Recipe Swap: Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sandwiches

Any Chick-Fil-A fans in the house?  I for one am a huge fan of their chicken, especially the spicy versions!  I have seen many copycat recipes floating around the internet but have always been intimidated by them because 1) how close could they really taste? and 2) frying things and I...we don't get along.

Often times for recipe swaps I will find something to challenge me and so when I found this at Melissa's blog I was Born to Cook, I knew it was time to surrender and beat my fears.

Looking at the ingredient list there were some items that weren't surprising and then others that made me go "huh?".  Take the pickle juice marinade for example.  I don't even like pickles and well...that's an awful lot of juice!  The powdered sugar was another interesting one...I was skeptical.

So how did it turn out?  Surprisingly, it tasted eerily similar to the real Chick-Fil-A sandwiches!  It didn't taste too pickle-y.  Instead, it gave that great tang and saltiness that is characteristic of their chicken.  The sugar also added just enough sweetness to offset it.  Since I like the spicy sandwiches I added Tobasco to the pickle juice and cayenne to the spice blend.  I think I would actually add more in the future because it wasn't quite to the spiciness of the real version.  But overall, yep, it was good!

My only lament is I still can't fry things to save my life.  Mine ended up a little more toasty than I would have desired.  Still have to work on that one...

Thank you Melissa for the recipe and Sarah at Taste of Home Cooking for organizing the swap!

Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 4 boneless chicken breasts 
• 1 cup pickle juice 
• 1-2 tsp Tobasco sauce (optional to create the spicy version)
• 3 eggs 
• 2/3 cup milk 
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar 
• 2 teaspoons paprika 
• 2 teaspoons salt 
• 1 teaspoon black pepper 
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1 teaspoon dried basil 
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional to create the spicy version)
• vegetable oil for frying (peanut oil is supposedly better, but I didn’t have any) 
• 4 buns, buttered and toasted 
• pickle slices

Directions

1. Pound out chicken to 1/2 inch thickness. Marinate in pickle juice and Tobasco (if using) for 1 hour. 
2. Beat egg and milk together in a bowl. Combine flour, sugar and spices in another bowl. Dip chicken on both sides in egg first, then flour mixture. 
3. Heat oil in a deep skillet. Fry each piece for a few minutes on each side, or until golden and cooked through. Place on paper towel lined plate and blot top side. 
4. Serve on buns with pickles 

Source: Slightly modified from I Was Born to Cook

Apple Cider Beignets with Butter-Rum Caramel Sauce

I can't believe it's already been over a week since Emily and I had our apple baking extravaganza.  As promised, I'll be continuing to share the recipes EVERY DAY this week.  That's two bonus posts for the week...not to mention more of Emily's drool worthy pictures.  You should be excited!

It has always been an inside joke...and probably desire...of the folks in my Dinner Club to do a fried theme.  So, Emily and I figured we should bust out her Fry Daddy and make sure we had a fried recipe in our repertoire to make in their honor.  Since we tagged teamed the recipe list and I was *still* working on those oh-so-time-consuming Apple Pie Cookies, this recipe was all Emily.

On the outside, these look like simple donuts but on the inside, there's actually an entire apple slice to offset the unhealthiness ;).  This recipe also uses sparkling apple cider instead of sugar to give them just a touch of sweetness.  Personally, I was craving more sweetness so I'd either dust it with more powdered sugar, douse it in more of that yummy butter-rum caramel sauce, or go ahead and add some regular sugar to the batter...or maybe all of the above.  Haha!

Next up tomorrow?  Something that will keep long after everything else was gobbled up.  Any guesses?  

Apple Cider Beignets with Butter-Rum Caramel Sauce

Photo Credit: My friend Emily

Ingredients

For the Sauce

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/3 cups water
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

For the Beignets

• About 8 cups vegetable oil, divided
• 2 Golden Delicious apples
• 1 3/4 cups self-rising cake flour*, divided
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup sparkling apple cider
• Confectioner's sugar for dusting

*If you can’t find self-rising cake flour, you can substitute self-rising all-purpose. Use 1 cup in the batter and 1/2 cup for dredging. Increase cider to 1 cup and follow recipe as directed.

