Lars’s Chicken Fried Fingers and Nuggets

A Little Personal History:

As my girls grew older, went to school and watched TV, fast food became an ever present “request”. Chicken McNugget’s or KFC Chicken Nuggets were meals they increasingly bugged us for. While fast & convenient, what kind of chemicals were these companies adding? Figured if you can’t beat’ em, join’ em. This is what I came up with. The girls love’ em and at least they don’t have all the preservatives & chemicals.

Description:

Ingredients:

• 8 skinned and boned chicken breasts
• Lars’s Buttermilk Marinade
  

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• Lars’s Fried Chicken Rub
  

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• Canola or Vegetable oil

Procedure:

1. Put chicken breasts into a large zip-lock bag. Pour in Buttermilk Marinade to fully cover all breasts. Press out air or use VacuSeal and seal. Refrigerate 4 hours.
2. Remove strips from mixture and drain. (if breasts are marinated and frozen for future use, the battering will result in a lighter, less crunchy result).
3. Cut strips to preferred finger eating size (e.g. fingers or nuggets)
4. In large skillet over medium high heat, brown sides of chicken. 2-3 minutes per side. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
5. Once chicken has cooled, in large zip-lock bag, fill bag with Fried Chicken Rub (no more than half full). Add enough chicken strips to allow you to seal and shake thoroughly so all strips are well covered. Remove chicken strips, shake off the excess spice rub. Repeat as necessary till all strips are covered.
6. Pour oil to depth of 2-inches into large frying pot or skillet; heat to 350*F (if you don’t have a thermometer, medium heat is a good bet). Fry chicken, in batches, 4-6 minutes or until golden. Drain on paper towels.

Advanced Preparation:

• Steps 1-4 can be prepared in advance and stored in refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for future use.

Tips, Notes, and Variations:

• Serve with Lars’s Spicy Dipping Sauce, BBQ Sauce, Honey Mustard, etc.
• This recipe can as easily be used for bone-in chicken breast, legs, thighs and wings. Just make sure there’s enough oil in pot to fully cover pieces (3-4 inches should cover).
• You can freeze and re-heat and their still great. Set your toaster oven to 350 degrees and heat for 10-12 min.
• If you marinade chicken and freeze, thaw chicken, soak in milk or buttermilk for 10 minutes and pat dry before dredging to ensure rub will stick well.