chicken nuggets

Every once in a while, a recipe comes around that is so good, it must be shared.  Mind you, this is not a recipe I came up with.  I happened to come across it in internet paleoland, but knew I had to give it a try.  Well I did, and the results were dramatic.  My son who is a die hard Chic-Fil-A connoisseur gave this a thumbs up...and he rarely gives anything I make his approval.  These nuggets were meant to taste similar to what you'd find at the fast food chain.  The recipe is from the Domestic Man and it needs to be part of your paleo rotation!  This website has amazing recipes so take some time to cruise around and check out all it has to offer.  I am doing my due diligence over here and am going to share his recipe because it must live on.  I figured that research scientists replicate other's experiments to improve the validity of the findings.  Well that's what I did here.  I validated Domestic Man's paleo chicken nugget findings.  Spoiler alert...the chicken is brined in pickle juice, dipped in arrowroot powder and THEN in egg before it is fried in coconut oil.  But he had me at Pickle Juice.

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IngredientsGluten Free, Paleo Chicken Nuggets 
from The Domestic Man

• Servings: 4
• Time: 30 minutes (plus 1-6 hours to marinate)
• Difficulty: Easy
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2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
(or use chicken tender strips)
1/2 cup dill pickle juice
1/4 cup arrowroot starch or tapioca starch
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup lard or refined coconut oil, more if needed

1. Combine the chicken pieces and pickle juice in a resealable plastic bag; marinate for at least 1 hour but up to six hours. When the chicken has finished marinating, strain it through a colander to drain out the extra pickle juice. Move the chicken around to make sure it drains properly. As the chicken drains, prepare your breading by combining the starch, paprika, black pepper, and salt. Beat the eggs in a wide bowl and set aside.

2. Preheat your oven to 250F. On your stove, warm the lard or coconut oil in a cast iron skilletover medium heat for 3 minutes. In a mixing bowl, toss the chicken pieces with the starch mixture until evenly coated. With your fingers, dip a starchy chicken piece in the egg, shake off the excess egg (eggcess!), then carefully add it to the oil. Repeat until you have filled your skillet; be careful not to overcrowd the chicken pieces. Fry the chicken until cooked through, flipping every 2 minutes, about 6-8 minutes per batch. 

3. As you finish each batch, place the cooked pieces on a plate lined with paper towels; put them in the oven to stay warm. You should be able to cook the chicken pieces in about 3 or 4 batches, depending upon the size of your skillet. The oil should reach halfway up the chicken pieces while cooking, add more oil if needed. Be sure to watch the heat, as the skillet will get warmer over time; adjust heat as needed. You’re looking for an oil temperature around 350F. Use a splatter screen to prevent splattering.

4. Serve warm with ketchup, barbecue sauce, or honey mustard.

** Use this technique as a basis for other nugget-like recipes, like what you’ll seen in Thursday’s recipe. Some recipes would taste better without pickle juice; in those circumstances, marinate the chicken in 1/2 cup water mixed with 1 tbsp kosher salt.

(I have completely cut and pasted the recipe off his site so again, I want to give credit to THE DOMESTIC MAN). ​