Opposites definitely attract. There are times when I want dinner to be labor-of-love impressive. Those are the times when you can guarantee that my husband will just want a sandwich for dinner. Darn.
And then there are times when I want dinner to be the equivalent to just getting out of bed that morning. We have cereal and milk in the house? At the same time? We have dinner! And right on cue, he says, “Let’s have steak tonight.” Double darn.
One of my husband’s favorite things to eat, chicken tenders, fall somewhere in the middle. I guess if there’s one thing a girl from the south is supposed to be able to get right, it would probably be frying chicken. Simple food, decently easy prep, and disastrously messy. There are the marinating and dredging dishes, the resting plate, the frying pan, the post-frying pan. And we’re not even counting dinner dishes and utensils yet. Or the gravy pot and baking sheet for french fries… two people, two loads of dishes. The math is simple enough, I guess.
My husband prefers his chicken “plain” along side a bowl of cream gravy and a mountain of french fries. Me? I want those bad boys tossed in wing sauce and served with a ridiculously thick bleu cheese dressing. And hold the fries.
Crispy Chicken Tenders
Crispy, fried chicken tenders perfect for Sunday dinner.
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp vinegar
- 1/2-1 tsp Tobasco
- 1lb chicken tenders
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- black pepper
- 2 tsp Tony Chachere’s Cajun Seasoning
Instructions
- Heat ~1-inch vegetable oil in a cast iron pan/dutch oven to 350.
- Place chicken tenders in a shallow dish. Stir cream, vinegar, and Tobasco in a small bowl until just combined. Immediately pour over chicken (it can thicken rather quickly - and it's okay if it does). Move the tenders around a bit to ensure even coating.
- In a separate shallow dish, combine flour, a generous amount of fresh-ground black pepper, and Tony Chachere's and mix well.
- When the oil is ready, move 2-3 tenders at a time from the "wet pan" to the "dry pan." Dredge in seasoned flour, ensuring complete coverage, shake off any excess flour, and place on a plate. Repeat for as many tenders as you can fit in your frying pan.
- Transfer chicken to the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, approximately 3-5 minutes. Flip and fry until breading is golden brown. Remove from the pan and place on a rack sitting over a baking sheet.
- Dredge the remaining chicken. Allow oil to reheat before adding any the chicken to the pan.
Notes
Yields: 3-4 servings
Estimated time: 30 minutes