For the cookbook

OK, so I know it’s past the deadline, but I had an inspiration when I got my last IRK which included a case of the strawberry cereal and I thought “how am I going to choke down…I mean what wonderful ways can I use this?”

So I thought, why not crush it up and use it to coat chicken? Strawberry is good with chicken and I’ve used cereal before for a coating. This could be good.

So I decided to make Spark Off-limits Fried Chicken

Ingredients
2 large boneless, sinless chicken breasts (mine were ~1.5# total)
Maybe 1/2c flour
3 eggs (2 might have been enough)
Pinch salt
1 Tbs milk (optional)
1 c Spark cereal

First I cut the chicken into strips. You can pound it if you like. You just want them to be relatively even and about 1/2" thick

Beat the eggs with the salt and milk to make an egg wash.

Crush the cereal. I used a small hand processor. You will get some fine powder, but you’ll want to leave some bigger chunks. If I had it to do over again, I’d leave more bigger chunks.

Dredge chicken pieces in flour, shake off excess
Dip in egg wash
Dredge in cereal
Place on rack to rest

Cook as you would any other chicken strips
I chose to fry in oil on a cast iron skillet

Try to keep oil about 350
Put in a few at a time
Replace a couple as you take them out. That will help keep the oil consistent

A digital probe thermometer (didn’t we see one somewhere? ) is helpful to both keep track of oil temp and the temp of the chicken.
Pull chicken pieces out at 165+. If you don’t have a thermometer, they won’t feel squishy when you push against them

We had them with tater tots and a salad with home grown tomatoes and poppy seed dressing. All went well together.

The good
Strawberry flavor was good but not overpowering
Chicken was mostly crispy
I could really see this served on a waffle

What I’d do differently
Like I said - leave more cereal chunks bigger. Definitely added to the crispness
I also didn’t use enough oil so the later pieces weren’t as good. My bad.
I would also try air-frying, just for a difference