The mustard sauce for this recipe, tweaked slightly, was originally a marinade from Jenn's Food Journey, a blog which regularly gives me great ideas for dinner. Be sure to visit. She's always got something delicious on the grill!
But, rather than grill whole chicken breasts this time, I decided to make fried, breaded chicken tenders on top of the stove in a skillet. And I added some cayenne to the sauce to give it a little more kick.
Chicken Tenders with Hot Mustard and Apricot Dipping Sauce Recipe:
3 large, boneless and skinless chicken breasts, sliced into 1/2 inch slices (no thicker) against the grain.
2/3 c. flour
garlic salt
coarse black pepper
1/4 c. corn oil (because it does a better job of browning the chicken)
Sauce recipe:
1/2 c. apricot preserves
2 T. Country Dijon mustard
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. cayenne
Place flour in a gallon Ziploc bag. A few at a time, toss chicken slices in flour. Heat oil in skillet. Move breaded chicken slices to skillet, as many at a time as will comfortably fit in skillet without crowding. Sprinkle garlic salt and black pepper on breaded chicken slices. Fry about 4 minutes on each side with heat on high or med-high. DON'T walk away from hot oil.
I'm not certain how long I fried these on each side, because I was listening to an interesting radio show, but I wanted them to be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I used a meat thermometer to test the inside: 168 degrees. Also, when I cut one open with a knife, it was no longer pink and watery. When they are cooked through and crispy, golden brown on both sides, move them to a warm plate and fry remaining chicken.
While chicken tenders are frying, mix up the sauce and place in a bowl.
This should serve 4 people, each person getting a little more than 3 large chicken tenders and a generous spoonful of sauce to dip them in.
These are amazingly delicious! And that sauce recipe is now part of my 'Favorites' folder!
