Crispy Chicken in breadcrumbs - gluten-free of course

crisp oven-baked, gluten-free chicken

When making bread tests or just when making bread I sometimes make a loaf that isn't good enough to eat as bread.  Gluten-free breads are particularly prone to producing a dense mushy area at the bottom when trying to make a large loaf.  Whilst our wild birds love these highly nutritious loaves you can make use of them yourself.  If you cube the bread and whizz it in the food processor you get versatile breadcrumbs to jazz up all sorts of foods.  I like to toast them in the oven for a bit to get them dry and then bag and freeze them.

dried breadcrumbs

Yesterday I visited an organic farm to ask about strawberry varieties for a Slow Food event in the summer.  Lots of useful information and contacts, and a fresh dry-plucked chicken, so thanks, Roots at Rushwick.

In the past I have fried the breaded chicken to get a good golden crust first then finished them off in the oven.  However, that adds a lot of fat to the dish, increases the washing up, and makes the house smell of frying.  I did try just baking them dry, and that led to an acceptable but not as nice product.  I saw Ellie Krieger lightly spritz her breaded chicken with a cooking spray, so thought it would be worth a try.

I cut off the chicken breasts and chopped them into medium sized pieces.   The rest of the chicken will make a curry, then I will roast the bones then make a stock.  I reckon on about four meals for two people from a chicken.

chicken pieces

Lightly beat two eggs and place in a wide shallow bowl.  If you can't or don't eat egg use tapioca gloop or your usual egg substitute.  Tapioca gloop is very sticky - take 10g tapioca flour, 100ml water, stir together then cook while stirring until you have a thick transparent paste,

beaten egg

Put your breadcrumbs in another shallow bowl.  Add spices or crushed cornflakes if you want.

breadcrumbs

Dip the chicken pieces first in the egg then the breadcrumbs then place on a greased tray.  Spray cooking spray on the chicken then bake at 190C for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the pieces.

uncooked chicken

cooked chicken

These produced light crunchy chicken portions.  TT has a yearning sometimes for KFCs, and these keep him happy; they are gluten-free, local organic chicken, and lower fat.

Gluten-free Breaded camembert / goats cheese

For a treat every now and then I used to eat deep-fried crispy cheese with salad when I was at a restaurant. I never made it as it seemed an inconvenient sort of food, with several steps. However, I have discovered it is really quite simple.

I had a bag of breadcrumbs from one of my own bread loaves. I am getting into the habit of making a loaf when I make bagels so that I can crumb it and store these crumbs in a tub in the freezer, as they are so handy for a variety of meals. Use whatever bread you like to eat. The amount of breadcrumbs isn’t too critical. If you like a thick coating you can dip the cheese in both egg and breadcrumbs twice, so you will need more than if you just have a single thin coating.

Ingredients

Cheese wedges or whole mini-cheeses. For two people for a light lunch I used a quarter of a Camembert (55g) and a half a soft goats cheese with a rind called Capricorn (40g). Each of these was cut into two.

Breadcrumbs – about half a cup full.

1egg, beaten

vegetable oil for frying

Method

Roll the cheese segments in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs, taking care to cover all the sides. As I wanted to use up the egg and the breadcrumbs I did this twice, which gives a thicker crust.

Heat a wide frying pan with enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Thinly. Heat until the oil just begins to shimmer.

Place the breaded cheese into hot oil and fry on each side until golden. Turn gently.

Either eat straight away or place in a warm oven until you are ready to eat. They should be crisp on the outside and meltingly soft inside.

Serve with a salad and a spicy or tart sauce. We had baby spinach and a homemade chilli jam.

Goats cheese

Camembert