Fresh Approach Cooking

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When my darling, the Glamazon, was a wee bitty child, (pre-glamazon days, which I believe should be called the precocious years,) she announced, in response to my fathers query, "What do you girls want for lunch?" that her favorite food was Chicken Nuggets, and that is the only thing she was willing to eat.

Now, my father is not a fast food eater, nor is he a pop culture follower, so he just roared with laughter, eyes twinkling.

He sincerely thought she made it up. In his reasoning, there was no way there could there be such a foodstuff, it simply had to be the concoction of a fabulous four year old mind. Nuggets of chicken???

Now mind you, at that point in my young life, I had never indulged in a Chicken Nugget, but being a child, I was all very aware of their existence. My parents wouldn't have dreamed of letting us sample that sort of thing. So naturally, I chimed in saying that was all I wanted for lunch too. As the words came out of my lips, I was anxiously wondering...could this be the day? Would my father actually take us to a fast food chain to eat fried, compressed chicken bits served with gloopy, sugar dense, dipping sauce? The possibility of it all almost felled me.

Well, miracle of miracle, my food-conscious father whimsically decided to indulge Pre-Glamazon's fancy. (She was just so irresistibly cute.) So into the car piled four kids, one adult, and palpable anticipation.

Seemingly moments later, our food devoured, my father turned to the Pre-Glamazon, and asked if she had enjoyed her lunch. Tears welled up in her big golden eyes, (yes, her eyes are golden. It's stunning.) as she proclaimed they were "dreadful" and her new favorite food was hot dogs.

Turns out, her parents had never let her have them either...sly child that Glamazon.

After that day, I'm not sure I ever ate them again. They weren't to my taste. I know for a fact my father never did either. As for the Glamazon, she currently lives on a steady diet of salads and Champagne, as all good glamour girls do...but while none of us eat them, 20+ years later, my father still lovingly calls her (with that smile in his eyes)...Chicken Nugget...

This appetizer, it's an adult version. Real chicken. Complex flavor. Simply stunning.

1 T. fresh ginger, grated
1 teaspoon chile, minced
1 t. vegetable oil
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 T brown sugar
1 T lime juice
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup water

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup peanuts
1 T. ground cardamom
1 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. salt
1 cup rice or wheat flour
2 eggs
4 chicken breasts
Corn oil

Saute the ginger and chile in the vegetable oil. Remove from heat and whisk in the peanut butter, soy, sugar, lime, coconut and water. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Cut chicken into bite-sized bits.

Whisk eggs in a bowl.

In a Cusinart, combine the nuts, spices and rice flour. Pulse to combine. Pour this into a shallow bowl.

Dip the chicken bits into the egg, then the nut mixture. When all the pieces are coated, saute in the corn oil until golden brown. Serve room temperature with peanut dipping sauce.

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Do I love Food? Heck yes, and if you live in Los Angeles, you should too. Review coming soon.

Other ways to play with Peanut Butter? Cookies anyone?

McDonalds Chicken McNuggets (C), were introduced in 1983. 6 pieces have 250 calories. A McNugget is a small piece of minced chicken and mechanically separated meat held together with phosphate salts and chicken skin. The pieces are coated with batter, then deep-fried and sold. - Wikipedia

Labels: Appetizer, Chicken, Gluten Free, Low-Carb