Chicken/buttermilk

I always soak my chicken in buttermilk before grilling or sauteing. If you don't have buttermilk you can use milk and lemon juice. It makes the chicken juicier but you don't taste the buttermilk.

So Happy Girl in post #1 is right. You can also marinate the chicken in Italian dressing, or another acidy dressing.

I have never soaked my chicken in buttermilk. However, I ALWAYS know when I have eaten chicken that has been soaked in buttermilk. I am highly allergic to milk, so there are times when I do taste the tang of the buttermilk, but whether I taste it, or sense it, my body will let me know with a violent response in 15 minutes or less.

I do not like the taste of buttermilk to drink it but do use it for chicken and in baking. If there was any hint of the buttermilk flavor I would not use it. My taste bud sensors do not detect any buttermilk. If you are aftaid to use buttermilk you could always use some thinned down sour cream.

I soak chicken in buttermilk before I fry it & cannot taste the buttermilk. I don't think that would taste very good. I put seasoned flour on it after I soak it. Don't fry chicken very often but when I do that's how I make it & it's always good.

This recipe was in Parade Magazine a couple of years ago. It is hands down the best marinade I have ever used for chicken I planned to bake. Has a wonderful flavor. I use chicken tenders and Panko bread crumbs. You can make your own dipping sauce.

OVEN-FRIED CHICKEN

1 1/2 C. low-fat buttermilk

2 T. Dijon mustard

1/2 t. paprika

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/4 t. onion powder

1/4 t. kosher salt or coarse sea salt

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, approx. 6 oz. ea. – I use chicken tenders

2 C. bread crumbs (fine) – I use Panko

3 T. canola oil

1. Whisk together the buttermilk, mustard, paprika, garlic & onion powders, salt, & cayenne in a large baking dish. Add the chicken breasts; turn to coat. Cover; refrigerate for 1 hr. & up to 4 hrs.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position.

3. Pour bread crumbs into a shallow bowl, add canola oil and mix well.

4. Line a baking sheet with foil & place a baking rack on top. Liberally spray rack with Pam.

5. Working one breast at a time, remove chicken from marinade & dredge in crumb mixture. Place on rack. Bake until deep golden brown, about 25-30 mins.

I usually brine the chicken in heavy salted water overnight (bone in, it would be too long for boneless) drain, do not rinse but rinse the container or use plastic gallon bags, then soak in buttermilk for several hours.

Then when almost ready to fry, I put the chicken in a colander to drain, season flour and coat the pieces and fry. It is the BEST fried chicken ever! My family goes crazy over it. The chicken is so moist and flavorful but NO buttermilk taste at all. None.

If I forget to brine the chicken the night before, I may brine in the morning then buttermilk soak in the afternoon. Sometimes I just do the buttermilk soak. I also like the fact that when frying chicken like my mom and grandma used to, I would have to beat eggs and dip the chicken in them then roll in flour. My fingers would turn into egg noodles! And that procedure is much messier without the better results of the buttermilk.

one of the easiest and most delicious ways I make chicken is by putting Catalina French dressing over chicken pieces in a Ziploc bag for several hours...then grilling it......DH's favorite way to eat chicken.

On 4/26/2014 lovesrecess said:

one of the easiest and most delicious ways I make chicken is by putting Catalina French dressing over chicken pieces in a Ziploc bag for several hours...then grilling it......DH's favorite way to eat chicken.

I love marinating in all kinds of dressings! It's the best way to use up bottles of dressing that have been hanging out in the fridge! Just the other night I marinated chicken in Roasted Red Pepper Italian dressing that I had. There was just enough to marinade the chicken but not really enough to use for more than a couple of salads.