Spicy Garlic Buttermilk Battered Fried Chicken Strips

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon red pepper sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, mashed
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 2 cups vegetable oil

Recipe

• 1 in a deep bowl mix together buttermilk, pepper sauce, and mashed garlic.
• 2 cut chicken breasts in half lengthwise so that they are in strips roughly 1 inch wide and 4-7 inches long.
• 3 add chicken to buttermilk, pepper, garlic mix and stir so that chicken is well coated. cover the bowl and marinate in the refrigerator several hours or overnight.
• 4 remove chicken from refrigerator about 1/2 hour before cooking.
• 5 in a shallow dish mix together the all purpose flour, oregano, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, salt, and ground pepper. exact amounts of spices can be adjusted to personal tastes.
• 6 remove chicken from buttermilk mixture one piece at a time shake off excess liquid and then toss into flour mixture to coat. place each piece on a clean dry baking pan. when all pieces are coated, dip each piece, one at a time again, into buttermilk and toss again in flour mixture, remove and set in back into baking pan.
• 7 pour about 1 1/2 inches of vegetable oil (canola, corn, peanut, etc.) into a heavy skillet or use a deep fryer filled with oil (as per fryer specifications), and heat oil to 360 degrees.
• 8 carefully drop pieces of chicken a few at a time into hot oil and cook about 3-4 minutes until pieces are golden brown. do not add too many pieces at one time or the oil temperature will drop too low.
• 9 remove chicken from hot oil and place on clean paper towels to drain. these serve immediately or allow to cool to room temperature.
• 10 for extra spicy chicken increase amount of cayenne pepper in flour mixture.