A Rednecks Fried Chicken Tenders

It’s a process, not a recipe.

When it comes to cooking the best fried chicken there are an enormous number of variables at play that we must be able to control. Being able to control these variables will result in a repeatable recipe that will feel easy to reproduce and will be encouraging for you to want to and be able to recreate time and time again.

I have learned over the years that our taste will change as we age. This can cause us not to like things that we once loved and vice versa. For this reason, I have determined that cooking good chicken is not deemed by having the perfect recipe or the best sauce, instead, it is having the best process of cooking chicken.

I believe I have one of the best processes to create some of the best chicken that can be made at home. The best thing is you will only need a few ingredients.

What you’ll need

seasoning

· Chicken pollo

· Garlic powder

· Coarse ground black pepper

· Ground cayenne pepper

· Ground paprika

· Coarse ground kosher salt

Product

· Pan to fry in or a household fryer

· Tenderizing hammer or rolling pin.

Ingredients

· Boneless skinless Chicken breast

· Vegetable oil or whatever cooling oil you prefer.

· All-purpose flour

Lets get started.

The process that I lay out here is going to be for chicken strips, this tends to be an awesome go to for most everyone, and kids love them.

The seasoning that you may need can be purchased with the redneck Amazon affiliate program.

Preparing the tenders

1. Start by laying your chicken breast out on a flat solid surface. I like to use a tenderizing hammer, but a rolling pin will work just as well, and beat meat a few times on each side. This aids in tenderizing the meat by breaking some of the tough muscle fibers.

2. Once tenderized let’s go ahead and slice the breast length wise to get 4-5 strips of meat.

3. Once all meat is sliced, place in a large bowl, and we can begin a flavorful and chemically induced tenderizing by adding our chicken pollo. I like to use a light dusting, approximately a tablespoon per 4 breasts or somewhere around 3 pounds.

4. Add the Garlic powder and coarse ground black pepper to taste. Typically, it’s a 2:1:1 (2 parts chicken pollo, one part garlic powder, one part black pepper) ratio for me.

5. Mix these three ingredients together in the bowl with chicken until the chicken is evenly coated. Allow tenders to sit and rise in room temperature for approximately 15 minutes.

While chicken rises in temperature, we can begin warming up some cooking oil to 350 degrees, and begin making our breading to dredge the chicken in.

The Breading

Everyone likes to think that they have the best, most crispy chicken by using some special powder or other ingredients. Being a redneck, I find the simplest approach is the best approach. I like to use your standard all-purpose flour. I typically do not bother with even sifting the flour, as clumps in the flour aid in creating the best breading.

1. In a large bowl add 3 cups of flour and more of the good ol SPG mix (Salt, Pepper, Garlic) using the coarse ground kosher salt in this step.

2. Season to taste. With roughly equal parts or everything for a spicy chicken or just a dusting of cayenne for light spice.

3. Mix ingredients well your flour should have a light red tint to it, and a pleasant aroma!

Lets Get Cooking

Once the oil is to temperature, we can begin the process of cooking.

Here is a pro tip, to ensure your seasoning is correct start with one piece and cook it alone to ensure you are happy with the seasoning balance.

1. Start by dredging a few pieces of chicken in the flour, I like to roll them then pack them pressing the flour into the meat, and encouraging all the open grains of meat to bind with some seasoned flour. Gently shake off any excess

2. If you are using a frying basket, lay each piece in and slowly lower into oil.

3. Allow to cook until reaching 165 degrees then remove and place them on a cooling rack. I like to use my oven on a keep warm setting. This will allow the chicken to slowly cool by not allowing the meat to get cold and hard.

4. Rinse and repeat until you have cooked all your chicken.

All there is to do now is gather around the table and enjoy with your friend and family.

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Another great addition to this is some home-made white gravy to dip your strips in. I’ll be adding that recipe/process soon.