The Best Non Fried Chicken Strips EVER
Today I am going to give you my family's absolutely, hands down, favorite chicken recipe. Why is this recipe titled Lydia's chicken? Because it is the ONLY chicken my 2 year old, Lydia, will eat. So without further adieu my tried and true, and 2 year old (and husband) approved, chicken strip recipe.
So first and foremost, the most important ingredient in this recipe is the chicken. I once had purchased a lot of store bought chicken for a heck of a price! My butcher brother came in and lectured me that the chicken I purchased was in fact not all chicken!
Why was I buying store bought chicken you ask? Well just because my last name is Berryman doesn't mean I get a Berryman Brothers Meats Discount...unfair right...but I digress.
My brother pointed out that many chain retailers use chicken "plumping" as an additive to preserve chicken. This plumping is usually a combination of just salt and water, meaning organic or naturally labelled chicken can remain labeled as such.
What does this mean for the naive consumer such as myself. Well firstly the chicken's sodium content is through the roof! Chicken with no pumpers will often not have a nutritional label, those that are plumped will show a sodium content over the natural 1-5% level, and it is often over 20%. WHOA!
Secondly, the salt water used to plump the chicken will evaporate leaving you with MUCH less chicken than you paid for. Ouch! So my sale really wasn't much of a sale.
Berryman Brothers Meats chickens are air chilled. With air chilling there is much less chance for bacteria to spread among chickens. In fact, a study found that air-chilled chicken contains 80% less bacteria than water-chilled chicken.
So I am now a faithful customer of Berryman Brothers Meats chicken, and I have noticed a HUGE difference in the decrease in shrinkage after cooking. Try it and compare, you won't be disappointed. Now on to the recipe!!!
Ingredients
- 1 lb Chicken - Cut into Strips
- 1 Cup Bread Crumbs
- 1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan
- 1 tbsp Parsley
- 1 Clove Garlic
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Thyme
- 1/4 Cup Oil
Instructions
- Place the oil in a bowl and all the other dry ingredients in another bowl
- Cut Chicken in strips
- Dip chicken in the oil, and then the dry ingredients mix and coat
- Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
- Cook at 400 C for 25 mins (but check how they are doing around 20 mins)
Now you can absolutely play around with which herbs you add, I have thrown in fresh oregano and rosemary just because I had some on hand!
If my mother is coming over for dinner, I often throw in more garlic (no she is not a vampire, she is just a HUGE garlic fan...hehe).
I know Parmesan can be expensive. As a substitute you can use any hard grating cheese with good flavor. Grana Padano and Pecorino Romano are two less expensive cheeses that both pack a punch!
I used Portifino multigrain bread to make my bread crumbs, but this is another ingredient left for interpretation. I have used white, sourdough, or you can even incorporate crackling from your Lard Rendering (see previous post) as your bread crumb base.
Thank you for reading!