My husband and I have a lot of disagrements when it comes to eating takeaways. I think Mark would have one every weekend but I’m a huge fan of cooking (shocker) and I take so much satisfaction from making something myself from scratch and packing it full of great ingredients. That doesn’t mean that it can’t replicate a good takeaway (there’s a reason these things are popular) and cooking pizzas or curries in this house is a fairly common occurrence.
The one thing I do actually enjoy are chicken strippers from our well known fast food places. If I’m travelling on the road and get stuck for dinner, it is my little guilty pleasure and I’ll take it over a burger or a pre-packed soggy sandwich any day. But right now, everything is closed and I’m working from home and not commuting! To keep us both happy, I decided to knock up some “fakeaway” chicken dippers.
I‘ve included recipes below for coleslaw (takes 5 mins it’s better than any shop bought coleslaw you’ll get and served with a little bowl of my breakfast beans recipe is also pretty good. You can make the beans recipe in bulk and then freeze them in portions to defrost whenever you want some. Again, I guarantee these beans will taste 10 times better than anything you’ll find straight our of a can from the supermarket! My homemade chips are also really easy to do!
These chicken dippers are crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside and loaded with flavour. So whatever you serve them with, I hope you’ll love them as much as we do!
Oven Baked Chicken Strips
Serves 2 hungry people
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
200g plain yoghurt (I use Greek)
Juice 1/2 lemon
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
Freshly ground salt and pepper
2 eggs, beaten
5 handfuls of cornflakes, crushed by hand
200g dried natural (not golden) breadcrumbs
Spray oil
To serve:
Oven baked chips (I use 3 medium potatoes, square off the potatoes and cut into chips approx 1 1/2cm thick (square). I part boil the potatoes for 5 minutes before draining and leaving to steam dry. Place on a baking tray, spray with oil, season with salt and paprika and bake in the oven 5 minutes longer than the chicken, turning the chips half way through cooking, adding another spritz of oil as you do)
Breakfast beans:
Coleslaw- grate 1 carrot, finely slice half an onion and finely slice a wedge (handful) of red cabbage. Add to a bowl with 2 tbsp mayo, 2 tbsp natural yoghurt, 1 tsp Dijon mustard and salt and pepper. Yum!
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prepare a large non-stick baking tray (I line mine with a silicone mat).
2. Take the chicken breast and place into a chopping board. Cover with a piece of cling film and bash the thick end of the chicken breast until even thickness (this helps it cook evenly).
Slice each breast into 3-4 inch-thick pieces
3. In a bowl, add the yoghurt, lemon juice, seasoning and spices and stir together. Add the chicken strips and set aside to marinate.
4. In another bowl, add the two eggs and whisk
5. Add the crushed cornflakes and breadcrumbs to a separate bowl and mix together.
6. Take each chicken strip- dip into the cornflake/breadcrumb mix and coat. Dip gently into the egg and then back into the crumb coat. Lay flat on the baking tray. Repeat with the remaining strips.
7. Spray each strip lightly with oil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn over and bake for a further 10 minutes. Turn the heat up for the last 5 minutes to 200° to really crisp that chicken up.
Serve with chips, coleslaw and beans!