Saturday, January 13, 2018

Pickle brined chicken??

Yes, indeed -- brined in pickle juice! Instead of tossing all that yummy juice, save it for this dish, inspired by one from skinnytaste.com (https://www.skinnytaste.com/pickle-brined-baked-chicken-tenders)


Instead of baking the tenders, I cooked them on my cast iron skillet with a misting of cooking oil spray. The dipping sauce is 1.5 Tbsp light mayo, 0.5 Tbsp Dijon mustard, a squeeze of lime juice and freshly ground pepper. A whopping total of 3 SP for a very satisfying lunch. Next time, I will try baking them in a bigger batch for a dinner.

To brine the chicken, just toss 2-3 tenders into the jar after the pickles are gone. Leave for at least 8 hours; these were brined overnight. Remove from the brine, pat VERY dry, dredge in beaten egg and again in Panko breadcrumbs. I cooked them, on medium high for 5 minutes, sprayed the tops, then flipped them over and cooked, covered, on medium low for another 5 minutes. 

Since the brine will tenderize the meat, I would imagine even slices of chicken breast would come out fork tender this way.

My Chickens' First Night

 Sunset  was at 8:11 pm so I went out to the pen a little after 8. The three chickens were milling around, scratching and peeping and seemin...