Coconut Crusted Chicken Recipe

I absolutely love trying new recipes. I love the look on Ryan's face when he comes home and smells that I cooked something new. I find it extremely rewarding when he loves it. One of our all time favorite places to go out to eat is Thai Cafe. We went there on one of our first dates, the night we got engaged, and every time we can, because it is just that good. I have attempted to make coconut crusted chicken before, but it has never really turned out that well, but I was determined to find a new recipe so after searching pinterest I found this recipe and was sold. Try it for yoruself, it is definitely a winner, as is the blog. It is a frequent read for me now. Now, I did not make the chili sauce just becuase that does not sound that applealing to me, but next time I'm going to make a sauce like the one they serve at Thai cafe. My mouth is watering.

Coconut Crusted Chicken (adapted original recipe for two)
Ingredients: 
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 large egg
2 TB milk (or coconut milk if you have it)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

• Cut off any extra fat globules from your chicken breasts. Gross. Necessary, though. Cut each breast into 3-4 strips, diagonally to prevent the end strips from being really short.
• Prepare your breading station by gathering three bowls. In the first bowl combine the flour and salt. In the second bowl, combine the eggs and milk. Whisk together until well combined. In the third bowl, stir together the panko bread crumbs and shredded coconut. You'll definitely need to wash your hands after this. Yuck. 

• Place half of the vegetable oil in a large skillet and heat over medium/high heat until very warm.
• While the oil is heating, dredge the chicken strips. First, coat each strip in the flour and salt mixture. Then dip each into the eggs/milk and finally coat each in panko and shredded coconut.

• Place about 3-4 strips in the pan at once. There should only be one layer in the pan and there should be about an inch between each strip. If you over crowd the pan it will get too cold and the strips will soak up a lot of oil instead of frying. Fry the strips for 3-4 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown and crispy. Place them on a plate with paper towel to drain and move on to the next batch.  Because the strips are thin, they should be cooked through by the time both sides are browned. You can tell by the texture of the chicken; it should be stiff when pressed. Use a digital thermometer to be sure.  If you cut your strips thicker, you will need to bake off the chicken after frying to make sure the insides are cooked through.I definitely had to bake them because I cannot seem to get chicken in a skillet cooked all the way through without burning.

• Enjoy!

We loved it. I paired it with rice and green beans but meant to grab broccoli at the store but just forgot, so whatever you want with it will work!

The other new recipe this week is cheesy chicken and rice bake. I'm excited to see how it turns out!

To trying new recipes and loving them,
Tera