Thursday, January 7, 2010

Homemade Quake and Bake with "Chick-un" nuggets

Ace is perhaps the most confusing vegetarian in the history of history. Yes. I'm at a complete loss. I made the fabulous "chick-un" nuggets. He at the whole batch and begged for more. Last night I put the meatless sausage in a succulent herb kissed saucy marinara...and he said "it tastes too much like meat". So, I'm confused. Though I shouldn't be. For all the times my husband has been blankly opposed to meat, I should just never make it...or anything similar is shape or texture. However, I love meat. I love the flavor. I don't love the thought of eating a dead animal so I don't usually think about it. Ace on the other hand, always brings up the "poor cow" or "humiliated yard bird" on the dinner table. So...here it is. I am posting the meatless "chick'un" nuggets. Ace ate them. He loved them. He drank D Dog BBQ rubs and sauce cranberry chipotle sauce right from the dipping cup...so you know it was good.

If you missed how to make the seitan, take a moment to review: Meatless Wonders 101 (Wheat Meat or Seitan) or make the sausage from:Veggie Dogs (Seitan). I think it would be wonderful to have the sausage in breaded form for Salisbury steaks. However, today we are going to lightly hit on making home made mock"Shake and bake"...we call it Quake and Bake.
You will need:
3 1/2 cups wheat flour (whole grain baby!)
1 cup crushed corn flakes (or bran flakes) measured after crushing as 1 cup.
1/2 cup cornmeal
2T parsley flakes
2 tsp garlic powder
2T onion powder
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground basil
1 tsp ground oregano

Mix together very well. Makes enough to coat 3-4 lbs chicken (Divide in half if you just want to coat 1-2 lbs of chicken).


Today we used one batch of the seitan using concentrated vegetable stock instead of water or bullion (you can also use concentrated chicken stock if you aren't vegetarian), well seasoned with poultry seasoning and omitted all the herbs and stuff from the Quake and bake. Do what you want, it works both ways. Divide the seitan between 3 logs. Simmer 2-3 hours in a covered crock pot as directed. Allow to cool slightly before slicing into 1/4 inch medallions.
I whisk 2 egg whites and toss the seitan in the egg white to coat well.


Pre-heat oven to 400 degree. Put egg coated "chick-un" nuggets in a bag with 1/2 of the Quake and bake mixture (enough to do 1-2 lbs of chicken). Melt 1/4 cup butter (or use 1/4 cup olive oil...I love garlic infused oil here).
Brush butter or oil over the nuggets, or mist with oil lightly.
Bake at 400 degrees uncovered for 20-25 minutes.
I experimented using some Panko in the Quake and Bake instead of the cornflake crumbs. It was very nice.
I loved it with the corn flakes though. Loved it.


If you use real meat for the Quake and bake:
Dredge 1 chicken (I use skinless) in the above mix (3-4 lb bird). Put the chicken in a bag with the mixture and shake it up until well coated. Put 1/4 cup melted butter or olive oil in the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Place the chicken skin side down and baste the top with melted butter or oil. Bake uncovered 25 minutes. Turn skin side up and reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until tender and juices run clear when chicken is pricked with a fork, about 30-35 minutes. This also works for pork chops. Enjoy.
There you go.

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