Chicken Fingers, Sweet Potato Fries and Kitchen Injuries

The chicken fingers were a hit.
This is all that is left and I ate him at around midnight. Great snack!

I did The Kid's in shake and bake and I did ours in plain bread crumbs, panko bread crumbs, herbs and some grated parmesan cheese. Tim loved them. And no salt! Didn't even miss it. The Kid thought his were as good as any he's had and he used to be a chicken finger/nugget addict. I was quite pleased. I baked them at 400 (200C) for 20 minutes, flipping half way through. We'll be seeing these around here again. Next time we'll try making a big batch and freezing some for the convenience of frozen fingers on the fly.

Okay, panko, where do you get it? (and for those of you who don't know what it is - it's japanese bread crumbs, they are just crispier and more coarse than regular bread crumbs) I used up what I had of mine and now can't find any at the Sobey's. I haven't looked at the Superstore. I don't know where I got the original bag. If anyone knows of a place to get panko here in Moncton, let me know. I will try the Asian market we have here. I just don't like to give out recipes with ingredients everyone can't easily find. If you can't find panko then grind up some premium saltine crackers. They will give the same type of crispiness.

And the sweet potato fries? They were a hit too.

You can do this with regular potatoes too. Just cut them into the size you want, toss them in egg whites then toss them with salt, pepper or herbs. I use Ms. Dash Herb and Garlic. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes at 425F. I do cook them on parchment paper because the parchment paper has oil in it that really helps them get crispy. You can find parchment paper in larger grocery stores in the cling wrap and aluminum foil section.

The Kid is a teenage boy. This means carbo loading. Yup, how else are you going to fill up a growing boy? I swear he had 2 cups of mashed potatoes with his dinner last night. Ate every bit too. Try to keep healthy carbs in the house if you have growing boys. I'll often give The Kid extra potatoes, rice or pasta with his meal but skip it for us. Yes, later we'll have to undo the bad eating habit of carbo loading but he's only a stick right now! I'd rather he have homemade, natural carbs than processed carbs. He gets whole grain rice, rainbow pasta (we haven't made the leap to whole wheat with him yet) or potatoes. I'll keep trying to expand it to things like couscous, quinoa, etc. But don't panic, teenage boys eat. A lot. Give them good options. Last night The Kid also had a huge portion of steamed broccoli, his fav. I can't complain.

Okay I have to come clean. I'm a bit of a klutz in the kitchen. I know, a seasoned professional like me?! I am an expert with ceramic glue. Most of my better dining pieces are glued. Yup, I break things. A lot. I also cut and burn things, mostly myself. When I got my first professional grade knife I lobbed off the top of my thumb. I have learned not to try to cut anything while listening to Stuart MacLean's Vinyl Cafe. It's hard to see what you are doing through the tears (of laughter or sentimentality, it doesn't matter). I'm a bit of a sap.

So Friday night I was using my standard pot holders.

Did you just say "CJ, that is not a pot holder!". Okay, okay, I hear you. It is a silicone grabby thing but when you are as accident prone as I am, it really doesn't qualify as an acceptable tool. So of course it slipped and I burned 3 fingers. Oh for the love of parmesan! And I had knitting to do that evening, I'm on a deadline.

I immediately ran the fingers under cold water (if I had been thinking about the environment I would have gotten a bowl, put water and ice in it and not stood there for 5 minutes with the icy water running out of the tap but well, I wasn't thinking about the environment right at that very moment). When the fingers were good and cold and the heat was gone, I put a good goop of Aloe on them. I keep a big bottle of pure aloe vera gel in the house. Only one finger seemed to end up with any damage.
Can't see it? Nope, it looks great. Minimal light blister. Didn't even raise the skin, just a little white mark really. So there you go, first aid for burns by the gourmet goddess.