Baked Chicken Nuggets: Recipes From A Monastery Kitchen
By Gourmet Nun
For years I have been making what I called crispy chicken strips, the result of an idea that came to me out of the blue and one that was very successful after simply trying it out on my own without any recipe.
I used them a lot as appetizers along with chutney or sweet and sour sauce. Sometimes I top a salad with them for a nice lunch, and often I add Italian spices and grated Parmesan cheese to the crumbs and serve them with a favorite pasta and sauce for a main meal.
I liked my original idea and have been quite pleased with myself for having come up with something that tasted so good and was exclusively mine or so I thought . . . until a while ago when flipping through a friend’s recipe book and look what I found:
“Baked Chicken Nuggets” – almost identical to what I’d been making, only using bread crumbs instead.
7-8 boneless chicken breasts, uncooked
Onion salt
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups crushed saltines
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, optional
2 Tablespoons mixed Italian spices, optional
Cut chicken into 1½ inch pieces. Season well with onion salt. Dip chicken in butter, then in crumb mixture, adding in optional Italian spices and Parmesan cheese for a Mediterranean accent if desired. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes – just until golden but still plump and juicy – not dry.
Makes 14-16.
P.S. Saltines give a much crispier crust than bread crumbs.
