BUTTERMILK AND OAT CHICKEN SCHNITZEL from Anja Dunk’s Strudel, Noodles and Dumplings.
These Schnitzel cook in a matter of minutes but need to be marinated for a couple of hours beforehand. I tend to marinate the chicken the night before I want to eat it, letting the flavours
meld and the chicken become tender in the buttermilk . The good news here is that these are not a messy affair of flour dipping, followed by egg dipping, then breadcrumb coating – you simply dunk the buttermilk-covered chicken into the dry ingredients until the chicken is evenly coated, then fry for a matter of minutes. Marinating time aside, this is fast food at its best.
SERVES 4
4 chicken breasts, skinned and boneless (about 450g total weight)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons dried marjoram 200ml buttermilk
3 tablespoons mild sweet mustard
50g porridge oats 50g ground almonds
!14 teaspoon baking powder 50g plain flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt sunflower oil, for frying
Place the chicken breasts on a chopping board and bash them with a meat mallet or the end of a rolling pin until they are around 5mm thick. Put the chicken into a shallow dish. Mix the
garlic, sweet paprika, marjoram, buttermilk and mustard together in a jug, then pour this mixture over the chicken. Mix everything together with your hands (or turn over with a fork) until evenly coated, then cover with clingfilm and leave to marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours (up to 24).
Take the chicken out of the fridge half an hour before you want to eat, to allow it to acclimatise. Mix the oats, almonds, baking powder, flour and salt together in a shallow dish.
Heat 1cm of sunflower oil in a large frying pan -this may sound like a lot, but Schnitzel need to be cooked in deep oil. Place each piece of chicken in the flour mixture, turning gently to ensure
they are completely coated. Once the oil is hot, put the pieces of chicken into the frying pan and fry for 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown all over. Although they should be done in this
time, it is always good to check that the chicken is cooked all the way through.
Drain on kitchen paper and serve alongside a green salad.
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