Chicken Tenders

This is a recipe with a little story behind it. When I was pregnant with the twins, I craved a crispy chicken sandwich, and none of the halal restaurants in our town served anything like that. So I began experimenting and playing around until I prefected this recipe. So I could eat them in a sandwich. When I was learning how to make it, I kept imagining how I am one day going to serve this to my twins when they are big enough to eat it. That time arrived faster than I expected.

1 Thawed halal chicken breast

Slice it across the grain of the muscle.

Slice it fairly thin.

Place 1/4 cup of either unbleached all-purpose flour, or garbanzo and fava bean flour, in a gallon size zip-lock bag. I like to use garbanzo and fava flour when I can find it. Add spices to taste. I use about a half teaspoon each, of ground mustard powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.

Put the chicken in the bag also, and give it a good shake, to coat it with the flour and spices.

To make the final coating, Panko Bread crumbs, stick, I make an egg wash. 2 egg whites, and 1 Tablespoon of water whisked together.

Dip the flour-coated chicken tenders in the egg wash.

Then coat them in Kikkoman Panko Bread crumbs. These are by far the best brand I have used. I press the crumbs into the chicken to help them stick, and to flatten the chicken tenders a bit.

They are now ready to fry, or place in the fridge to fry later in the day.

Always Pompeian, first cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil all the time.

Chicken breast should be cooked quickly on very high heat, and then removed, to avoid getting tough chicken. About a minute or a minute and a half on each side.

Place the cooked chicken on paper towel to drain excess oil. My kids can not wait to dig into this plate. They stand around and say, "chik-in, chik-in, chik-in," when they see me preparing these. They are very familiar with the procedure.

This is their favorite side dish. The secret to good corn on the cob, is to use FRESH corn. Never use frozen corn. Bring the water to a boil before plunging the corn into its boiling bath. If it starts to boil too fast, just reduce the heat a bit, and tilt the lid, but make sure it keeps on boiling. Corn should be in the water about 20 minutes from start to finish, even though it stops boiling for a few minutes right after you add the corn to the water. When finished, drain away the water. Don't let the corn sit in the water long after it is finished or all the flavor will leech into the water. My boys love to chew corn off a cob.

Spicy Chicken Wings

1 package halal chicken wings, about 2 pounds or 25 to 30 wings. If they are frozen, thaw them in cold tap water. Cut them in sections, using a sharp knife, seperate the wings at each joint. Discard the gristly tips.

Broil one side at about 450 degrees farenheit until they are golden brown, then turn them over and brown the other side.

For the sauce, combine:

1 cup vegetable juice like V-8,

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce,

2 teaspoons vinegar,

1/4 cup hot sauce,

1 Tablespoon prepared horse radish (if you like it, it is delicious without this too)

Stir it all together and simmer it until it gets just a little bit thicker. It should coat the back of your spoon, when you dip your spoon in it and pull it out again.

Now add your broiled wing sections and simmer it a little longer, maybe 10 minutes. A wooden spoon is sufficient to turn the wings over just until they are well coated with the sauce.

Finally they are done, spicy and succulent.

Serving suggestion. Shown with Roasted 'Tatoes and Vegan Homemade Biscuits.

This is too spicy for toddlers, and the bones are also a bad idea for toddler fingers. However, my husband is a happy man when he sees this on his plate.

Red Chicken Stew

The veggies and spices for this dish.
1 large onion, diced
4 large garlic cloves, smashed
3 large sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup raisins (I'm using craisins because I ran out of raisins)
1 dry lime/lemon, pierced, or 1 tsp. ground dry lime/lemon; you could also use 3 bay leaves if you can't find the dry limes/lemons, lemon grass would work too, whichever you choose, remember to take it out before serving the stew.
1 Tablespoon Curry powder
salt to taste.

1 whole chicken, thawed in cold water.

Cut into eight pieces.

Cover the chicken in water. Boil for about ten minutes. Drain the chicken, carefully, because the water is boiling hot. Wash the pot with soap and water, to get rid of the nasty gray scum on the insides of the pot. It would not be appetizing to have that scum floating in your stew.

