Double Crunch Honey Chicken

Life changing? I think so. I have seen this recipe from Rock Recipes on Pinterest for months and it always catches my eye. So tonight, was the night.

Crispy crunchy fried chicken and wow was it good. The flour mix has a nice Asian kick to it. If you don't like heat use less of the paprika and cayanne pepper.

I used 4 pieces of thigh meat because I think it is tastier than chicken breast. I omitted the sage because it was expensive. I eye balled the quantities of ingredients for the Honey Garlic Sauce. Served it with brown rice and stir fried broccoli.

I would like to try the double flour dipping method for making eggplant. Maybe use oregano and Italian seasoning and serve with pasta or something to that idea. 

Flatten the meat between two pieces of plastic wrap

Dredge the chicken in the
flour/spice mix

Dip it in egg, then flour mix again.
Then fry it in some hot oil

Let drain on a rack/paper towel.
Do you see how crispy that is??

Top with sauce, serve with broccoli and brown rice

Crunchy Chicken with Honey Garlic Sauce

Serves 2

Chicken:
2 large boneless chicken breasts
 

Place the chicken breasts between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and using a meat mallet (or a can or rolling pin); pound the meat to an even 1/2 inch thickness. Or slice the breasts by placing them flat on a cutting board and using a very sharp knife to slice them into halves horizontally.

Breading:
1 cup flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground thyme
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine in a bowl

Egg wash:
1 egg
4 tbsp water

To Assemble and Cook:
Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and then dip the meat in the breading mixture. Dip the breast into the egg wash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the meat to get good contact.

Heat a skillet on the stove with about a quarter inch of oil (I used vegetable) covering the bottom. When oil is hot (I do a test crumb to see if it bubbles) fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy. These will cook very quickly since they are so thin.

Drain on a wire rack for a couple of minutes.

While cooking the chicken make the Honey Garlic sauce.

Honey Garlic Sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 heaping tsp of garlic powder

1 cup of honey

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tsp ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan combine ingredients and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until warmed and combined.

 

Pumpkin Muffins

I have been wanting to make these pumpkin muffins for a while. I found the recipe here. I was planning on following the recipe very closely, but, per usual I made some changes.

warm and melt-y with vanilla ice cream

The recipe calls for a heaping cup of pumpkin puree. However, this leaves about an inch of the puree in the can... so I decided to use the entire can. This means, 1) its a very moist muffin, 2) it made more muffins, and 3) when it was warm out of the oven with ice cream on top... it tasted like yummy, yummy, bread pudding. If you wanted to maintain the regular muffin consistency add an extra tablespoon of flour.

Also, I've never used evaporated milk. For those of you who are conversion challenged like I am, 1/2 cup of the milk is less than the 5 fl oz can. Unless you have other recipes that you are planning on making with the milk, the smallest can size will be sufficient.

I used regular raisins...because that was what I had in my baking cabinet.

Next time I would halve the "topping" that is sprinkled over the top, it just made a ton of the mixture.

The original recipe called for cream cheese frosting. I made these for part of my breakfast over the course of a week so frosting wouldn't be ideal. However, if I was making these for a brunch and people were going to be eating them all in the same day, I wouldn't hesitate to add the frosting. 

First I combined all dry ingredients.

Next I combined the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Then added the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Add in raisins.

Fill muffin tins. These didn't rise as much, I'm guessing its because of the extra puree.

Voila!

 

Pumpkin Muffins

Makes approx 15 muffins

Muffin Ingredients:

1 cup All-purpose Flour

1/2 cup Sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1-1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Salt

4 Tablespoons Butter, cut into pieces

1 cup (heaping) Pumpkin Puree

1/2 cup Evaporated Mil

1 whole Egg

1-1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

1/2 cup Golden Raisins

Topping ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease or line muffin tins.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt, pulse in food processor.

Cut in butter food processor until it is fully incorporated.

In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg, and vanilla. Pour pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Add raisins. Fold until mixture is just combined.

Pour into muffin tins. ¾ full. Sprinkle topping onto each muffin.

Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool.

Happy Eating!