Buttermilk-Coconut Chicken

Yesterday, after being terribly, terribly adult, responsible and estimated-tax-paying, I thought it would be fun to treat myself to a favorite dinner from childhood. I didn't follow the recipe we used then (from Betty Crocker's New Boys and Girls Cookbook, c. 1965) -- though I could have! -- but turned instead to one from the nice people who ask things like 'Would you make 28 lemon meringue pies to find the best version? We did.' on the front of their cookbooks. Their recipes are almost always excellent, but this one wasn't. Drat. When you're going to reward yourself by making something on purpose that isn't all that good for you, it should taste a lot better than that. :)

This treat of a dinner was a lot better. I've made this chicken before, and I'd forgotten how good it is. I think it's common to soak chicken for frying or grilling in buttermilk, and doing that with these quickly-baked chicken strips keeps them moist and (together with the coconut, garlic and curry powder) gives the chicken a very interesting and appealing flavor. {The trick of preheating the baking sheet while you preheat the oven is pretty cool, too; you can hear a very promising sizzle as soon as you place the chicken on the pan.}

{The original recipe, which you can find here, is from Cooking Light. I've been following the recipe mostly as written, except that I use Special K (because that's what I eat for breakfast) instead of corn flakes.  I pour the cereal into a waxed bag -- another relic from my childhood! -- so it's easy to crush under a rolling pan or even with my hands. And I don't bother chopping the coconut, or adding the final spritz of cooking spray.}