This started out as a post to share a chicken strips and dipping sauce recipe
A recipe, that I’ve adapted from Southern Living and to introduce a fabulous giveaway and yet (as often happens) this went completely away from me.
Am I the only one who starts out with one idea and ends up with something completely different as an end result?
Y’all know that I am all kinds of Southern.
I believe that being addressed as Ma’am and Sir are not signs of disrespect or getting older, but signs of respect and Southern Tradition.
I believe in Sweet Tea and Moon Pies, Manners and Morals, the healing powers of Fried Chicken and Grits and that Y’all is a completely acceptable form of address.
{/tangent}
Well, the other day this adorable young lady from Time.Inc contacted me about Southern Living and my interest in working with them.
It took less than two shakes of a beaver’s tail for me to say; “yes, I’d love to and here’s how I would love this partnership to grow”
Well, bless her darlin’ heart, she was right on board and although they’ve featured me as a Mama Blogger of the week, I’m not sure she actually realizes what she is getting them in to.
In the mail today I got a couple of Southern Living Magazines, an All You Magazine and a Southern Living Cookbook {swoon}
I spent a good 30 minutes flipping pages, bookmarking and realizing that this cookbook is a simple, instruction book to Southern Cooking for those Southern and Not.
This book will walk you through the Why, How, What, How To, Why You Should, and What to Do of Southern Cooking.
Many of these recipes reminded me of my Granny’s well worn recipe cards, recipes shared in hushed whispers in church kitchens and the tradition of junior league cookbook fundraisers.
The pictures are gorgeous, the instructions are simple and the notations are wonderfully easy to follow for the southern and non-southern alike.
{I’m giving one of these away, stay tuned]
My kids are absolute chicken tender fanatics and my husband and I love anything chili and garlic.
I found the recipe for Chicken Tenders with Come Back Sauce and the fact that I had 85% of the ingredients and it mentioned chili sauce, made the decision for me.
I set out to make them, and since I’m completely and utterly unable to leave any recipe alone and make it as written….. I did it my way, with what I had on hand.
As any good southern girl (and ex-southern-restaurant manager) would do, I soaked the chicken in buttermilk and seasonings
Please, for the love of all that is lovely and delicious and southern
SOAK YOUR CHICKEN IN BUTTERMILK PRIOR TO FRYING
{ahem}
Ingredients
- The original: Southern Living's Recipe
- My Version:
- 8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 Tbsp Zatarains Big and Zesty Garlic and Herb Seasoning
- 2 C flour
- 1 Tbsp Zatarains Big and Zesty Garlic and Herb Seasoning
- Vegetable Oil
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breasts into equal strips size strips or nuggets
- Combine chicken, buttermilk and seasonings into a dish or ziplock baggie, seal/cover and refrigerate for 3 to 5 hours
- Mix 2 C flour and 1 Tbsp seasoning in a shallow dish and set aside
- Remove chicken from fridge
- Dredge chicken through flour (for a super thick crispy skin, dredge through flour, dip back into buttermilk and dredge through flour again) and set aside, repeat this step with all strips
- Pour oil into a cast iron skillet or dutch oven, about 2 inches deep.
- Heat to 350 (yes, this needs to be exact)
- Fry chicken about 5 pieces at a time, this takes about 5 or 6 minutes, turn halfway through until chicken is golden brown on each side.
- Lay to drain on a draining rack/cookie cooling rack placed over newspaper or paper towels to cool and drain
- Serve with favorite dipping sauce
The chicken tenders are fabulous.
Tonight, the dipping sauce way outshone the chicken.
I made asparagus in the skillet to serve next to the chicken tenders.
I dipped the asparagus into the dipping sauce and that, is where my planned evening went awry.
OH MY HOLY HELL.
OH MY HOLY TONGUEGASM.
Seriously, y’all.
The side dish and sauce far outshone the main dish on this one.
I could totally see serving this sauce drizzled over grilled asparagus, I drizzled it over what we had left, turned around to get my camera and Nathan had snatched half the plate and gone back to our room with it!
as a dressing for salad, a complement to my favorite burger…. the possibilities are endless
Serve this as a dipping sauce, a salad dressing, a sandwich spread
Ingredients
- Adapted From
- My Version
- 1 C. mayonnaise
- 1/3 C. chili garlic sauce
- 1/4 C ketchup
- 1 Tbsp water
- 2 tsp coarse freshly ground pepper (about 12 turns for my grinder)
- 4 tsp Worcestershire
- 4 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 medium onion, minced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 C olive oil
Instructions
- Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium size bowl
- Cover and chill, for at least one hour.
I can’t even begin to tell y’all how much I love this recipe, the cookbook and Southern Living in general.
The lovely people at Southern Living have offered one of the Southern Living Cookbooks and TWO Southern Living magazine subscriptions to my readers.
Here’s the deal.
THREE of y’all will win!!!
One person will win the Southern Living Cookbook
Two others will win a subscription to Southern Living Magazine (one of my favorite magazines for recipes, decorating and inspiration)
How To Enter:
Mandatory:
Leave a comment telling me: What your favorite Southern Recipe is, or what Southern Recipe you’d love to learn how to make
Bonus Entries:
Tweet this giveaway and leave the Tweet URL in the comments
Subscribe to A Southern Fairytale through e-mail or reader and let me know in a comment (I can verify this)
Follow Southern Living on FB and tell them where you came from, leave that in the comment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is 4 possible entries per person! 
