Tbs. Dried Basil

Olive Oil

I cut all of my chicken hooters in half, just to make them easier to fry but you could leave them whole. Place them on a cutting board and cover them with plastic wrap. Using a rubber mallet, or if you’re me a rolling-pin, pound them out to 1/4 inch thickness. I have no idea how much a 1/4 inch is, so just thin enough to not take 17 hours to fry. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and set aside.

Combine the Panko, parmesan cheese, and basil. I had enough chicken to have two small pieces leftover after dinner. I felt like I had too much breading mixture, but I don’t know how to do the math to cut it down. I’m not so good with numbers.

The original recipe said to simply dredge the chicken in the breadcrumb mixture. I tried it, but it didn’t stick well enough for me. I wanted it extra crispy. (I also considered going to KFC- or White Face Guy as the twinkies call it- at this point.) I first dunked the hooters in the eggs and then dredged them in the breading mixture.

Heat a pan with enough olive oil for frying. Fry the hooters until they are cooked through. Since it is pounded out it went relatively quickly. I may have said this before, but once I’m done frying something I place it on a cooling rack over a plate or pan that is lined with paper towels. That way no one has to eat the paper towel that is stuck to the bottom of their food.

I served this with roasted brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes with chicken gravy. It might be the best meal I’ve cooked in a while. Dallas said, “I think I could eat every piece of food on the table tonight.”

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

 

Yes. Yes, I washed my hands before I cooked dinner. There should be no residual poo anywhere on my person or in my house. The whole place smells like lysol and bleach.

Tonight I made another recipe from a friend. Her name is Jackie, so of course I’m calling it Jackie Chicken. This one is really tasty and simple. All four of the kids love it.

That’s a big deal, folks.

Jackie Chicken

Ingredients

1 8 Oz. Package Cream Cheese, softened

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

4 Chicken Breasts, cooked and cut into cubes

1 Sleeve Ritz Crackers, crushed

4 Tbs. Butter, melted

Pepper

Combine the cream cheese and soup until mostly smooth. In Jackie’s original recipe she suggested 6 chicken breasts. I only used 4. I guess my chickens have big hooters.

Add in the cubed bird hooters.

Combine the first 3 ingredients. Place them in a lightly greased baking dish.

Grind black pepper over the top. I have salt in the picture, that was a mistake. Don’t use it, you don’t need it.

Combine the melted butter and crushed crackers in a bowl.

That, is buttery and salty deliciousness.

That’s it. Just throw it in a 350 degree oven for about a half hour and you’re done!

It tastes like creamy fried chicken. There is nothing not great about fried chicken. It is a little on the heavy side so I usually just serve it with peas or salad. Tonight it was peas.

In other news, John is learning about reproduction in health class. He told me that sometimes the babies head gets shaped weird when they go through the root canal.

Yes, he said root canal.

I think his head got messed up when he went through the root canal.