Lay the partially cooked chicken on a plate until you've washed the pot.

Put a little oil, about 1/4 cup, in the bottom of the clean pot. Brown the partially cooked chicken with the diced onion. Throw in the smashed garlic cloves when the chicken is browned to your liking, just to release the aroma of the garlic. Then just cover the chicken with water.

Add about 2 cups of V-8 juice, 1 Tablespoon of curry powder and salt to taste.

Add your 1/2 cup of raisins, your chunks of peeled sweet potatoes and your pierced dry lime. Cover your pot and simmer it over medium heat until the sweet potatoes are soft. At least a half hour or a little longer.

Smash the sweet potatoes into the broth with the back of your spoon and simmer about 10 minutes longer. To serve, ladel the stew over the rice in the previous recipe.

*This meal is a fairly typical combination of sweet and savory flavors found in standard Iraqi cuisine.

Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

1 whole halal chicken
6 medium red-skin potatoes
malt vinegar to taste
Worcestershire sauce to taste
olive oil as needed
crushed rosemary to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Preheat your oven at 450 degrees farenheit.

Thaw your chicken in cold water, allow the faucet to stream slowly into the bowl and let it run steady for about 30 to 45 minutes, to thaw it safely and fast. I aim the stream of water directly at the cavity at the tail of the chicken so the force of the slowly running water works on the ice inside the chicken faster. Once the chicken is thawed, or nearly thawed, butterfly it by slicing it open along the spine with a very sharp knife wash the inside and make sure all of the entrails have been removed.

Wash the potatoes and cut them in chunks, skin on. Toss them with a little olive oil and place them skin-side-down in your baking dish. Sprinkle them with rosemary, fresh ground pepper and salt.

Place the chicken, skin-side-down, on top of the potatoes. Break the breast bone with the blade of your sharpest knife, just so the chicken will lay flatter. Cooking the chicken on top of the potatoes prevents it from sticking to the baking dish, making the bird easier to flip later on.

Now shake on the vinegar, worcestershire sauce, olive oil, and give it a sprinkle of salt.

Roast it in your 450 degree oven until the up-side is pretty and brown, about 30 minutes.

Take 2 forks and to get a hold on the chicken on each side. Now flip it skin-side-up. Give it a few more shakes of vinegar, worcestershire sauce, olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Return it to the oven and continue roasting for another 30 to 45 minutes. It should be perfectly browned.

Now remove the pan from the oven and cover it with foil for about 15 minutes, or until ready to serve.

I make this recipe about once a week because it makes my men happy. There's nothing more satisfying to a Mama than watching her babies put food in their mouths, with both hands. Heehee.

Chicken Wings

3 pounds, about 30, chicken wings
olive oil
salt

Rinse the wings and pat them dry with a paper towel. Cut the hard tips off each wing and discard them, then section each wing by cutting through the elbow joint with a sharp knife. In a large bowl, drizzle them with olive oil, add a few shakes of salt and toss them around in the bowl. Place the wing sections in a single layer in a baking dish and pop them under the broiler. Broil them until they are golden brown, flip them once and broil the other side. When the wings look perfectly golden on each side, toss them into the pot with the sauce. Recipe below.

Non-Alcoholic Bloody Mary Wing Sauce

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 cup Worcestershire Sauce
3 cups V-8 juice
3 Tablespoons grated or ground horseradish
2 Tablespoons hot sauce
Cornstarch powder, if needed

Pour lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, and V-8 into a medium, heavy-bottom pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so the liquid will just simmer, uncovered, maybe 30 minutes. After it reduces somewhat, add the hot sauce, save the horse radish until just before adding the chicken wings. If the sauce appears more runny than you like, at the time when you'd like to add the chicken wings, whisk in about a teaspoon full of cornstarch, if it's still too runny, then repeat the process. You can always add more if you need to, but once you've put it in your sauce, you can never take it away. You want it to be like a barbeque sauce you'd buy from a store. Lastly, add your pre-cooked chicken wings and roll them gently around in the sauce, with a long spoon and cover the pot. Leave the heat on the lowest possible setting to make the sauce bubble a little until each wing is thoroughly coated and spicy. Serve hot or cold.