Cooking With Children : Crispy Chicken Goujons Recipe

I have been wanting to cook a chicken goujons recipe with Lara for some time - there is something rather irresistible about the amount of mess it involves. Perfect for big kids like me, and toddlers like Lara. The art of cooking goujons of any sort is to be well prepared. Lay out all of your ingredients in a supply chain within easy reach of each other and everything will work like clockwork.

Crispy Chicken Goujons (serves two adults and one hungry toddler)

INGREDIENTS
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 slices of stale white bread (or fresh bread that has been blasted in a hot oven for a few minutes)
3 eggs
125g plain flour
1 tablespoon polenta / cornmeal
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or else spray it with non-stick cooking spray.


2. Blitz the slices of bread, including crusts, in a food processor until they form breadcrumbs. They don't need to be too fine. Place them in a bowl next to the baking tray.


3. Beat the eggs and put them in a bowl next to the breadcrumbs.


4. Mix the flour and polenta together with a little salt and pepper (and the chilli powder if you are using it). Place this in a bowl next to the egg.


5. Slice the chicken breasts into long strips about 2cm wide and place these next to the flour. Now you have your supply chain.





6. Get your little helper to take one piece of chicken and dip it into the flour, making sure it is well coated.





7. Then dip the chicken into the egg mixture briefly before then dipping it into the breadcrumbs.


8. Make sure the chicken is well coated in breadcrumbs before placing the completed goujon onto the baking tray.





9. Repeat! (note, it is actually less messy if you do a number of pieces of chicken at each stage so that you are not repeatedly placing your fingers in and out of the egg mixture.


10. Once all of the chicken goujons have been coated, put the baking tray into the oven and bake until golden. This will be about 20 minutes but keep a close eye on them so that they don't burn or dry out too much.





11. We served our chicken goujons with a yellow tomato salsa and wild rice salad (recipe coming soon on Mellow Mummy!). These goujons go brilliantly with ketchup or chilli sauce.