Chick-Fil-A - Recipe

There are a great many people that I know personally who adore Chick-Fil-A. It's a Christian company and the food, while fast, is "real", and tasty. It really seems to have a cult following, and that's cool I guess.

I do not belong to this group. I have nothing against their food, and certainly like the company as a whole, but wonderful ideals aside - it doesn't fit my budget. I have eaten at Chick-Fil-A a whopping TWO times. I know some would gasp in horror. But I have an extremely small "eating out" budget, and high-priced fast food* doesn't work for me:-/ (Secret: I've never been to Panera Bread. I know you're all dying right now. In fact, there are so many places I have never eaten, it would be much more expedient to list the places I have been:-) To say I don't get out much would likely be the understatement of the century, haha!! (*about their affordability, I am not saying the food is not worth what they are charging, I am only saying that I can't justify it's cost, personally)

To clarify: I have paid for my food at Chick-Fil-A two times. I have eaten their nuggets at social gatherings where people bring a big party platter of them, and I really like them. But just to explain that I am in no way qualified as a connoisseur of said nuggets, and so while the recipe I am giving you claims to be a knock off, and is quite tasty - I cannot vouch for its dead-on accurateness. But for Canadians who wonder about the hype down here in the South, or for people who love the nuggets but can't afford them, I present to you...

Chick-Fil-A Bites!

This is a pinterest find, and Chick-Fil-A has their own honey mustard sauce. I did not try the recipe for that (listed in link), I just used the one I had in a bottle in my fridge, but the C.F.A. version I know is a little different than standard honey mustard. But it'll do.

2 large chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces and seasoned with salt & pepper.
3/4 C milk
1/4 C pickle juice (juice from a dill pickle jar)
1 egg
1 1/4 C flour
2 T icing sugar (powdered sugar)
2 t salt
1 t pepper
1/2 to 1 C peanut oil (can sub out canola or veg., but C.F.A. uses peanut, officially)

Whisk together milk, egg & pickle juice and put in ziploc bag. Add chicken, and marinate in fridge for 2-4 hours.

Combine flour, sugar, salt & pepper in another large ziploc. Shake to combine. Remove chicken from marinade, and add to bag; shake to coat it.

Heat about 1/2 the oil in large pan until ready to fry, and cook the chicken in small batches, so you're not over crowding the pan. Add more oil as needed.

Done.

(I did use peanut oil, we have lots left after our turkey frying adventures in '11, so I am happy for the chance to use it up, and remain "authentic" to the recipe:-)

Frozen nuggets about to be reheated for a quick dinner

I have been really trying hard to make the best of my grocery budget, and have less food waste or "forgotten items" in the back of the fridge. I've made these nuggets twice now, the first time we ate them "fresh" and they got rave reviews. A few weeks ago, I opened a package of chicken breasts, and had 2 leftover. So I decided to make another batch of these, and freeze them for a quick dinner later on. Last night was that dinner;-) I just reheated the nuggets in the oven with the fries (450 until heated through). They were equally delicious by doing this too!