When Sophia was in kindergarten, she had a play date with a friend who couldn’t say his Cs. I had very little interaction with this young gent, but when Phil was serving him lunch (half day kindergarten) and asked him what vegetables he liked, he paused a good long while and finally came up with “torn.” Though I’m sure he now says his Cs perfectly, we are still just as likely to serve “torn” as we are corn at our house.
The week, when I asked Ben what he wanted to make for Ben’s Day Wednesday, his answer was unequivocal. Spicy crispy chicken sandwiches. Now, I knew what he was talking about. I knew he wanted me to buy a Chick-fil-A franchise and deliver their delicious, but highly caloric sandwiches straight into his belly for as long as we both shall live. I chose, however, to quickly run through my healthier chicken options mentally before agreeing to spicy crispy chicken sandwiches. In the end, we came up with a meal that greatly reduced the calories, but still retained all the zip, texture, and taste we were looking for. Bonus: it was super easy (and if you think you don’t like Tornflakes, you should taste them again for the first time!)
Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwiches
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts, but it may vary the cooking time)
1/2 can skim evaporated milk
1/2-1 cup buffalo wing sauce (we use Sweet Baby Rays)
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
4 cups Cornflakes, crushed
6 soft brioche buns
Mayonnaise
Buffalo wing sauce
Pickles
Preheat oven to 350º. In a pie plate, mix evaporated milk with wing sauce and salt. Dredge chicken thigh through this mixture until entirely coated, and then press it into the cornflake mixture, covering completely with cornflakes. Place thigh on wire rack on top of sheet pan. Repeat with remaining thighs. Bake until chicken is cooked through. Ours took 30 minutes.
Spread each side of bun with mayo and wing sauce. Place chicken thigh on bun bottom, and top with pickles and bun top.
We had 2 ears of corn in the fridge, and half a can of evaporated milk, so I steered Ben towards corn pudding. This was made easier by the corn soufflé we recently had at Barrel 135. Ben didn’t order it, but felt free to mooch it off of our plates, and he thought it was just grand. (It was.)
Corn Pudding
Corn kernels cut from two cobs
1/2 can skim evaporated milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon flour
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 350º. Place all ingredients in a bowl and blend with immersion blender until smoothish. (I mean, it’s fresh corn. It won’t be perfectly smooth.) Pour mixture into greased pie plate or casserole dish and bake for about an hour or until set.
The chicken sandwiches were crunchy and delicious, with virtually no added fat! The corn pudding was creamy, smooth and satisfying. With a serenity salad, it was a complete meal. We settled for ice cream for dessert, but that is not what Sophia’s friend asked for when he spent the afternoon tearing apart at our house 20 years ago.
“I want hotlotltltltl,” he declared.
Phil said, “I don’t think we have that.”
“Just make some,” he insisted.
“I can’t,” Phil said.
“Yes, you can. Just make it in your toffee maker.”
Syntactical forensic scientists have since determined that the lad wanted hot chocolate produced in a coffee maker, but Phil was honestly flummoxed at the time.
All we know is that our meal this week was great. Torn two ways? Tornflake Chicken and Torn Pudding? Tool.