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Directions

1. Make the Sauce: Heat sugar in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring with a fork to heat sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and cook, swirling skillet occasionally so sugar melts evenly, until it is dark amber. Stir in butter, water, rum, vinegar, and a pinch of salt (caramel will harden and steam vigorously) and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramel has dissolved. Add cream and bring to a boil, stirring, then remove from heat. Cool to warm. 
2. Make the Beignets: If you have a deep-fryer, use that and heat the oil to 375F.  Otherwise, preheat oven to 250°F with rack in middle. Set a cooling rack in a large shallow baking pan. Heat 2 inches oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat to 375°F.
3. Meanwhile, peel apples and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Cut out core with cutter, then pat apple rings dry. 
4. Put 1 1/4 cups flour in a large shallow bowl and make a well in center. Beat egg in a small bowl with a fork, then stir in cider and 1 tablespoon oil and pour into well. Stir with fork until a lumpy batter forms.
5. Working in batches of 3 or 4, dredge apple rings in remaining 1/2 cup flour, shaking off excess, then dip in batter to coat, letting excess drip off, and fry, gently turning over once with a slotted spoon, until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes total per batch. Transfer to rack and keep warm in oven. Return oil to 375°F between batches.  
6. Just before serving, dust warm beignets with confectioners sugar. Stir sauce, then serve on the side.

Make-ahead Notes: 

• Sauce can be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered. Warm before serving.
• Beignets are best freshly made but can be fried 2 hours ahead and kept, loosely covered, at room temperature. Reheat beignets (they should not touch) on a rack set in a large shallow baking pan, uncovered, in a 325°F oven until hot, 15 to 20 minutes.

Source: Gourmet

Pan-Fried Okra

Brace yourself.  I have a confession to make.  I have never had fried okra before.

If you've been a long-time reader of mine you'll recall that I have a deep disdain for frying food.  It's greasy, it's messy, and it's just plain unhealthy.  When I do get the urge to fry my food, I'll go halfway and do pan-fried.  This way, I can better control the amount of oil that I use and it doesn't generally smell up the house like a McDonald's nearly as much as deep-frying does.

I loved the way this pan-fried okra turned out and can understand why after I bookmarked this recipe on my Pinterest board why they got repinned over and over again. They were like little golden nuggets of crunchy goodness.  Very addicting.


Pan-Fried Okra

Ingredients:

• 3 cups okra, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (may need a bit more)
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. If using frozen okra, just lightly rinse and do not let thaw. Trim off ends of okra and cut into 1/2 inch rounds. Place okra in a gallon zippered bag and add buttermilk. Seal bag and toss to coat okra. If okra is not well covered, add more buttermilk 1 tbsp. at a time until okra is well coated.
2. In a separate clean gallon bag add cornmeal and then add the okra to the bag, seal and toss until okra is well coated with the cornmeal. If needed add an additional tbsp. of cornmeal.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet add olive oil (need enough to cover the bottom of the skillet). Heat over medium high heat until oil is hot. Add the coated okra to the skillet and reduce heat to medium. Cook on one side for 5 minutes allowing okra to begin to brown. After five minutes, turn okra and sprinkle with salt. Turn okra every 5 minutes, sprinkling with salt each time until okra is golden brown in color. This should take approximately 20-25 minutes. Taste okra and salt more if needed.

Source: Barely modified from Macaroni and Cheesecake

Churro Bites

Everything is better as miniature sized.  And nobody can deny that fried food is just...delicious.  That makes these Churro Bites a 1-2-punch, a knockout.  These were so good when they were fresh out of the fryer that it was hard to keep up with my husband eating them.  I was surprised at how easy they were to make.  Just mix together the batter, put it in a piping bag with a large star tip (I used a Wilton 1M) and then squeeze into the hot oil cutting it off with a knife in 2" intervals.  Then, roll in cinnamon sugar goodness.  Yum!  For my more visual readers, check out the recipe source for some great step-by-step photos.

I made these as part of our Tapa's Theme Dinner Club.  There was an extraordinary amount of food there...40 dishes to be exact.  And in true Dinner Club style, folks didn't seem to scale back their portion sizes so we had enough food to feed at least 20 people while there were really only 10 of us.

