Spicy Chicken Tenders

For some reason, I suck at taking pictures when I'm cooking.  I guess I'm just too busy fluttering around the kitchen to bother actually getting a camera out.  I think I'll need to change this behavior in the future, but for now, you're stuck with a crappy "after" picture (after meaning after Mr. L already raided the goodies to take for dinner).

So today I made a modified version of Giada de Laurentiis's Spicy Chicken Tenders with Honey Mustard.  Basically, I nixed the honey mustard since Mr. L isn't a fan, and I added a bit more flavor to the cornmeal breading mixture the recipe calls for.  Here goes!

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders (I actually just used leftover frozen chicken breasts)
• Olive oil
• Salt

Breading Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp salt
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a heavy baking sheet liberally with vegetable oil cooking spray. Set aside.

Breading: In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and 1 tablespoon salt. In a second medium bowl, whisk together the eggs (here it calls for hot sauce, but since Mr. L's hot sauce from his bachelor days was going on two years old, I had to chunk it).  In a third medium bowl, mix together the cornmeal, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika and cayenne pepper, and add salt and pepper if desired. Dredge the chicken in the flour and then into the egg mixture. Allow any excess egg mixture to drip off and coat the chicken in the cornmeal mixture. Arrange the breaded chicken in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, to taste. Bake until golden and cooked through, about 15 to 17 minutes.

So our additions were garlic powder, paprika, no hot sauce, some black pepper, and a little more salt than the recipe calls for.  All in all, it was spicy enough for me as it was, and I'm glad I didn't add the hot sauce.  But that is purely a personal preference since I'm not too fond of a lot of heat in my food.  I definitely enjoyed cooking them, and I hope you do too if you decide to give it a whirl!

Bon appetit!