Appetizer #7 - Coconut Chicken Bites

 The Year of Appetizers

Appetizer #7 - Coconut Chicken Bites

    This recipe comes from 2007's The Taste of Home Cookbook, from Reader's Digest. I had to modify the recipe, because I once again, did not have all of the correct seasonings. I'll list what I used in italics and what the original seasonings were that I did not use. Even with my substitutions, I really liked these little bite-sized nuggets. They would be yummy with a hot honey sauce or a hot orange marmalade sauce. Instructions for the sauces will be below. 

P.S. Sorry for my plain-jane photo. 

Ingredients:

2 cups flaked coconut

1 egg

2 tbsps milk

3/4 pound boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut into nugget-sized pieces

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp celery salt (If you don't have this, use regular salt like I did)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin (I used chili powder)

Oil for frying

Directions:

Finely chop coconut in a blender or food processor (This took awhile for me, because I tried using a blender and it did not work great). Pour coconut into a bowl and set aside. Combine egg and milk in a separate bowl until well combined. Pour flour into a small bowl and toss the chicken a few pieces at a time, in the flour. Dip floured chicken pieces in the egg mixture and then in the coconut. Place chicken pieces on a tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Fry a few pieces of chicken at a time in 2 inches of oil (heated to 375 degrees) for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. They should be golden brown. Drain fried chicken bites on paper towels and place in a bowl. Combine seasonings and sprinkle over chicken bites. Toss to coat chicken bites and serve warm with or without a dipping sauce. I actually opted to mix my seasonings in with the flour, before coating in the egg mixture and coconut. 

Dipping Sauce #1 - Hot Honey Sauce:

Heat 1/2 cup honey in a microwave until it is a little bubbly. Remove from the microwave and add sriracha sauce to taste.  Add more or less honey and sriracha. It really depends on how much sauce you want and how sweet or hot you want it. 

Dipping Sauce #2 - Hot Orange Marmalade Sauce:

Follow directions above, only use orange marmalade. 

Coconut Chicken Bites

Pie Number 22 - Lemonchick's Chicken & Vegetable Pie

 The Year of Pie

Pie Number 22 - Lemonchick's Chicken & Vegetable Pie

    This is my creation! 100% mine! I loved it. I really loved the seasonings I chose. The only two things I would do differently, is to bake at 375 degrees, not 350 degrees and I would make a gravy with 1 cup water, not 2 cups of water (it made too much gravy). I baked the pie for 35 minutes at 350, but ended up adding at least 15 more minutes. The crust never did get golden, but it was still a good crust.  If I'd baked it at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes, I think the crust would have turned out more like how I wanted it to (golden). The first piece out of the pie pan did not come out very, well, but that was because it was still too hot. The second piece I had (the day after) came out just fine. I thought this creation of mine was really good and I hope you like it. 

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast diced

1 medium/large potato, peeled and diced

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 12oz bag frozen mixed vegetables, use the "steam in a bag" kind

1 cup water

1-2 tsp chicken bouillon (I used a low sodium variety)

3/4 tsp onion powder

3/4 tsp garlic powder, 

3/4 parsley flakes, 

3/4 tsp celery salt

3/4 tsp spicy chili seasoning 

3/4 tsp ground sage 

1/2 tsp salt, plus a sprinkle

1/2 tsp pepper, plus a sprinkle

canola oil

cornstarch

two-crust pie crust (unbaked)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle a bit of canola oil in a large heated skillet. In a saucepan, boil diced potato in water until softened, but not mushy. Drain cooked potatoes and set aside. Season diced chicken with a sprinkle of salt, sprinkle of pepper and 1/4 tsp of each of the rest of the seasonings and add to the skillet. Cook completely and remove from skillet. Add chopped onion to the same skillet and cook until translucent. Return chicken to skillet and turn burner to low. In a saucepan, boil 1 cup water and 1-2 tsp chicken bouillon. Use a little bit of water mixed with cornstarch, to thicken the bouillon into a gravy. If it is not thick enough, add a little more water/cornstarch mixture. 

Combine the gravy, potatoes, onion, chicken and vegetables. Pour into unbaked pastry shell, add top crust and crimp edges to seal crusts together. Cut slits into top crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden. Remove pie from oven and let cool. Serve pie with a sprinkle of parsley flakes if desired and serve with a garden salad. 

Serves 8

Lemonchick's Chicken & Vegetable Pie
(cooked by not golden)

The first piece of pie that I took out wayyyy too early.

The second piece of pie that came out wayyyy better.