Bibi’s Bites - Chicken Fingers

by Bibi Ebel on February 1, 2023

This recipe is one of many that my mother-in-law, Gladys, taught me when I got married. She is a fantastic cook and I have always been impressed by her ability to cook food that pleases both children and adults. So, thank you, Gladys! Today I am happy to spread the joy of cooking Alberta, Canada-style with a dash of Hungarian paprika.

Ingredients

All of these can easily be found in any grocery store in Hungary
4 large boneless chicken breasts – apprx. 1kg (négy nagy csirkemell fillé)
1 tablespoon of mayonnaise or sour cream (majonéz / tejföl)
1 teaspoon of sweet paprika (édesnemes pirospaprika)
1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese, grated (optional) (Parmesan sajt)
200 grams (appx 8 cups) Kellogg’s Corn Flakes (kukorica pehely)  (I haven’t used any other brand or generic corn flakes, but I would encourage everyone to try them out too)

Sauce #1: Honey-Mustard Sauce
1/3 cup light mayonnaise or sour cream (majonéz / tejföl)
2 tablespoons of mustard (ideally Dijon, but any will do) (mustár)
1 tablespoon of liquid honey (méz)
Black pepper (optional) (fekete bors)
Erős Pista (optional, if you’d like the sauce to have a kick, but don’t put too much as it will kill the taste of honey. This can also be added to the chicken directly)

Sauce #2: Cranberry sauce
1 package of frozen or fresh cranberries (vörös áfonya) (can be purchased in Culinaris mid-November and Christmas, or at the Asian Market next to the Central Market Hall on Vámház körút)
1 cup (250 ml) water
¾ cup of sugar (cukor)
½ teaspoon of cinnamon (fahéj)
½ teaspoon of nutmeg (szerecsen dió)
2 tablespoons of lemon or orange juice (optional) (citromlé / narancslé)

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C or Gas Mark 5). Cover baking tray with tin foil and set aside. Cut chicken into strips or cubes, no longer than 2 inches (5 cm). Place the pieces in a bowl, add mayonnaise (or sour cream), paprika and parmesan cheese, mix well. Set aside. In a large bowl, crush corn flakes into more-or-less even small pieces for breading. You can use a food processor, I just use a plastic cup. Take chicken fingers and cover them generously in corn flakes crumbs and place it on the baking tray. (If you decide to freeze chicken fingers for later, place them on a plastic tray and cover with food wrap, keep in the freezer until frozen solid, then place in an airtight container or a ziploc bag and keep in the freezer). You will need two trays for the amount of chicken in this recipe. Bake for 25-30 minutes (but not longer) uncovered until golden and crispy. If the chicken fingers are smaller, use less time. Frozen ones will be about 30 minutes. Some ovens will require less time, so you will have to try in yours and see how much time works best.

Now, when it comes to sauces that go well with chicken fingers – the world is your oyster, really. Any sauce that you like will do. And if you or your kids do not like sauce, that`s fine, too. The chicken should be moist enough. I prefer homemade honey-mustard or cranberry.

The honey-mustard sauce is nice, as it is sweet and a bit sour. Mix all of the ingredients together. You can pre-make it and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days covered.

Cranberry sauce goes with any poultry and adds a certain je-ne-sais-quoi to the taste. It`s good, light and kids love it as it is sweet. Use medium saucepan over medium heat to dissolve water and sugar, add cranberries, bring to boil and reduce to simmering for 10 minutes until the cranberries pop. At this stage you can add nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon or orange juice. Turn the heat off and let the sauce cool down. It will thicken once cool. You can keep it for several weeks in the fridge in an air tight container.

You can garnish the chicken fingers with whatever you prefer – I like vegetables as they are also good for dipping in the sauce. Almost forgot, this is a gluten free recipe. Egészégedre!

I welcome you to leave your comments and suggestions below in the comments section or send recipes to me here.

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I am Bibi Ebel, Kazakh by birth, living in Canada with my wonderful husband and two adorable daughters Hannah (3 years) and Lara (7 months). We moved to Budapest in August 2011 and love-love-love it here. My attitude to life is like my attitude to our house: must be clean enough to be healthy and messy enough to be happy.

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Dawn Williams January 20, 2023 at 10:11 pm

This receipte is from my dear friend Gladys and now I finally know how to make her wonderful chicken fingers. Enjoy everyone. :o)

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