Sweet and Sour Chicken

For a relatively quick and easy meal idea, you could take help from the grocery store and buy pre made breaded tenders. However they do not take long to make your self and they taste far better. I have a recipe for the chicken tenders and for the sweet and sour sauce which I created myself.  Again, depending on the size of your family, judge the amount of chicken tenders to purchase.  The chicken tenders I buy when they go on sale.  When I get them home, I wash the chicken then with a sharp filet knife I remove the white tendon that runs along the side.  Removing the tendon makes the chicken tender, even more tender.  Plus you are not biting into anything unpleasant.  You will set up a breading station of: flour, the egg wash and the bread crumb mixture.  If you don’t have Panko bread crumbs – use plain or seasoned bread crumbs.  I would make the sweet and sauce first as it needs to cool down before serving. 

For the Sweet and Sour Sauce:

• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup ketchup

In a sauce pot, mix all ingredients with a whisk.  Cook over medium low heat and bring to a boil, stirring with a whisk until temperature reaches 220 degrees F.  Allow sauce to cool.

• 1 pkg. chicken tenders
• Flour for dredging
• 2 eggs – slightly beaten
• 2 tbsp. milk or water
• 2 cups Panko bread crumbs – crunch up with your hands
• Oil for frying (canola, vegetable, or corn oil)
• 2 tsp. Granulated Garlic
• 1 tsp. Onion Powder
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Salt and Pepper the chicken tenders.
2. Dredge in the flour.  Dredge in the combination of slightly beaten eggs and milk or water mixture, then dredge in the bread crumbs that have been seasoned with salt, pepper, granulated garlic and onion powder.
3. Add ½ to 1 inch of oil in a deep skillet and heat to 325 degrees over moderate heat.
4. Fry the chicken tenders in batches until they are deep golden brown, turning as necessary.  The tenders will take about 5-6 minutes to cook.  Fry one tender as a tester and go from there for the best cooking time.  Recommended internal temperature for poultry is 160 – 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

An alternate sauce to have in place of, or along with the sweet and sour dipping sauce, would be a marinara sauce.