Oven-Fried "Chicken" Cutlets
Yes, we still exist. No, we haven’t forsaken you internet world! Between being hit by a stomach flu that knocked both Katie and me on our collective asses for over a week, and just trying to work as little overtime as possible, there’s been little chance to either cook at home or go out to eat.
We fixed that this weekend with two great recipes that I will be sharing with you, valued reader (or those that are still with us). I also have a review of our new local pizza place coming your way. Mike’s back! And he’s still not able to eat extremely rich foods!
I think most everyone can agree that everything tastes better fried. There’s something delicious about turning vegetable oil into its base carcinogens. Hell, someone even figured out how to deep fry guacamole. I never want to taste deep-fried guacamole, but I wanted to let people know it was out there.
So when I saw this recipe for “Fried Chicken” in Bitch in the Kitch I was pretty excited. And if they actually fried their chicken instead of baking it, this could very well have been the greatest recipe ever (until I add Bacon Salt that is).
But, the women of Skinny Bitch are all about being “healthy” so I’ll play their way this time around. Next time though, I pulling out my gallon of vegetable oil and making these suckers extra crispy.
One big change from their recipe to my final version is I went with a mock-KFC secret spices recipe for the breading. I’ll include that below as well.
The finished product is definitely crunchy, thanks to the panko. And while I feel it could use a little more spice, it’s not a bad starting point. The cornbread has an interesting consistency due in part to some silken tofu in place of the normal moisteners. Still tasty.
Oven-Fried “Chicken” & Cornbread
- 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs, more if needed
- 1 1/2 cups sifted flour
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon onion salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
- 1/4 teaspoon dried powdered rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon dried powdered thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 pounds seitan cut into largish blocks or ripped into hunks (recipe can be found here)
Preheat oven to 450F. Grease a large baking sheet with oil. Set aside.
In a shallow bowl, combine the flour and spices. In a second bowl mix the milk and egg. Pour the panko into a third bowl. One at a time, dip the seitan into the milk, the flour, the milk again, the flour again, the milk one more time, and finally the panko, pressing to thoroughly coat. Arrange the seitan on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Turn the pieces over and cook for 10 minutes more, or until slightly browned and heated throughout.
Serves 6-8
Cornbread
- 1 Tablespoon oil
- 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
- 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup silken tofu
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- Parmesan cheese to toss on top
Preheat oven to 425F. Oil a 13×9-inch baking pan. Set aside.
In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients. In a blender, combine the milk, tofu oil and honey, pureeing until smooth. Add the milk mixture to the cornmeal mixture, stirring just until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
Bake the cornbread until golden brown — about 20 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then remove the cornbread from the pan and return to rack to cool completely.
Serves 6-8
Two Bites in Suburbia 