This recipe is pretty easy and pretty healthy but also quite delicious! If you are missing your KFC or Nandos this might be a good way to pretend we’re all out of lockdown.
For this you will need:
A large frying pan, a meat tenderiser or rolling pin, some cling film, a spatula/cooking turner, and some bowls or plates.
These are your basic ingredients (serves 2):
2 chicken breasts (skins removed)
2 tablespoons of Plain flour
about the same of breadcrumbs (Panko crumbs are best but ordinary breadcrumbs will do)
1 egg
salt and pepper, and vegetable or sunflower oil for frying.
Ok, start by washing your hands. NB whenever you handle chicken (or any raw meat) you must wash your hands and not use the same utensils or other equipment (such as chopping boards) that you use for something else. Or wash them after placing meat on them.
Start by prepping the chicken breasts. Take each one and lightly wrap it in a piece of cling film. Don’t wrap it too tightly as it needs space to expand.
Now for the fun bit.
Start bashing it with your meat tenderiser (or rolling pin) – not too violently; the idea is to flatten it out so it is about half to a centimetre thick (5-10mm). This will mean it cooks quickly when you fry it. Repeat with the other breast, set them aside still wrapped in clingfilm.
Now take three bowls or plates and add flour )add some seasoning to this) to one, beaten egg to the second, and breadcrumbs to the third. Set these out next to each other in a row.
First, take a breast, unwrap and dip it in the flour, coating both sides evenly.
Then quickly dip the floured breast in the egg, on both sides, before lifting it out and coating it in breadcrumbs. You can now set this aside on a clean chopping board or a large plate. Do the same with the other one.
You are now ready to cook but as this won’t take long you might want to set the table and sort out whatever is going to accompany your chicken.
I made a green salad with croutons (basically fry off some cubes of bread in a frying pan with a little olive oil, and add to lettuce, cucumber, celery and some tomatoes). Add a dressing if you like, or simply some lemon juice and olive oil.
Alternatively oven chips or rice would go well with this – its up to you!
Now, turn on the heat under your frying pan and add some oil. You need enough oil for the chicken to cook evenly in but this is shallow frying – don’t go mad with the oil. And be careful, NEVER leave oil on the heat unattended, it can catch fire!
When the oil is hot (a tip is to use a small piece of bread – drop it in and if it quickly starts to sizzle you are good to go) add the breast one by one. If your pan is small then do one at a time.
Depending on the size of the chicken breasts these will take around 8-10 minutes to cook. Don’t have the gas or electric too high or all your will do is burn the oil and the breadcrumbs and not cook the meat.
After about 4 minutes check the underside of the chicken – is it turning a lovely golden colour? If it is flip it over (gently, don’t splash yourself) and cook the other side. When both sides are golden it should be done but there is a foolproof way to check.
Using a spatula/cooking turner) lift out the breast onto a chopping board and cut it in half. Is the meat still raw, or pink? If so it needs a minute or so more so pop it back in. If its white and there’s no sign of pink meat it is cooked. NB eating raw chicken is dangerous, don’t do it!
Now you plate it up, add a squeeze of lemon, and/or some salt and pepper, maybe serve with mayonnaise or ketchup, or whatever your relish of choice is.
And that’s it, fried chicken in less than 30 minutes. If you have it with a salad then its actually a pretty healthy dinner, if you add chips well, I’m not judging you!
Enjoy,
Drew
HISTORY AT NORTHAMPTON 