I love the weekends--for the obvious reasons of course--not being in the office, no phones to answer, no problems to solve, no documents to type, no emails to respond to. But my favorite thing about the weekends is that I eat whatever I want--nothing is off-limits. I get a little light-headed toward the end of every week just thinking about all the possibilities for indulging. This weekend I wanted outrageously crispy, spicy fried chicken like my mom used to make, the guiltiest of guilty pleasures. Her secret to crunchy chicken was adding buttermilk to the flour dredge mixture, a technique I use with my tenders.
There's no evidence that these tenders ever existed, other than a few crunchy crumbs on the platter last night. You'll just have to believe me--I made them, and they were spectacular.
Crunchy-Like-Crazy Chicken Tenders
1 lb chicken tenders
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/4 cup buttermilk (plus an additional 1/4 - 1/2 for dredge mixture)
1/2 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 buttermilk (more if needed)
Cayenne pepper or hot sauce (optional)
Vegetable oil
Place chicken tenders in a large, resealable bag. Mix hot sauce, 1/4 cup buttermilk, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper (if using), and pour over tenders. Seal bag, place in refrigerator, and marinate for 1-4 hours.
In a shallow dish, combine flour and salt. Into 1/4 cup buttermilk, add cayenne pepper or hot sauce to taste, if desired. Drizzle buttermilk into flour, lightly stirring with a fork. The texture should look similar to shortening cut into flour. Add more buttermilk if needed at this time or during the dredging process to keep the lumpy texture.
Remove tenders from bag. Add to flour mixture, several at a time, and toss to coat completely. Remember to add more buttermilk, if needed.
Add 3/4 - 1 inch vegetable oil to an electric skillet or pan. When hot, add tenders in batches, if necessary, and cook for about 3 minutes on each side until tenders are golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to drain.
Serve with your favorite sauce, if desired, and savor the weekend.
