Fried Chicken? Please!

So last night, I was in the mood for some chicken, lemon pepper chicken to be exact! So I fried up some lemon pepper chicken for the hubby and me. I paired it with sweet peas, au gratin potatoes, and toast, but not your typical toast... I'll explain later.

So, for the chicken, I used three boneless skinless chicken breasts (you can use bone-in, skin-on, but my love prefers the bone/skin-less variety), 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 cup of Panko breadcrumbs (aka God's gift to those of us who loved deep frying foods), 2 teaspoons of lemon pepper seasoning, and one large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water. I also used canola oil to fry up the chicken, of course (enough to completely cover the chicken in the pot/pan).

So first, I got one of my big Paula Deen (MY HERO!!!!) pots out and popped it on a burner with about a quart of oil in it at medium-high heat. **** Points of advice: Make sure there is enough oil to COMPLETELY cover the chicken (Props to Marcella for that advice, she makes amazing fried chicken). Also, get the oil hot, hot, hot! You can check it by dropping a little drop of water in it and it will pop and fizzle (probably not a real word lol).****

Next,  In three spearate shallow dishes, put your flour, egg wash, and Panko crumbs mixed with your lemon pepper seasoning and arrange your dishes in that order. You take each breast and roll each one in the flour (fully coat it), roll it in the egg wash (again fully coat, dont forget the edges and ends), then roll in your Panko/seasoning mixture. The flour helps hold the egg on, and the egg works as your binder for the breadcrumbs. (I thank Paula Deen for that process) Once all the brests are coated, drop them in the prepared HOT oil. I let them cook in the oil for about 12 minutes. I turn mine, but that makes the breading come off so leave it to cook. **** Remove one of the breasts and cut into it to make sure it is throughly cooked or use a meat temp. gauge to check that it is at 165 degrees.****



Swap where the flour and egg are. I had them backward in this pic.

Ok, last night, I wanted some toast with my meal. We had hot dogs last week and I had a couple of buns left over and we needed to eat them before they got too old. So I decided to toast them up. I opened the buns without breaking the middle and popped them in the toaster then buttered them. My husband thought it was goofy, but buns are bread too and I would rather eat them than let them go bad and have to toss them. It's all about being frugal and creative. That is why I love to cook. You can be as creative as you want!

Dinner was great, and I hope you can use this quick and easy fried chicken recipe to your liking! Feel free to throw in some cayenne pepper or just garlic salt instead of lemon pepper. It is a very versatile recipe, so play with different ideas and have fun! Enjoy! Happy cooking and don't be afraid to get creative!