Pretzel Chicken

[Fash]

I'm no chef, so pardon my intrusion on the forum if this is not worthy... I ate "Pretzel Chicken" out somewhere and I really wanted to make it afterward. The one I had was fried, but one of the friends I made it for wouldn't have eaten it, so I decided to bake it instead.

The first time I made it I used flavored hard pretzels, honey mustard & onion, and a blender to break them up a little into a rough breading. But after baking, you couldn't really taste the flavoring on the pretzels...

The second time, I made it for my parents who are on a serious no-salt, no enriched-flour kick... So I used no-salt multi-grain pretzels... When I tried to make a breading out of them, I could not get the same consistency as with the hard pretzels... It became a very fine breading. This was not intended, but it had a great side-effect. The chicken essentially got sealed in and retained more moisture... It was amazing, despite the almost powdery appearance and texture of the flavorless breading.

The third time, I broke up the no-salt pretzels in a bag by hand... It looked better and had a better texture, but the chicken wasn't as moist as the second time.

It doesn't get much easier than this, but it was fun to make. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, or whatever part of the chicken you like... I like to cut it into small chunks (like 2 bites) but you could just do 2 breasts whole if you wanted. Flour them, dip them in egg, dip them in the breading, and put them on the cookie sheet you've already given a coating of the oil of your choice (I used Pam EV Olive Oil spray).. Once you have them all on there, put some oil on top as well... Cook at 350 for about 8 minutes before flipping and doing another 8 minutes. Serve as-is or with dipping sauces.

[Xatrei]

I like to make pretzel breaded chicken from time to time. I always use normal dried pretzels, and just pulse them in my food processor a few times until they're the texture I want. I mix about a tablespoon of hot, grainy mustard into the egg and season the flour dredge with salt, pepper, garlic powder and a little cayenne. Otherwise, it sounds like you make them pretty much the same way I do. I bake or fry them depending on my mood, and who I'm cooking for. I usually prepare strips of this and serve them on a salad tossed with this dressing: mix 1 part each of grain mustard (I prefer a good creole mustard), peach preserves, prepared horseradish) with 3 parts mayo or low-fat plain yogurt (again, depending on mood and who I'm cooking for).

[Lalanae]

OK, that salad sounds AMAZING. I'm so fucking bored with salad dressings these days and that dressing sounds awesome.

I may have to make that this weekend...

[Xatrei]

I really like it. It evolved from a sandwich that I make a lot. Originally, I put peach preserves, horseradish, mustard and a bit of mayo on a grilled ham & muenster sandwich. I gradually started mixing it together and tossing greens in it, and along the way began substituting plain, low-fat yogurt for a lighter variation. I vary the ratios some depending on my cravings at the moment.