I'll be posting the rest of the recipes once I'm back from vacation as part of my Cinco Recipes for Cinco De Mayo collection and for now, I leave you with this drool worthy dish as #1 in this series :).  Call it a teaser, if you will.

One Year Ago: Summer Corn and Vegetable Soup
Two Years Ago:  Penne a la Vodka


Churro Bites

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3 eggs, beaten
• Oil for frying  

Directions

1. Combine sugar and cinnamon in bowl and set aside. Heat about 1-2 inches of oil in a deep sauce pan until it reaches 325 degrees F.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat water, butter, salt and 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and stir in flour. Remove from heat and stir vigorously until mixture forms a ball of "dough", about 1 minute. Add beaten eggs and stir until fully combine and dough is smooth.
3. Transfer dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip (I used a Wilton 1M Tip). Holding your piping bag straight up and down over your pot of oil, squeeze out about 2 inches of dough and slice it off into the oil with a knife. Fry until golden brown about 4 minutes, making sure to flip the churros around in the oil to fry each side evenly.
4. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Toss in cinnamon sugar mixture and enjoy!  They're obviously best fresh and hot!

Source: Dollhouse Bake Shoppe

Blooming Onion with Dipping Sauce

This post is for Nicole.  A self-proclaimed massochist who desired that I post this as my next blog update because seeing the Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies with Salted Peanuts in my Nest signature was too much to bare.  Honestly I don't know if this is that much healthier but it's fried and who can argue with fried?

Bloomin' onions are a signature appetizer from Outback Steakhouse and I thought the flavor of the crispy batter and spicy dipping sauce from this recipe is dead on.  Paying outrageous prices for fried onions will become a thing of the past because now you can just do it at home!  The directions look compliated but I was surprised by how easy it was to do.  Truly the only thing you're doing is doing lots of cutting like spokes in a bike wheel.  My only complaint (other than the greasy fried smell that it leaves in your house...yuck!) is that the petals were a bit hard to pull off.  This is completely my own fault as I was too lazy to remove the core of the onion.  There's apparently an actual blooming onion tool that you can buy online but it's just as easy to do with a regular old knife (and my knife skills suck...).  If you're feeling extra lazy and don't care about the blooming presentation feel free to just cut them into onion petals or rings.

For best results, gently pull apart the petals and put the onion bloom side down in a ice water bath for at least 30 minutes.  This helps the onion to bloom.  I also found it easiest to use a deep fryer but a deep pot filled with oil will work just as well.  Just make sure you heat your oil to the correct temperature - too hot and it'll burn before the onions is cooked; too cold and you'll end up with a soggy exterior.

I made a double batch of this and a pan of Clone of a Cinnabons for our Restaurant Copy Cats Themed Dinner Club (a fantastic theme, by the way.  Perhaps my favorite!).  Photo credit goes to Emily, again.  I'd suggest making this one for your football parties or game night.  It's sure to impress!

Need more Game Food inspiration?  Try Pizza Bites, Pretzel Bites, Classic Chili or one of my dips.   Also stay tuend for a post on my Snackadium.  Not sure what that is?  Check out this page to learn more!

One Year Ago: Baked Sausage Ziti and Sushi

Blooming Onion with Dipping Sauce

Photo Credit: Emily H.

Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients

For the Blooming Onion:

• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/3 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 large sweet onion
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil for frying

For the Dipping Sauce:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 2 tablespoons cream-style horseradish sauce
• 1/3 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

1. To make sauce: In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, ketchup, horseradish, 1/3 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon oregano, a dash ground black pepper and cayenne pepper; mix well. Keep sauce covered in refrigerator until needed.
2. To make the batter: In a medium bowl, beat egg and add milk. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, ground black pepper, oregano, thyme and cumin; mix.
3. To slice onion: slice 1 inch off of the top and bottom of the onion and remove the papery skin. Use a thin knife to cut a 1 inch diameter core out of the middle of the onion. Now slice the onion several times down the center to create 'petals': First slice through the center of the onion to about three-fourths of the way down. Turn the onion 90 degrees and slice it again in an X across the first slice. Keep slicing the sections in half, very carefully until the onion has been cut 16 times. Do not cut down to the bottom of the onion.
4. Spread the 'petals' of the onion apart. To help keep them separate you could plunge the onion into boiling water for 1 minute and then into ice water.  Keep the onions bloom side down in the ice bath for at least 30 minutes to allow onion to bloom. 
5. Dip the onion into the milk mixture and then coat it liberally with the flour mixture. Again separate the petals and sprinkle the dry coating between them. Repeat with a second layer of milk mixture and follow again with flour coating.
6. Heat oil in a deep fryer or deep pot to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Make sure you use enough oil to completely cover the onion when it fries.
7. Fry the onion right side up in the oil for 10 minutes or until it turns brown. When the onion has browned, remove it from the oil and let it drain on a rack or paper towels. If desired, open the onion wider from the center so that you can put a small dish of the dipping sauce in the center.

