Jalapeno business: chicken with a kick

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

In college, my friend Sarah taught us how to make potato chip chicken. By dredging the chicken and then coating it with chips, it gave the breast a nice crunch on the outside, and a juicy inside, when baked in the oven. It was a special trick we would break out when we wanted to cook dinner for our group of friends; family dinner, we called it.

I haven’t cooked chicken like that in years. But as I was trolling through my new social media addiction, Pintrest, I came across a variation that kicks it up a notch. The recipe came from a blog, mylifeasamrs.com.

Instead of using regular old ruffle potato chips, The Mrs. used jalapeño Kettle chips. Now that’s a kick. But it didn’t stop there. Not only did she crust the chicken breasts with the pepper flavored chips, but she also made a buttermilk ranch dipping sauce with jalapeños. I know what you’re thinking: why would you want to add more spice?

The chicken has a good subtle kick of spice and can be cooled down with the dipping sauce. But the added pieces of jalapeños bring the kick full circle. If you aren’t into spice, then this definitely isn’t the dish for you. If you are a medium-spicy type of person, like me, then this is just perfect for you.

But the beautiful thing is that if you are the type of person that orders the triple-x wings or lathers hot sauce on everything, you have the power to make this dish as spicy as you want with the addition of a generous helping of pickled jalapeno slices.

Do you have a recipe and a story to share? Want to be a guest in Shanna’s Kitchen? Email [email protected].

Jalapeño chip chicken

What you need:

For the dipping sauce:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup low fat sour cream
1/4 cup (plus 2 tablespoons) low fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon ranch dressing powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
dash of cayenne
5-6 pickled jalapeno slices, finely chopped

For the chicken:
4 chicken breasts (about 1 3/4 - 2 pounds total)
1 bag Jalapeno Kettle Chips, crushed
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt
dash cayenne

What to do:

For the dipping sauce:
Mix ingredients together, adding additional buttermilk until desired consistency. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the chicken:
Preheat oven to 375º. Place an oven safe cooling rack on a large pan and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

In a bowl, whisk together buttermilk, salt, and cayenne. Pound out chicken breasts, if desired, (I didn’t) and add to buttermilk mixture. Toss to coat well.

Place crushed chips in a shallow baking dish. Pull one piece of chicken at a time out of the buttermilk and gently shake to remove some of the excess. Dip into the chips and coat thoroughly on both sides. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken breast are thoroughly coated.

Place into oven and bake for 25-35 minutes, until cooked through (cooking times vary based on chicken thickness and actual oven temperature). Serve hot with jalapeno ranch dipping sauce.