Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

SOURCE: Foodnetwork.com
ANNIE'S RATING: 3 stars
TOTAL COOKING & PREP TIME: less than 1 hr
SERVINGS: 2 to 3

WHAT'S NEEDED:

For the Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce:

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 TBSP honey
• 2 tsps yellow mustard (NOTE A)
• 1 tsp lemon juice or juice from 1/4 lemon
• Horseradish, to taste (NOTE B)
• 2 tsps (more or less as needed) orange juice (NOTE B)

For the Chicken Nuggets:

• 2 cups (more or less as needed) sour-cream-and-onion-flavored potato chips, crushed (NOTE C)
• 1 egg
• 2 TBSPs milk
• 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

HOW TO:

For the Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce:

1. Combine all ingredients except orange juice; stir well.
2. Thin to pouring consistency for dressing or dipping consistency for dips with orange juice.
3. Cover and chill for 2 or 3 hours. (NOTE D)

For the Chicken Nuggets:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spread the crushed potato chips in a shallow dish.
3. Beat together the egg and milk in a shallow bowl.
4. Dip the chicken cubes into the egg mixture and then dredge them in the chips. (NOTE E) 
5. Place the chicken nuggets on a baking sheet and drizzle with melted butter.
6. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. (The chicken nuggets can be frozen after baking.)
7. Serve with your favorite sauce, such as honey mustard or ranch dressing.

NOTES:

• (A) I specifically used Dijon mustard.
• (B) I skipped both the horseradish and orange juice but my dipping sauce still turned out good.
• (C) I bought a family-sized bag of Ruffles for this recipe. You'll never know when you're gonna need more!
• (D) If you've decided to try this honey mustard dipping sauce, then plan ahead and prepare it way ahead of time. As for me, it was too late when I saw that it has to be chilled for 2 to 3 hours. So I made the sauce first then chilled it until the chicken was done; thankfully, it was still ok. :-)
• (E) Next time, I'll try seasoning the chicken nuggets with Emeril's Creole Seasoning or coating the nuggets with the dipping sauce before I dredge them in the crushes potato chips.
• I served the chicken nuggets together with fresh green salad. I tossed in whatever I had at hand: lettuce, sliced green olives stuffed with pimiento, fried tofu, parmesan cheese, and small slices of apples. And I just used the honey mustard dipping sauce as my salad dressing. Perfect! :-D

Mozzarella Sticks

SOURCE: Foodnetwork.com
ANNIE'S RATING: 3 stars
TOTAL COOKING & PREP TIME: about 2 to 3 hrs
SERVINGS: 3 to 4 (about 28 sticks in total)

WHAT'S NEEDED:

• 3/4 cup Italian-style dried breadcrumbs (e.g., Progresso)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan, grated (NOTE A)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8-oz block of pasteurized mozzarella, cut into 4" by 1/2" sticks
• 2 large eggs, beaten to blend
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil

HOW TO:

1. Stir the bread crumbs, Parmesan and salt in a medium bowl to blend.
2. Dip the cheese in the eggs to coat completely and allow the excess egg to drip back into the bowl. Coat the cheese in the bread crumb mixture, patting to adhere and coat completely. Place the cheese sticks on a baking sheet. Repeat dipping the cheese sticks in the egg and bread crumb mixture to coat a second time. (NOTE B) 
3. Cover and freeze until frozen, about 2 hours and up to 2 days. (NOTE C)
4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Working in batches, fry the cheese until golden brown, about 15 seconds for each of the 4 sides. Don't overfry it because you would want your cheese sticks to be gooey inside yet retaining its log-like form. If you start to see cheese oozing out then it's time to take them out of the pan. (NOTE D) 
5. Transfer the fried cheese sticks onto a plate covered with paper towel before serving them. If you're not serving them immediately or if you find the cheese inside are not yet gooey, then try to heat it up inside the toaster. Again, if you start to see cheese oozing out then it's time to take them out of the toaster. (NOTE E) 

NOTES:

• (A) The original recipe called for freshly grated Parmesan. I just used a ready-to-use grated Parmesan by Kraft.
• (B) To avoid the bread crumb mixture from sticking to my fingers, I use a fork to dip and lift a cheese stick from the egg. Then I drop the the cheese stick (yes, one at a time) into a square plastic container, which contains my bread crumb mixture, and just shake the container to and fro and let the cheese stick roll and be covered with the bread crumb mixture. 
• (C) It is very important to freeze the cheese sticks by at least 2 hours as this will help the sticks retain its log-like forms when being fried. I tried freezing a batch by an hour only and they didn't turn out so good as they melted right away when being fried.
• (D) Overfrying the cheese sticks is messy! The 15-second count for each of the 4 sides is based on my experience, that is, after working on so many batches of cheese sticks!
• (E) The original recipe called for sprinkling additional Parmesan on top of the fried cheese sticks; I skipped on that. Also, the original recipe contained a recipe for Marinara sauce which is to be served with the cheese sticks. However, I have always skipped on doing this sauce as I usually serve my cheese sticks with spaghetti. Besides, these cheese sticks are sooo good that you can eat them all by themselves!