Buffalo Bits
 

(I had started to call them buffalo balls, but that seemed a little crude... :) and they really aren't balls they are squares... )

(I loooove chicken wings, but get a little grossed out by eating meat off of a bone - so this is my variation of buffalo wings)

Ingredients:
1 lb Boneless chicken breasts (cut into cubes)
(I'm lazy and use the package of chicken tenders and just cut 'em into chunks - it's a little more expensive but a lot less cutting)

a handful of flour in a ziplock bag
a pinch of coarse salt in the ziplock bag
generous grindings of pepper in the ziplock bag
a pinch or two of cumin in the ziplock bag
a pinch or two of dried cilantro in the bag
(you can pretty much use whatever herbs and spices you wanna here)
(mix ingredents well)

Drop the chicken chunks into the ziplock bag and coat chicken evenly with the seasoned flour

Heat about 1 1/2 cups of canola oil in a skillet so that it's hot... Really hot.

Drop the chicken into the oil in small batches (so that it doesn't cool the oil down too much)

Turn chicken once, if you need to and remove from oil when it's a light golden brown.

In a small sauce pan, melt:
one stick of butter (well - i was lazy and used the entire stick, but you really only need 3/4 of the stick)
3 large cloves of garlic (smashed)
1/2 cup hot sauce (not tabasco, but Louisiana hot sauce, or jacks - one of the milder hot sauces) This will make 'em very mild... feel free to play around with other hot sauces.. and varying degrees of heat... I didn't feel like making myself sweat :)


Put the cooked chicken into a bowl
Pour the melted butter/hot sauce (with the garlic removed) over the chicken - you will have extra sauce - so don't drown the chickens.

Toss the chicken in the bowl to coat evenly...

Serve with blue cheese dressing and celery if desired and enjoy...

(I had plenty left over and have a buffalo bit salad for lunch today - -I threw some chicken over some fresh baby spinach and boston lettuce... and have some blue cheese dressing on the side)

thanks! I always forget just how simple this is to make and how tasty it is...

I'll have to try it. I eat so much chicken that it gets boring after a while. Probably could use the same recipe for boneless pork chops. The cumin and cilantro should give a little kick.

what size chunks did you use? half inch?

. it was a chicken tender- which are about 1" x 4" - and i cut it into 4 pices.. so maybe 1 inche pieces

I think I'm going to indulge myself with these tonight! Thanks mal... :D

the last time i made them, i did a bit of an experiment- Imeasured the oil before i cooked them and again after.. and cooking a pretty big batch of them I really only lost slightly under 1 tbs of oil...

when frying -- it's kinda like cooking pasta - use a bigger than you need pot.. and enough oil and make sure the oil is super hot (don't stick your finger in - stick a wooden spoon and if there are bubbles around the spoon - its hot enough)-- so that when you put the food in - the heat doesn't decrease.. it's the decrease in the heat that causes the oil absorbtion...

If ya wanna go by the book the oil should hit 350 degrees so use oil with a high smoke point. I prefer lard for this sort of thing because if you're gonna be bad about it ya might as well enjoy it to the max! You can get an inexpensive thermometer to measure the oil temp and make sure you don't touch the pan with it or your reading will be off. And using smaller batches to keep the oil at 350 degrees is a must...

I'm off to Kroger to get the fixins for mal's famous buffalo balls! :lol:

Yay! No More Burned Hands! :icare:

I have got to try this. I hate knawing away at a bone, but I love buffalo wings. Thanks, Ms. M.

Wow! That's not much oil loss at all.

I know this, but I always forget it when I'm cooking. I'll use less oil in the hope of greater health. I probably end up consuming more oil using less. Not good.