Cornmeal Parmesan chicken tender パルメザンチキンテンダー

American kids grow up eating deep fried chicken tenders either from fast food places or frozen ones from grocery stores. We are not sure this is nutritionally sound, but even as an adult, we can enjoy this type of dish every-now-and-then. This is a bit more refined version and pan fried instead of deep fried. This is perfect for wines either red (we are red wine drinkers for sure) or white. But of couse, beer and sake will go well with it. I promise that this is much better than the chicken tenders from your childhood (that is if you enjoyed chicken tenders in your childhood).

As usual remove the sinews from the chicken tenders. Season with salt and blacked pepper. Dredge in a mixture of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and yellow cornmeal (half and half). Pan fry with a light olive oil (use a bit more oil than for sauteing), turning over once. It takes about 3 minutes on each side. I served this with my marinara sauce. This marinara sauce was leftover from when I made a pizza few days ago for company (although this is not Izakaya food, I may post my home-made pizza sometime in the future). My recipe for marinara sauce is very simple. Add 1/3 cup of good light olive oil in a deep pan, add red pepper flakes (as much as you like), chopped 3-4 cloves of garlic, fry until fragrant, add two 8oz cans of whole Italian tomatoes (crush them as you add) with their juice. I add 2-3 bay leaves, 1/2 tsp each of dried oregano and basel, a pinch of sugar (1/2 tsp to cut acidity), salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes or more (I make it rather dry as a topping for a pizza). You can also serve the chicken tenders with a honey mustard (mix honey and Dijon mustard - 1:2 ratio).