Fried Chicken Strips

Every year for Chanukah my grandmother makes fried chicken which she serves along with biscuits, latkes, and applesauce.  She coats her chicken in matzah meal before frying and it comes out crispy and delicious.  So when I was looking through my copy of A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking and came to the chapter called "A Baker Becomes a Cook", I wasn't surprised to see a recipe for chicken cutlets in the Passover section.

This can be a good lunch or dinner and should appeal to the whole family.  I would use this same recipe throughout the year (most likely only adjusting the oil I use for frying and maybe using flour instead of the potato starch if we didn't have any more on hand).

Fried Chicken Strips (slightly adapted from A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking)

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3/4 cup potato starch
2 1/2 cups matzah meal
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
4 eggs
oil for frying (cottonseed oil during Passover, canola oil the rest of the year)

Directions
- Using kitchen shears, cut the chicken into 1 inch thick strips.
- In a large skillet, pour in enough oil to come about half an inch up the side of the pan and heat until approx 350 degrees F.
- Into a shallow bowl or dish with high sides (I use deep paper plates), pour the potato starch.
- In a second shallow bowl, crack the eggs and lightly beat them.
- In a third shallow bowl, mix together the matzah meal, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
-  Set your plates in an assembly line - potato starch, egg, then matzah meal closest to the skillet.  Take a chicken strip and dredge in the potato starch, shaking off the excess.  Dip the strip in the beaten egg next, letting the excess drip off.  Last, press the strip into the matzah meal until fully coated.  Place the strip in the heated oil.
- Working in batches, heat the strips until golden brown, turning once.
- Place the cooked chicken on paper towels to drain.
- Serve warm or cold with any dipping sauce you desire (or no sauce at all!)