Popcorn Chicken Bites

I have been playing around with these for a while and making a version of them for years, but since I tried Half Baked Harvest's recipe for Chicken Tenders back in January, which introduced me to the cornflake crust, it's honestly been a game-changer and this version has been voted for as a winner by my family. 

You can soak the chicken in buttermilk, but I make a version of my own and have included the details for this below as buttermilk isn't always easy to come by.

I cannot stress enough the importance of using boneless and skinless chicken thighs here for the juiciest little crispy bites of chicken; you can use chicken breast if you prefer but it will inevitably be drier! 

You can also play around with the seasonings in the crust, I have just a gentle spicing, as my girls don't like anything too hot, but I think cayenne would work really well here. 

However many you make, they will go, and I guarantee once you make this once, you'll be making it again and soon. I served this here with my Slow Cooker BBQ Beans with Chorizo but they'd also work well with my Healthy Coleslaw.

Popcorn Chicken Bites

Here's how:

• 600g skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 3 heaped tbsp of natural yoghurt
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 140g cornflakes
• 1.5 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• Fry Light Sunflower Oil

Firstly make your own buttermilk, by combining the yoghurt with the white wine vinegar and stirring through and place into a container big enough to hold the chicken. If you don't have white wine vinegar, any white vinegar will work or you could even use the juice of half a lemon.

Now cut the chicken into small, bite-sized pieces and place into the buttermilk. Once all chopped and added to the yoghurt use a spoon to mix the chicken all around and ensure every piece is coated. Put a lid on the container and place into the fridge for at least an hour. 

When ready to cook, pop the oven on at 200 degrees. 

For the crust, blitz the cornflakes in a blender or a Nutribullet and place into a bowl then add the seasonings; paprika, oregano, black pepper and garlic salt and mix.

Get a couple of baking trays ready - I line them with baking paper to stop the chicken sticking and losing any of the crust.

Remove the chicken from the fridge and take off the lid.

Use a fork to pop each piece of chicken into the cornflake mixture and move it around to ensure it's completely coated then place onto the baking sheet. Repeat this until every piece of chicken has a good coating. 

Now give all of the chicken pieces a spray with the Fry Light.

Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes until cooked through and crisp. Enjoy!

I serve with a Jack Daniels' BBQ dip and then two dips which I knock up quickly myself and which are always devoured. 

The first is a Honey Mustard dip and it is simply 2 tbsp mayonnaise, 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, 1.5 tbsp honey and a pinch of cayenne pepper and a drop of white wine vinegar and mixed together.

The second is an Asian dipping sauce and is a minced garlic clove, and a 2 cm piece of ginger grated or finely chopped and heated in a pan with 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp sriracha, 1 tbsp red bean chilli paste. 

Again, if you make either of these dips I guarantee it won't only be the once!

Absurd Bird, Spitalfields

Last weekend I enjoyed a Saturday night feast at Absurd Bird, the Spitalfields outpost, with Glen, my brother Dan and his partner. Dan had already been and praised the bottomless brunch offering, so we thought it was worth checking out.

As the name suggests, there is a wide selection of chicken available at Absurd Bird - the website's description reads 'Fried Chicken, Cocktails, Waffles and tunes', and despite that sounding a bit 'try hard', there's no denying this is a trendy little venue, in a vibrant area.

Arriving at 830 on Saturday night we had to wait 30 minutes for our table (which we had booked) as the place was jam packed, with a mixture of young hipsters, couples, and groups of friends. We were happy to wait at the bar, but with only two staff on, attending to all the tables' orders, we were in for a bit of a wait.

Once seated, three of us ordered the 'chicken tenders', which were exactly as described on the menu, deep fried, delicious and with fantastically moist chicken inside. We ordered an array of dipping sauces, which all hit the spot too, from blue cheese, honey and mustard and a sriracha mayo.

Chicken Tenders, Absurd Bird

Glen always likes to be different and chose the jalopeno cheese biscuits with apple butter - basically a cheesy scone which he enjoyed.

Jalopeno Cheese Biscuits, Absurd Bird

Inspired by the deep South, the menu boasts about being 'stateside; in portions, and they're not wrong, after the first course, I was already feeling stuffed.

Two of us, including me, chose the crispy fried chicken burger, which was excellent, served with a BBQ sauce, coleslaw and salad, it just about nailed the perfect chicken burger criteria for me. After years of craving KFC as my go-to hangover cure, and being disappointed with the reality, this basically epitomised everything I'd want after a night on the sauce. I could only manage half, which is also exactly like me on a hangover, but testament to the large portion sizes. 

Crispy Fried Chicken Burger, Absurd Bird

Meanwhile, the other two chose the Nashville hot chicken burger, similar to ours, but with hot sauce and a harissa mayo - both were devoured.

Side wise we ordered the fries which had to be returned to the kitchen as they were stone-cold, but when they returned they were great. The mac & cheese was everything you'd expect it to be, creamy, oozing cheese and just delicious. The homeslaw, was OK in comparison, nothing to write home about.

By the time the desserts arrived, I was absolutely stuffed, but still I chose the waffles with caramel
- self explanatory, with a caramel ice cream and caramel sauce drizzled over. It was sweet and wonderful but I only managed a couple of spoonfuls.

Waffled with Caramel, Absurd Bird

Dan had the chocolate chip cookies, which were fresh and warm and his partner had the vanilla ice cream which they shared (a wise choice after all the food) and Glen had the show stopper - the peanut butter cheesecake with more caramel sauce, which was a triumph.

We had cocktails and beer throughout and beforehand and the final bill was around £150 for the four of us; although we had a Groupon voucher, so had less to pay.

The craze for gentrified fried chicken is going nowhere, and I'm not complaining - I'll definitely be giving the bottomless brunch at Absurd Bird a go in the not-too-distant future.