Chicken Fillet with Cornflake-Rosemary Crust
My sister-in-law Charlene shared this recipe with me and I had to try it because:
It looked so simple,
I love cornflakes,
I love chicken fillets
I Googled for other variations to find out how this could be done differently, and decided to try combining the recipes from Epicurious and Home Cooking Adventure. Because:
Epicurious suggested using milk in their egg wash, and I love milk. Home Cooking Adventure used olive oil, which doesn't do well in high temperature (at least, according to what I've read before).
Home Cooking Adventure had a more interesting cornflake coating with herbs (parsley, to be exact) and salt. Epicurious just suggested salt and pepper. Plus, Home Cooking Adventure suggested flouring the marinated chicken first, which made more sense to me since this is going into the oven. Oven + Flour = Intuitive combination.
Both recipes suggested using a simple salt and black pepper marinade, but I wanted to be adventurous, so I used garlic salt and chicken seasoning. The fragrance was incredible!
The smell in my kitchen was amazing, but the fillets turned out tough and slightly too salty. I think the baking time was too long. The recipe below is modified accordingly that will (hopefully) give juicier results next time!
Recipe
Ingredients:
8 - 9 strips of chicken fillet (can use chicken breast or thigh)
Garlic salt
Chicken seasoning (I used Masterfoods)
4 tbsp flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
3 cups cornflakes
1 tbsp chopped parsley / rosemary / basil
1/4 tsp salt
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200 deg Celsius / 392 deg Fahrenheit. Line baking tray with baking paper.
2. Rinse chicken strips. Season both sides with garlic salt and chicken seasoning.
3. Put flour on a plate with raised sides. Beat eggs with milk in bowl.
4. Pour cornflakes in a Ziploc bag, seal and crush cornflakes into minuscule bits. And I mean, REALLY minuscule. You can use a rolling pin or your hands to do the job. Make sure it's done thoroughly. Bits that are too large will not stick onto the chicken strips afterwards.
5. Pour crushed cornflakes into a flat bowl. Add in the chopped herbs and salt and mix well.
6. If you want to keep your hands clean, use a fork at this step. If you want to use your hands, be prepared to get sticky and messy. Flour + egg wash = Superglue!
One at a time: Roll chicken strip in flour, dip in egg wash, then coat with seasoned cornflakes. Press the flakes to make them stick better. Lay coated strips on to the baking paper.
7. Bake for 12 min each side if your strips are thin (10 - 12 cm long, 3 - 4 cm wide). Lengthen the time if your strips are thicker / bigger.
8. Remove from oven and cool. Serve with your favourite dip / salad / sides. I used cherry tomatoes.
9. Don't discard all the leftovers! If you have enough egg wash remaining, pan fry it lightly to make a milky and fluffy omelette - it tastes amazingly creamy. Throw in some mushrooms / tomatoes/ onions/ capsicums if you want!
