Ingredient: cayenne pepper

Baked Crispy Chicken Bites

Baked Crunchy Chicken Bites

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Baked Crunchy Chicken Bites

Everyone loves chicken tenders, chicken bites, or popcorn chicken. They are small, cute and taste great.

This recipe demonstrates a technique of lower calorie cooking for our families. Baking and not deep frying. When we remove the cooking fat, in we save hundreds of calories and do our body good.

Try this technique with your favorite sauces. Then, after you get the baking down as a skill, then change the coating. We suggest things like our Cheddar Bites, or replace the crackers with panko.

Panko are Japanese bread crumbs and make for a crispier crunchy chicken bite.

Another fun variation is to replace the chicken with another protein. How about shrimp or scallops or mini crab cakes?

  • Vegetable oil cooking spray
  • 2 tablespoons 2% milk (or buttermilk)
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 2 dozen snack crackers
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 boneless chicken breast halves
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or smoked paprika)
  • 1 egg
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Spray the cookie sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray. Set it aside.
  3. Place the flour, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in one of the plastic bags. Seal the back and shake it to mix the ingredients well. Set it aside.
  4. In the medium bowl, whisk the egg and milk together
  5. Put the crackers in the 2 nd plastic bag and seal the bag or close with a tie. Crush the crackers by rolling the rolling pin over the bag until the crackers are crumbly. Put the crushed crackers in the small bowl.
  6. On the cutting board, use the paring knife to cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, about 1 inch by 1 inch.
  7. Put the chicken pieces into the first plastic bag with the flour mixture. Seal the bag or close with a tie, and shake to mix. When all of the pieces are dusted with flour, remove the chicken from the bag.
  8. Dip the chicken pieces two-by- two into the egg mixture and then into the cracker crumbs.
  9. Place the chicken pieces in a single layer on the sprayed cookie sheet.
  10. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove cookie sheet from the oven using the oven mitts.

Tools Necessary-

  • Baking Sheet
  • 2 – 1 quart plastic bags
  • Medium bowl
  • Whisk
  • Small bowl
  • Rolling pin
  • Cutting board
  • Paring knife
  • Oven mitts
Main Dish
American

Baked Chicken with Orange Apricot Glaze

Baked Chicken with Toasted Spices and Orange-Apricot Glaze

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Baked Chicken with Toasted Spices and Orange-Apricot Glaze

Kids love dipping chicken pieces in sauce. Adults love grilled meats, pork, fish and poultry. Having the combination together makes for exciting dishes.

All over the world, glazed poultry can be found. There is the maple glaze, whiskey glaze, honey mustard, honey soy, lime soy, orange glazed, etc… The list can be as long as a few pages of print.

This recipe takes the glaze further by using toasted spices, baking technique, and adding a curry mayonnaise drizzle.

Apricots are a completely under-utilized fruit. While the demand for fresh apricots is growing, this dish celebrates the integration of this ingredient with poultry, spices and orange.

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds
  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 bunch scallions (trimmed and minced)
  • 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 skinless chicken breast fillets skin removed (organic preferred

Curried Mustard Mayo:

  • 1 teaspoons canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
  • 1 teaspoon sweet curry powder
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons honey Dijon mustard
  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Orange-Apricot Glaze

  • 4 tablespoons apricot preserves (chopped)
  • 1 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 C orange juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • canola oil
  • 3 cups really fresh (crisp watercress leaves)
  • Cilantro and watercress sprigs for garnish (optional)
  1. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with foil or use a silicon mat.  Using a silicon mat means you can cook with less fat.
  2. Use a small sauté pan, heat over medium heat for 2 minutes, then add coriander and cumin seeds and toast the spices moving them in the pan for 2 minutes or until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove from pan, cool and grind (use a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder.
  3. Place ground spices in a large bowl; add cilantro, scallions, kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; mix well. Cover each chicken breast with this mixture and refrigerate for one hour.

Curried Mustard Mayo:

  1. Using the same sauté pan that spices were toasted in, add and heat canola oil over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in curry powder and continue to sauté for 1 minute. Remove mixture to a mini food processor; reserve pan. Add mayonnaise and mustard to processor and puree. Remove to a small bowl, stir in cilantro and season, to taste, with sea salt and pepper. Refrigerate until needed.

Orange-Apricot Glaze:

  1. Place preserves, butter, orange juice and cayenne in reserved saucepan and cook over medium heat,
  2. stirring, until preserves and butter have melted. Boil glaze for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
  3. Bake Chicken at 400 degrees F for 4 minutes or broil for 2 minutes. Brush Chicken with half of the glaze; cook for 1 minute. Flip Chicken, brush with remaining glaze; Cook for 1 additional minute. Remove from heat.
  4. Place the Chicken on top of the watercress leaves and top with 1 teaspoon of mayonnaise mixture;
  5. Garnish platter or dinner plates with cilantro and watercress sprigs, as desired.

Tools Necessary- 

  • Baking Sheet
  • Silicon Mat
  • Measuring Cups
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Sauté Pan
  • Mortar & Pestle
  • Large Bowl
  • Small Bowl
  • Mini Food Processor
  • Pastry Brush
Main Dish, Poultry and Eggs