Source: All Recipes

Country Fried Steak

I know, I know.  I keep saying this but truly this next batch of recipes is super behind.  The only reason I realized I am so late is because our next dinner club is this weekend and I realized that I still haven't posted the recipes from our LAST month's dinner club.  D'oh!

Anyway, March was Chris and my turn to host again and I decided to do a Breakfast Theme....or better known as "brinner" (breakfast for dinner!).  It was an awesomely delicious smorgasborg of food and I must say that being a breakfast lover, I was in absolute heaven!  In our typical Dinner Club style, we made wayyyy too much food and pretty much binge ate.  Fruit bruschetta, fruit tart, quiche, gooey breakaway cinnamon rolls, belgian waffle bar, bacon egg and toast cups, and country fried steak....*die*.

My personal contributions for this dinner club consisted of:

• Country Fried Steak
• Belgian Waffle Bar (with homemade Strawberry Topping and Syrup)
• Bacon Egg and Toast Cups
• Mimosas (equal parts of champagne and orange juice)

This post is about the Country Fried Steak (sometimes known as Chicken Fried Steak)...one of my favorite unhealthy breakfast entrees!  The flavor of this one was good but we all know I don't like to fry stuff so I have NO IDEA why I chose to take this task on.  Especially given that I had to fry up 10 of them and was running out of time (guests arrived when I was just starting to fry)!  I don't think I did a very good job paying attention to making sure the oil was at a good frying temperature because some of the breading ended up soggy and others a little burnt.  And, the meat was tougher than I would have liked.  Perhaps if you made a smaller batch you could be more attentive and it would turn out better.  Like I said, great flavor but not the best execution which was entirely my fault.  (Good thing I made other delectable goodies to make up for this less than stellar one!)

Pardon the awful picture.  Like I said it was a busy day in the kitchen and I think I bit off more than I could chew for this one.  To be honest, I'm surprised I got a shot at all!  Oh and by the way, this is the reason I had a TON of buttermilk leftover and hence all of the other recipes to use it all up!

Check out our Dinner Club blog for some of the other aforementioned yummies, too!

Country Fried Steak
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Prep Time: 20 Min
Cook Time: 20 Min
Ready In: 40 Min
Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients

For the Steaks

• 4 (1/2 pound each) beef cube steaks
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups vegetable shortening for deep frying

For the Country Gravy

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups milk
• kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Pound the steaks to about 1/4-inch thickness.
2. Place 2 cups of flour in a shallow bowl. Stir together the baking powder, baking soda, pepper, and salt in a separate shallow bowl; stir in the buttermilk, egg, Tabasco Sauce, and garlic.
3. Dredge each steak first in the flour, then in the batter, and again in the flour. Pat the flour onto the surface of each steak so they are completely coated with dry flour.
4. Heat the shortening in a deep cast-iron skillet to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Fry the steaks until evenly golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Place fried steaks on a plate with paper towels to drain.  If needed, keep steaks warm by placing in a warm oven. 
5. Drain the fat from the skillet, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid and as much of the solid remnants as possible.   Return the skillet to medium-low heat with the reserved oil. Whisk the remaining flour into the oil. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula to release solids into the gravy. Stir in the milk, raise the heat to medium, and bring the gravy to a simmer, cook until thick, 6 to 7 minutes. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Spoon the gravy over the steaks to serve.

Source: All Recipes

Pretzel Chicken Tenders

Remember how I mentioned that Chris' favorite meal was his Grandma B's Chicken a la King...with exception to perhaps Chicken Tenders?  Well my hubby is one lucky guy because in a single week I made him BOTH meals! 

