Pecan Fried Chicken Tenders

More About This Recipe

• In my humble opinion, it’s pretty hard to mess up fried chicken.
  
  Sure, you can overcook it a bit or under-season it a bit, but you’ll still have fried chicken.
  
  But, there’s good fried chicken and there’s excellent fried chicken – and luckily for you this Pecan Fried Chicken recipe is excellent fried chicken.
  
  The only tricky thing about this recipe is grinding the pecans and making sure you don’t burn them!  Here are some of the basics you need for the pecan breading.
  
  Pulse the pecans in a food processor until they are really ground up, then stir them into the flour and seasoning. The seasoning should be pretty strong since each piece of chicken will have a relatively small amount on it.
  
  Once the breading is mixed, pour it into a shallow dish. Whisk together the eggs and milk in a medium bowl.
  
  Meanwhile, you might want to get some biscuits ready – they just go great with the fried chicken. I cooked up some Pillsbury homestyle biscuits.
  
  I always bake mine on parchment paper for 15-17 minutes.
  
  Okay. Back to the chicken!  Cut the chicken breasts into 4-5 pieces and try to make them roughly the same size so they fry evenly. Then dust the pieces in flour to dry them out. This will help the breading stick on them.
  
  Dunk the chicken pieces into the egg mixture and then transfer them to the breading. Really press the chicken into the breading so a nice crust forms.  Remove the chicken pieces and let them dry for a few minutes on a wire rack or plate.
  
  Meanwhile, heat your oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the chicken pieces in batches and fry them for about four minutes per side until they are golden brown and cooked through.
  
  The one thing about using pecans as a breading is that they will burn faster than an all-flour breading. No big deal though, just keep a close eye on them as they fry.
  
  These are almost like adult chicken nuggets. They are very crispy and have a rich, nutty, spicy flavor.
  
  Considering this isn’t much more work than normal fried chicken, it’s totally worth trying!
  
  Nick will eat almost any fried chicken, but this one is one of his favorites. Be sure to check out his blog, Macheesmo, and follow him on his Tablespoon Profile.