Tupelo-Style Chicken

Adapted from Hard Rock Cafe's Tupelo-style chicken

If you like crunchy chicken fingers you will love the taste of these.  The recipe is a bit long, but it really isn't as time consuming as it would appear. There are many different spices in this one.  There have been times I have not had everyone of them on hand and it still turned out good.  So don't let the fact that you don't have something like cumin stop you.  The ingredient that adds the most crunchiness to it is the cornflake crumbs, I would not leave that out!  The dipping sauces are delicious and I suggest doing them ahead of time and having them on hand to have for spontaneous chicken finger snacking.  I have discovered glass baby food jars make excellent containers for storing the sauces in.

Here is everything you need for both sauces and the chicken fingers:

Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard
2 teaspoons honey
Pinch of paprika

Whisk together all the ingredients.  Set aside or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use.

Apricot Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons deli mustard (a Dijon type works best, but plain yellow is fine also)
1 tablespoon apricot preserves
2 tablespoons honey

Whisk together all the ingredients.  Set aside or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use.

Chicken Fingers
1 cup crumbled cornflakes
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion
Pinch of garlic powder
Oil for frying chicken (either in a deep fryer or pan frying)
1 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 to 2  pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

To make the breading, combine all the dry ingredients, except the flour, and place in a shallow dish.

Preheat oil in either deep fryer or heavy-bottomed saucepan to 350 degrees.  If using a saucepan, coat the bottom of the pan approximately 1/4 inch on the bottom on medium-high heat.

Beat together 1 cup of milk and egg, and set in a shallow bowl.  Place the flour in a shallow dish.

Cut chicken breasts into 1/2 inch wide strips.  Coat each strip; with the flour and the egg, then coat with the flour again and egg again.

Press each strip into the cornflake mixture and carefully fry, in batches, for 4-5 minutes, until each strip is golden brown and cooked through.  Drain on paper towels.

Serve with the two dipping sauces on the side.

Olga Bread Chicken Sandwiches

This morning I could think of nothing to serve for dinner tonight.  I had a whole afternoon dedicated to making a meal and posting it on this site, but nothing was coming to me as to what to make.  I even brought Makayla and RJ to the video store to rent them each a movie to keep them happy while I worked on it.  Much to my dismay we arrived to the video store too early for it to be open and had to buy some time.  We ended up at the grocery store so that I could do some brain storming.  I was aimlessly walking around when I saw chicken breast on sale.  Somehow the Olga bread came to my mind and I finally knew what I was going to have tonight.  My neighbor gave me this recipe for the bread a couple of years ago and it is always a hit when I remember to make it.  It can be made with whole wheat flour, but tonight I used white.

Here is what you need to make the bread: 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup warm water, 1/4 cup honey, 1 egg, 4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon yeast (or one package), 1/4 cup butter, 1 teaspoon sugar.

Scald milk.  Place scalded milk in a large bowl with honey, butter, and salt.  Stir until butter is melted.  Let cool.

In a small bowl combine sugar, dry yeast and warm water.  You will know if your yeast is good if it bubbles.

Add 1 1/2 cups flour to milk mixture, add eggs, and mix well.

Add yeast mixture and 2 1/2 cups flour.  Mix until dough is sticky.  Knead on a floured surface or in a standing mixer.  If using a mixer, switch to a bread hook after you add the flour.

Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover.  Let rise until double in size, approximately an hour.

Gently turn the dough onto the counter and divide into 16 pieces.

Shape each section into a ball and roll out into 1/8th thickness, 8-10" round.

In a large heated skillet (cast iron works best) cook until golden brown on one side and then flip and cook the other side.

This is enough for 16 sandwiches!  You can freeze them in a ziplock bag if you don't use them all up within a day.

Now you are ready to make the breaded chicken to put on your Olga bread.  Or, you can put whatever you want on it!  Here is what I used (although I did end up needing more bread crumbs, about another cup):

Pound out the chicken, sprinkled them with salt, and cut them into strips.  Place the chicken in the milk and egg mixture.

Take one strip out at a time and roll them in the bread crumbs.  I used panko crumbs until I ran out, and then I used plain bread crumbs.

Now all you need to do is pan fry the chicken until they are browned and cooked through.

Place the chicken on your bread with some toppings of your choice and you will have a great tasting dinner!