Here we are going to talk about customizing Chicken Fingers Your Way. Today there are a significant number of dining establishments offering chicken fingers on their menus. Each location puts a different twist on their recipe. There are a myriad of ways they can be prepared. Let’s look at a basic recipe for chicken fingers and some ways you can convert it to Chicken Fingers Your Way!
Typical Chicken Fingers Recipe
Chicken Fingers
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 8 Ounces Chicken Finger Strips
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/8 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 1-1/2 teaspoons Honey
- 1-1/2 teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over a medium-high heat.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add to hot oil and cook, stirring chicken until chicken strips are no longer pink in the center, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in honey and balsamic vinegar and cook for another minute.
Options for Chicken Fingers your way
The recipe as written will provide a certain flavor that may or may not be to your taste. I have included a couple of different flavor options below to demonstrate a couple of simple flavor changes.
Changes for Flavor My Way
There are four changes I would make immediately to be more to my taste;
1) eliminate the salt – we use no salt, or as little as possible, when cooking on the savory side for health reasons.
2) Use freshly ground black pepper – black pepper ground fresh from pepper corns provide a more robust and stronger flavor. If you are not used to using freshly ground pepper you may want to put a little less than normal to start and then add to taste.
3) Combine all the ingredients and marinade for 2 hours.
4) Bake the strips, rather than fry them, in a 350 degrees F preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Customizing to your taste
Now let’s talk about changes that may be more to your taste. You could do one of the following:
Starting with the base recipe you can add or delete ingredients, add favorite combination of seasonings so you flavor it to your taste.
A couple of examples are:
For an Italian flavor: add 1 clove of minced garlic, and 2 Tablespoons of Italian seasoning
For a Mexican flavor: add 1/2 teaspoon Taco seasoning
To add a little more zing: add a Cajun blend to taste.
You may want to add more or less of a particular seasoning providing your taste.
We will be talking more about different ways to season and how to make your own flavor combinations in future posts.