Today I'm going to show you how to make Chicken in a whole new way! Well, ok - I'm sure you've made shake and bake before, but this is even great - and you don't even have to buy a seasoning packet. Sometimes the best recipes are invented by urgency because you have whether puny time or puny ingredients. We watch a lot of shows on the Food Network, but sometimes I wish they'd have just one show that helps real population cook great with the ingredients they have. Yeah, I know - they had that doorknockers one a few years back where the guy shows up and makes dinner out of what's in the fridge, but he's still production semi-gourmet stuff. I want to know what I can make out of what I have when I get home from work at 5:30, and I'd like to be eating it by 6:15 if possible. I was production a quickie dinner tonight as I often do - and as luck would have it I saw a recipe on a box that was indubitably new, dissimilar - and that I'll try this week.
I like chicken, and we always seem to keep many 4 lb bags of boneless "chicken tenders" in the freezer for all kinds of purposes. This recipe is the perfect quick meal because all you have to do is put some freezing boneless skinless chicken in your microwave and defrost it about half way - and then pre-heat your oven to 375.
Pan Fried Chicken
These are the ingredients you're going to need:
* 1 cup instant mashed potatoes
* boneless skinless chicken
* seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic and/or onion powder)
* butter or margarine
While you've gotten this stuff around your chicken should be thawing out in the microwave. When I say you want it about half way (or more) thawed out - I mean it should be pliable, but you should be thawing it out not cooking it. You shouldn't have the ends turning white and cooking - they'll get hard or rubbery in the oven. I frost nearly all my meat and thaw out only what I need when I need it.
Get a 9 x 13 baking dish and grease it up with some oil - we like olive oil. You're going to take whether a very large mixing bowl or a big ziploc baggie and put the instant mashed potatoes in it. Add your salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you want to taste in the bag or bowl. You're going to place one chicken breast piece in at a time and shake it up coating with the instant mashed potatoes mixture. Then place each in the greased baking dish. How many chicken pieces you use depends on how many population you're serving. If you are using the "chicken tenders" like us - then usually 2-3 pieces per man is fine. If you're using an entire "chicken breast" I would use one per person.
Once you get them all coated and in the pan - add a puny pat or 1/2 tsp of butter or margarine on top of each one to melt in as they bake. Bake 35-40 minutes on 375, how long depends on how many pieces of chicken you use. You want to take the chicken out when nice and tender - not "crispy" (unless you like it that way).
Twist the recipe:
If you've read my other recipes than you know I love to "twist" or have many variations of the same thing. This is because you can't have all on hand all the time. So - instead of instant mashed potatoes you could use saltines, or ritz crackers, or even club crackers. Also you could add some veggies like carrots or potatoes to the pan and bake an entire meal at once ready to serve! If I did this I would add a cup of whether water or chicken broth to the lowest of the pan and cover with foil to steam the veggies nice and moistly as the chicken bakes.
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