Pancake

Pancake

I don’t know with you, but it gives me a heavy heart to throw away food especially when it has reached it’s expiration date. My buttermilk, which is a leftover from baking banana breads over the holidays will be expiring soon and I need to use it before January 20, 2012 so that it will not go to waste.

So for breakfast, I made Best Buttermilk Pancakes from Martha Stewart. In this recipe, I added blueberries. The buttermilk really made the pancakes tender.

For the remaining buttermilk, I finished it off by making it as marinate for my Crunchy Breaded Chicken Fingers. Again, the buttermilk made the chicken breast moist and flavorful.

Crunchy Breaded Chicken Fingers

Ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 cups canola oil for frying

Directions:

1. In a glass bowl, combine 1 cup buttermilk,1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce,1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and chicken. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. In a large shallow bowl, whisk flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon paprika. Remove chicken from refrigerator, and dredge chicken one at a time in mixture, shaking off excess.

3. Place eggs in a wide shallow bowl. Dip chicken into egg, shaking off excess, then into panko bread crumbs, pressing to adhere.

4. In a heavy-bottom skillet or a cast iron skillet, heat oil until a pinch of flour sizzles when dropped in the oil.

5. Carefully place coated chicken in hot oil. Fry until golden brown and drain on paper towels.

Blogging Mama’s Tip:

1. Using a cast iron skillet results into a golden brown and crispy chicken. The cast iron gives an even heat distribution and a perfect tool for frying.

2. Make sure the oil is hot and fry in batches. Overcrowding the pan will lower the oil temperature and result in soggy, greasy chicken because more oil will be absorbed.

3. Draining chicken in paper towels helps absorb excess oil too.