This giveaway is open from 7/21/11 to 7/27/11 at 10:00 PM CST
Good Luck, y’all!
Very cool and congrats!! My southern recipe, fried green tomatoes, love them!!
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
I follow via Google reader
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
Tweeted: http://t.co/tR4Kaql
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
Hi! I can’t wait to learn how to make some Southern desserts and your recipe for sweet tea! Here in AZ we make sun tea!
Keep up the good work on your recipes!
I always go for the standard Southern Fried Chicken!
I would love to learn how to make a killer apple pie! (that is southern right!?)
Subscribe via email
I tweeted your Southern Fried Chicken! http://twitter.com/#!/BackCountryBell
I’m already a fan and follower in Google Reader!
I’d like a really good cornbread recipe!
Favorite Southern Recipe? I don’t even think I have one– which means that I NEED to win this!! You have me drooling before breakfast, thanks a ton!
I looooooove to make chocolate gravy, but you can’t make me eat it. Really. I’ll make it for everybody, but I don’t like it at all. I’M SUCH A NORTHERNER.
Oooh I have an older Southern Living cookbook and it has this recipe for pork chops & baked apples & sweet potatoes that we just LOVE in the fall. It is such a great magazine, a slice of home up here in the Midwest for me.
(I subscribe via Google reader to your blog…and have for QUITE some time!)
I have been a good Southern girl all my life, and I have STILL never mastered making biscuits from scratch! The ones I’ve turned out have been almost deadly, so that’s the one Southern recipe I’d like to master!
I subscribe to your blog via Google Reader.
I have YET to figure out how to know what an individual tweet’s URL is, but I have tweeted about the giveaway at @sharinlilbit !
Shari, click on the time/date stamp in the tweet and it’ll open it in a new window with it’s own individual URL
Facebook is the same way!
Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle! Or aunt, whatever… thank you! I apparently need to start clicking on everything — no telling what else is out there that I don’t know about.
http://twitter.com/#!/sharinlilbit/status/94396082070634496
I posted on Southern Living’s FB page and told them I came from here.
They’ve been a page I’ve liked for a long time.
I am 100% Southern, so I love anything fried, but I have to say any dishes involving grits hold a special place in my heart and pallate!!
I really like hush puppies!
This is a wonderful giveaway! My favorite Southern recipe is probably cornbread, I love it!
I follow you through Google Reader!
I’m following you on Google Reader! (ChristiS)
Oh, heavens… is there a southern recipe I would NOT want to know?
I really think that I need to learn fried chicken. I’ve attempted it – not so good. Thing is, I don’t usually like chicken, but there’s something about good friend chicken that makes my mouth water.
Oh – and shrimp & grits – there must be some magic involved there, right?
And you know I tweeted this (thanks for Rachel for posting how to post a Tweet!)
http://twitter.com/#!/Dec_Philistines/status/94405998390943744
Love that dipping sauce!
Those look so good.
I live in the south and always have so oftentimes i don’t realize i am eating Southern food. Today I would pick banana pudding as my favorite recipe though.
I follow A Southern Fairytale via google reader.
I subscribed via yahoo email. Love your recipes!
I went to Southern Living FB page and told them I came from A Southern Fairytale!
I would love to learn the magic of making shrimp and grits! Love them, but just have not been able to master making them!
Favorite Southern food (er, um, drink): SweetT Tea. I will judge a place (or person) on their sweet tea. Don’t say you have sweet tea if it’s not SWEET tea.
I follow Southern Living now on FB.
http://twitter.com/#!/deborahhardy/status/94419876185260032
(I never knew about this time stamp link thing…huh, learn something new every day)
I’m all subscribe on e-mail. WooHoo!
Adore adore adore crawfish etouffee. Adore.
Since I’m no-carb there’s so much I can’t have, but THAT SAUCE sounds amazing!!
Kinda new to this twitter stuff. @frugalandfree I tweeted about these lovely chicken strips
I “liked” Southern Living on FB
My favorite southern recipe is Red Beans & Rice. My hubby is from Southeast Louisiana and I think I can now, after 21 years make it in my sleep. (BTW, he is very picky but I have his seal of approval)
I’m also a proud Southern woman and believe that cooking Southern is the ONLY way to cook! My favorite recipes are desserts, Red Velvet Cake is my all time best. Thank you for the giveaway.
I LOVE my country/chicken fried steak (which is also wonderful made with venison steak). I also can’t go without my families Liken Good Chocolate Cake. Which everyone I know makes in one variation or another, I’ve seen the recipe on your site at least once.
Tweeted http://twitter.com/#!/mistymfluke/status/94477690136043520
now subscribe thru google reader…you are my first
and finally on FB http://www.facebook.com/SouthernLivingMag?ref=ts&sk=wall#!/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150245945351463&id=1200443508.
I think I’ve covered all 4 entries.
I’m intriqued by biscuits and gravy (chocolate or otherwise) but haven’t tried it yet – I wonder if it’s in that cookbook?
I also follow via RSS feed in Google Reader.
My favorite southern recipe is for Shrimp & Grits and for Red Beans & Rice, both recipes for Southern Living.
My favorite southern recipe is chicken fried chicken with mashed potatoes and fried okra. Chicken fried chicken is similar to chicken fried steak just with chicken. Now that I am hungry LOL I will go retweet and will definitely have to try that sauce.
My favorite southern recipe is anything USING bacon grease!
Be it fried chicken or cheddar cheese biscuits… or grave. I really do love gravy.
Blessings!