Finger Food for your Super Bowl Party!

Sunday is the Super Bowl and you are most likely going to someone’s house to watch the game or you are throwing the party! Here is a fun recipe adults and kids love, and can be a great hostess gift or your “go-to” finger food for your soirees.

Panko-Crusted Chicken Bites with Apricot-Mustard Sauce Recipe

Serves: 12

INGREDIENTS:

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 2 pounds), cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 cup apricot jam or preserves
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

DIRECTIONS: 

1.    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and fit with a wire rack. Spray with cooking spray; set aside.

2.    Place flour in a large bowl and season very generously with salt and pepper. Whisk eggs in another large bowl with 2 tablespoons water until well combined. Place the breadcrumbs in a third large bowl, and drizzle with olive oil; toss to coat. Stir in cheese and cayenne and mix well.

3.    Place chicken pieces in the seasoned flour and toss to coat. Working in 3 batches, shake off any excess flour from chicken pieces and transfer to egg mixture; stir to combine. Transfer coated chicken pieces with a slotted spoon to the breadcrumb mixture and toss until completely coated. Place the breaded chicken pieces on a rack-lined baking sheet, spacing them evenly apart. Repeat process until all the chicken is breaded. Bake until golden brown and chicken is cooked through, 18 to 20 minutes.

4.    In a small bowl, stir the apricot jam, mustard, and thyme together until combined. Allow chicken to cool 10 minutes before serving with apricot mustard mixture.

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Le Top Tip: Make Food Fun!

This tip was passed on to me by one of our fabulous designers, Marice, and mom of two.

“Some kids get excited to eat foods that are fun. Try cutting up those veggies into small crazy shapes and let your kids dip them in ranch dip, peanut butter or hummus… (Yum!) I have a cutter that is wavy so it makes food look like crinkle-cut fries. There are a variety of vegetable cutters on the market that can turn seemingly boring vegetables into a garden of flowers, a pile of maple leaves and almost anything else you can dream up. I’ve used regular cookie cutters to make sandwiches into pumpkins, hearts or even cartoon characters like Snoopy. (If you don’t like waste, you can use the cast off edges of the bread to make stuffing to go with your roast chicken or treat your family to a classic bread pudding!)  Kids also love tortillas rolled up to make wraps instead of regular sandwich bread. Be creative.

I have always preferred my kids get used to eating veggies “as they are” rather than hiding them (and yes, they still refuse to eat certain ones) – but I am always happy to give them a snack of carrot muffins or zucchini bread just to get some extra nutrition in them.  There are recipes out there that use juices or other non-sugar sweeteners. I also try to find different ways to cook vegetables – listen to your child’s preferences – do they like it more crunchy or soft, with cheese sauce, etc.  As a kid, I didn’t like zucchini and later in life I discovered that I liked it barely cooked and not so squishy!

Speaking of zucchini, sometimes I slice it lengthwise and top it with pizza sauce and cheese and run it under the broiler for what I call, “pizza-cchini”  – or even a drizzle of Italian dressing topped with parmesan cheese and broiled is pretty tasty for the whole family.”

Thank you Marice for your FUNtastic tip!

Note from the editor: If you have any tips or suggestions that you think another parent or caregiver could benefit from please send it to me at editor@letop-usa.com.

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