Chicken Fingers: For those who love to dunk

Chicken fingers are one of those funny foods which have somehow managed to make their way onto the menus of fast food restaurants and upscale steakhouses. I believe their ability to transcend all barriers of cost or quality lies in the power of the dipping sauce. Dipping sauce turns that plain, bread covered hunk of chicken into a virtual food canvas just waiting to be dunked in creamy ranch, slathered with tangy barbecue, or drizzled with sweet and hot honey mustard. The possibilities for that humble piece of chicken are really endless. In one meal you can experience the full range of culinary flavors and textures--sweet, hot, spicy, tangy, creamy, crunchy, sticky, or even that new weird one I just learned about--umami (You should google that one!)

My dear college roommate taught me everything I know about dipping sauces. She used to come home from work wielding a tray of just three chicken fingers surrounded by every kind of dipping sauce you could imagine. I'll admit, at first, I laughed at her crazy obsession with sauces. But after awhile, I began to envy her boldness. I too wanted to experience all the dipping world had to offer. And after doing just that, I can tell you my roommate is a genius. Barbecue chicken fingers in one bite. Honey chicken fingers in the next. Then, if I'm feeling really crazy, a mixture of ranch and ketchup in the next one. It's a beautiful thing. 

These chicken fingers provide a great base to experiment with all of your favorite dipping sauces. As you can see, we limited ourselves to three this time and chose ranch, barbecue, and homemade sweet and hot honey mustard. Christina, I love you! This one's for you!

Please excuse the truly horrendous quality of these pictures. They were taken with a camera phone, because, let's face it, when hot crunchy chicken fingers are waiting to be eaten grabbing the camera is just way too time consuming.

Crunchy Chicken Fingers
Yield: About 12 chicken fingers
Recipe adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients:
1 1b. chicken tenderloins
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (you can also use all purpose)
3 cups panko bread crumbs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (but only if you like a kick!)

Directions:
1. Soak chicken fingers in buttermilk overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
3. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
4. In a bowl mix together flour, panko, salt, pepper, and cayenne.
5. Dip the chicken fingers in the flour mixture, coat thoroughly, then lay on the baking sheet.
6. Spray the chicken with nonstick cooking spray (It helps them get nice and crispy!)
7. Bake for 12 minutes. Flip pieces over. Bake for another 12 minutes. DUNK!