The first time I ever tried pretzel chicken tenders was at one of our favorite chain restaurants, O'Charleys.  Their regular chicken tenders are seasoned deliciously as well but pretzels just gave the tenders that special crunch and boost of saltiness.  Since then, I've been hooked!

Quite possibly my LEAST favorite part about making any sort of breaded chicken is all the dipping into various ingredients that is involved.  I also hate frying anything.  I don't deep fry and I seldom pan fry food.  I just hate the greasy smell (despite having an awesome exterior venting hood over our stove) and greasy feeling on my skin that's left behind after slaving over the pan.  Plus, I know I put a certain amount of oil into the pan and yet when I'm done, it's all gone.  To me, that means it's still stuck in that breading...which is gross and bad for your health!  All in all, it was fun to give this one a whirl and turned out deliciously but I think I'm willing to go ahead and let others handle the breading and frying for me!

This recipe is modified to use chicken tenders instead of whole chicken breasts as originally written.  You can also just use chicken breasts and then cut them into strips for tenders or cubes for nuggets before coating.  The original recipe also used a Honey Mustard by Alton Brown across the top of the finished chicken.  Since I had previously whipped up a batch of Paula Deen's Honey Mustard Sauce and Chris absolutely hates anything remotely mustardy, I served Paula's Honey Mustard on the side for me and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ for him.

Pretzel Chicken Tenders
Printer-Friendly Version

Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups crushed or processed pretzels*
• oil for frying
• 1 1/2 - 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast tenders
• salt and ground pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste

* The pretzels can actually be any hard pretzel - thin sticks, standard pretzel shapes, pretzel rods, etc. Place them in a food processor and process until you get the consistency of graham cracker crumbs. If you want more texture for your chicken coating, pulse the pretzels down to coarse crumbs instead. (I went with the coarse texture!)

Directions

1. In a shallow dish, whisk the egg with the 1 tablespoon of water.  In another shallow dish, place the flour.  In a shallow dish, place the crushed/processed pretzels.
2. Coat bottom of skillet with oil and heat over medium low heat.
3. While oil is heating, season both sides of the chicken tenders with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Dredge the seasoned chicken breast in flour and shake off excess. Dip the chicken tenders in the egg wash and then press it into the crushed pretzels to cover all sides.
4. When oil is hot, carefully place the crusted chicken breasts in the hot oil and fry until browned on both sides, about 5 -7 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken.
5. Serve hot with dipping sauce(s) of choice.  I served with Paula Deen's Honey Mustard and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce.

Source: Modified from Joelen's Culinary Adventures

Herb Breaded Tilapia

For whatever reason I had a craving for fish and I remembered I had this recipe bookmarked for awhile now.  This recipe was nice as it was designed for 2 people (I almost always have to either scale things down or save lefteovers).  I was hesitant because the fish is pan fried and I never use more than say a Tablspoon of oil when I fry things.  This one called for a pan full of oil!  I went with it anyway and I'm glad I did because the end result was a crunchy crust with a beautifully flaky fish beneath.  Chris said it tasted like fish sticks...silly boy.  It's much more gourmet than that!  Worthy of sharing with company.

I forgot to get a picture this time so please enjoy Elly's for now.

Herb Breaded Tilapia
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Ingredients

• 2 tilapia fillets
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1 egg
• 1 lemon, divided
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs
• 2 Tbsp, fresh chopped parsley
• 2 tsp. fresh chopped thyme
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Directions

1. Season the tilapia with salt and pepper and then dredge in the flour, shaking off any excess.
2. Lightly beat an egg in a small baking dish or bowl and mix in the juice of half the lemon. In another dish, combine the breadcrumbs, parsley, thyme, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Dip the floured tilapia first in the egg, and then into the breadcrumb mixture, coating evenly and pressing to adhere if necessary.
4. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat, and add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Once hot (if you flick a little piece of the breadcrumb mixture in there and it bubbles/sizzles, you’re good to go), add the tilapia. Cook for approximately 3 minutes per side, or until fish is cooked through and flakes with a fork.
5. Cut the remaining half lemon into wedges and serve alongside the tilapia.

Source: Elly Says Opa!