Pretzel Crusted Oven Fried Chicken With Buffalo Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce Food

BAKED PRETZEL CRUSTED CHICKEN TENDERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a baking sheet.
• Slice chicken into 1 1/2 inch strips. Place pretzels in a medium bowl. Whisk together eggs and water in a second bowl. In a third bowl stir together flour, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
• Toss chicken strips in the flour mixture to coat, then dredge in the egg mixture being sure to coat all sides. Lastly, roll chicken pieces in the crushed pretzels and place in a single layer on the greased baking sheet.
• Bake chicken for 15-20 minutes until cooked through and browned. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

PRETZEL-CRUSTED CHICKEN FINGERS WITH HONEY MUSTARD DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• For the dipping sauce: Whisk together both mustards with the brown sugar, honey and lemon juice in a small bowl. Cover and set aside until ready to use.
• For the chicken fingers: Pulse the pretzels in a food processor until finely ground but pea-sized bits remain. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the ranch dressing mix or onion powder and garlic powder and 1 teaspoon salt.
• Beat the eggs with 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper in another medium bowl.
• Whisk the flour with 1 tablespoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper in a third medium bowl.
• Set a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet. Dredge 1 chicken piece at a time in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess, then dip into the egg to evenly coat, and finally evenly coat in the pretzel crumbs. Transfer to the prepared wire rack.
• Heat 1/2 inch oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Test the temperature of the oil by dropping a pinch of leftover flour in the oil. When it sizzles and rises to the top, the oil is ready for frying. Add half of the chicken to the skillet and fry until golden brown, flipping once, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer with tongs to a paper towel-lined plate. Season with a sprinkle of salt. Repeat the frying process with the remaining chicken.
• Serve the chicken fingers warm with the mustard dipping sauce.

PRETZEL-CRUSTED, OVEN-FRIED CHICKEN WITH BUFFALO-BLUE CHEESE DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• CHICKEN:
• Mix together the eggs and wing sauce marinade. Put the chicken large plastic baggie and pour the marinade over the chicken. Put the chicken in the fridge and let it marinate for an hour.
• While the chicken is marinating, put the pretzels in the food processor and pulse until they're ground into crumbs. Don't puree so that the pretzels are completely ground - you want a few chunks for texture. Mix in the flour, dried thyme, garlic powder, olive oil and black pepper until combined. Add the mixture to a shallow dish.
• After the chicken is done marinating, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Then, dredge the chicken in the pretzel mixture, shaking off any excess. Add the chicken to a wire rack placed on top of a baking sheet. Spray the chicken with cooking spray or olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken, spray with more cooking spray and bake for another 15 minutes.
• Turn the heat down to 375 degrees F and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
• SAUCE:
• Add the ½ cup blue cheese, mayonnaise, wing sauce and lemon juice to the food processor and puree until smooth and combined. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix in the last two tablespoons blue cheese by hand. This gives the sauce a bit of chunky texture while the pureed blue cheese gives the sauce a more even blue cheese flavor.
• Serve the buffalo blue cheese sauce alongside the chicken or drizzle it over the chicken along with more blue cheese crumbles.

PRETZEL-CRUSTED CHICKEN STRIPS

Steps:

• Mix the brown mustard, mayonnaise and honey in a small bowl. Add 1 cup of the mixture to a shallow bowl. Reserve the rest for serving. Place the flour in another shallow bowl, then spread the pretzel crumbs on a plate.
• Season the chicken tenders with the salt. Coat each chicken tender in flour, then dunk in the honey-mustard mixture and coat in the pretzels; set aside on a large plate.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat until melted and hot. Add half of the chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove to a rack placed over a sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining butter, oil and chicken.
• Serve alongside the reserved honey mustard.