Sunday, April 27, 2008

Nuggets


Comfort food. Chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn and green beans.

When I first started cooking I found that every cookbook I found, even the most basic, neglected to add recipes such as simple baked chicken, mashed potatoes, meatloaf, even hard-boiled eggs. I mean, I had no idea how to cook any of that!

So even though it's simple, I'm putting these recipes up here.

Mashed Potatoes:

Peel the potatoes and cut them into medium-sized cubes. Put into a pan and add enough water to cover the tops of the potatoes with a little extra. Bring the pot to a boil and boil until a fork goes through the potato with little resistance. Drain the potatoes through a colander and put them back into the pan or a bowl and add butter. Some people add a little milk to make them creamier but I prefer to add just the butter. Mix using a hand mixer until they're mashed potato-ey.

Chicken Nuggets:
Prepare three bowls:
Bowl one should contain flour (rice flour works fine). Throw in seasonings (chicken blends are good!)
Bowl two should have an egg, beaten with a fork.
Bowl three should contain about 1 c. bread crumbs, or two slices of bread if using a food processor. Add chicken seasonings to taste. For a crunch, add in some crumbled Rice Chex.
Have a cookie sheet ready, greased slightly.

Cut up chicken (strips or breasts) into nugget sizes, keeping them uniform in size so they cook around the same time. Roll them around, one at a time, in the flour bowl, then in the egg bowl, then do the same in the bread crumb bowl. Place them on the sheet and stick them in the oven at 325 until the juices run clear when you cut into them.

Gravy:
This is something I'm still working on, because I can't quite get the gravy to have a strong flavor. I usually used the mixes, but haven't found any that are gluten free. Here's what I did, though.

Pour a can of chicken broth into a small saucepan. Heat up with some seasonings, then pour some (about 1/3 cup) into a bowl. Stir in about a tablespoon or so of corn starch, then stir that mixture back into the saucepan. Keep stirring until it thickens. Now, this would work as a gravy, but the way it looks grosses me out. I add a couple spoonfuls of sour cream to give it a little more taste and make it not look so funky but I'm still working on that.

Anyway, I have two more things to say: "nugget" is a funny word, and I have found a use for that gluten-free bread that's been in my freezer for a while. What else can I use bread crumbs for...?

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