Chicken With A Little Extra Nuggets

By Rand E. Creitz

   First of all; chicken has never, and will never need more than black pepper and salt to be good to eat when fried. Having said that, I will also say that experimenting is the source of much personal joy in cooking and eating. I experimented this up one day and we decided to keep it.

   3-5 boned, skinned chicken breasts, sliced into nuggets

   Salt, black or white pepper, red pepper and cumin to taste (be careful with the cumin, a little goes a long way!). A spice mix may be substituted if you want; Tony Chachere's really does well in this

   Buttermilk

   Flour

   Oil

  Soak chicken nuggets in a mixture of spices, salt and buttermilk for at least an hour in the refrigerator. Heat oil to 350 degrees, dredge chicken in flour and cook until browned. Be sure to use enough salt; the milk absorbs a bunch of it.

  I fed some of this cooked with red pepper and cumin to an old neighbor of ours and wound up cooking forty pounds of it at a party at her church. I think I got 3 pieces. So be careful who you feed, they may be taking notes!

  Note: this is also a very good way to fry any fish, substituting corn meal for the flour. And no, fish has never needed anything but black pepper and salt either.

   Enjoy!

  Rand E. Creitz

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones."