Shake and Bake

Remember Shake n' Bake?  My mom never bought it but my brothers and I would walk around shaking anything in a bag, pretending we were on the commercial.

At our house now, nobody likes to eat the crusts of our bread loaves.  So, I tear them into pieces, put them on a cookie sheet and let them dry out.  A lady in our neighborhood used to do this when we were kids.  I don't know what she did with them afterwards but there was always a tray of shredded bread on her stove top.  Anyway, once they're crumbly dry (sometimes I heat the oven to 200 degrees, turn it off and put the bread in to dry faster and crisper), I crush them into bread crumbs.  I used to just use them for meatballs but recently I found a homemade shake and bake recipe and tried it - big hit for chicken tenders!

We had some with mac and cheese last night.  I had some on a salad for lunch and am having a few with a slice of cheese, red grapes and a glass of wine as I write this.  Nummmmm.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

4 cups dry bread crumbs

1 Tbsp salt

1 Tbsp paprika

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried basil leaves

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1 Tbsp Italian spice blend

1/3 cup olive oil

(add when ready to use: 1/2 cup grated parmesan)

Directions:

Combine all dry ingredients in large resealable bag.  Seal and shake to combine.  Add oil and shake or knead the sealed bag to mix thoroughly.  Add parmesan just before adding chicken bits.

I used half this batch for 8 chicken breasts (cut into bite-size pieces).  Discard batter that has been combined with meat. 

Without the cheese, the unused batter will keep in an airtight container for months in the cupboard.