Best chicken nuggets ever!

Annabelle Karmel's Chicken Nuggets





Ingredients

200g boneless skinless chicken breasts/thighs
100ml milk, plus 1 tbspn for dipping
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tbspn fresh lemon juice
45g Rice Kripies
15g mature Cheddar cheese, finely grated
1 tbspn grated Parmesan
1 egg
4 tbspn plain flour
3-4 tbspn sunflower oil, for frying
salt and pepper to season

Method

1. Cut the chicken into 1.5cm cubes and put in a bowl.
2. Mix together the milk, garlic, thyme, lemon juice, 1/4 tsp sale and some black pepper, and pour over the chicken.
3. Cover, and leave to marinate in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
4. Put the Rice Krispies in a food processor and whiz for 1-2 minutes, until reduced to fine crumbs.
5. Add the cheeses, plus sale and pepper to taste, and whiz to combine.  Transfer to a large plate.
6. Whisk the egg in a small bowl with the tablespoon of milk.
7. Mix the flour with a little salt and pepper, and spread out on another large plate.
8. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade, shaking off any excess.  Toss in the seasoned flour then dip in the egg and then roll in the Rice Krispie coating.
9.  Put the oil in a large non-stick pan over a medium heat.  Fry the nuggets for 2-3 minutes each side, until golden and crisp.  Drain on kitchen paper and cool slightly before serving.

To oven cook:
1.  Pre-heat the oven to 230 degrees celsius.   Reduce the oil to two tablespoons.  Add one tablespoon to the Kellogg's Rice Krispie crumbs with the cheese and whiz to combine evenly (you may need to stop and stir a couple of times as the oil can clump a bit).
2. Grease a baking sheet with the remaining tablespoon of oil.  Coat the chicken (as above) and put on the prepared baking sheet.
3.  Bake for 15 minutes, turning over half-way through.

To freeze put unchecked, coated chicken nuggets on baking sheet lined with cling film.  Cover with more cling film and freeze until solid then transfer to a re-sealable box or freezer bag.  Cook direct from frozen, adding 1 minute extra cooking time for frying and 3-4 minutes extra for baking.