Breaded Chicken Fingers

And so it begins....my first exam was today :( Well, it went pretty ok, actually. So that wasn't too bad. I wish I could say the same for the dinner though, Unfortunately, I was cooking today as well. I picked a simple recipe because I would have to cook right after the exam. At least, I thought it was a simple recipe:

What you need:
Boneless chicken breasts, cut into half inch pieces
1 egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/1 teaspoons garlic powder (or to taste)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

What you do:

1. Place the chicken in a plastic resealable bag. In a small bowl, mix the egg, buttermilk and garlic powder. Pour mixture into chicken. Seal and refrigerate for 2 - 4 hours at least.
2. In another large bag, mix together flour, breadcrumbs, salt and baking powder. Remove chicken from fridge and drain. Discard marinade. Place chicken in flour mixture. Seal and shake to coat.
3. Carefully place coated chicken in hot oil. Fry until golden brown and juices run clear.

I was scared that the chicken might be quite tasteless (buttermilk, after all, doesn't taste like anything much - just sour). So I made a kind of dip to go with it. Just mix 1 cup of cour cream, with about 4 cloves of garlic (minced, or just use garlic powder :P), 4 sprigs of fresh parsley (finely chopped), 2 tablespooons Worcestershire sauce, 1 small finely minced shallot, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 drops tabasco. Refrigerate overnight for a more potent flavour ;) The resulting sauce wasn't my taste, but Justin really liked it, so....it couldn't have been that bad, I suppose.

Anyway, back to the chicken. It did turn out kind of...well, it was salty, that was all. So the sauce might not be a bad idea. Tomato ketchup goes quite well as well. It wasn't one of my best dinners, sad to say. For about 2/3 of the chicken, I couldn't be bothered to fry it, so I baked it instead. Not necassarily a good idea, it would have been crispier if it had been fried. But it was ok. I don't suggest you do it with thigh fillets though, otherwise it would be quite oily.

I also suggest not using the flour and just sticking with the breadcrumbs. Presentation would have been better. And the marinade definitely needs more flavour. Some salt and pepper maybe, buttermilk and garlic is just not enough....

As for what is buttermilk? Its completely different from the buttermilk in last time's (my baby, haha :P) Its basically just curdled milk, so it doesn't taste like anything much. Slightly sour, maybe. To get home-made buttermilk, apparently you just add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk. I never tried this, so I don't know what would happen, but I suggest you don't try it with strong vinegars like rice vinegar. :P