Honey-Curry Chicken Tenders

I know I've told you before how jealous I am that my Mom and her girlfriends go to a ton of fun cooking classes together. We've been talking about how I need to come visit so we can go to one. Well, last month we did just that! I packed up the husband, the baby, and the dog and we headed on the road to visit my parents. The boys all hung out together while my Mom, her friend, her friend's daughter, and I went to an informal cooking class together. The theme was "Appetizing Appetizers" and it was an absolute blast!



Here was the menu (click each to be taken to another recipe):

• Cranberry-Pomegranate and Orange Spritzer






• Honey-Curry Chicken Tenders






• Cherry, Pecan, and Ham Spread






• Sundried Tomato Tuscan Toasts






• Caramelized Onion Bruschetta






• Creamy Green Olive Spread

Me and my beautiful Momma:




Now, let's get to the first delicious appetizer. Honey-Curry Chicken Tenders!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pure clover honey






• 1/4 cup olive oil






• 2 TBSP curry powder






• 1/2 tsp salt






• 2 large garlic cloves, minced






• 1 package (approximately 12 oz) boneless, skinless chicken tenders

Direction:

• In a 1 cup glass whisk together all marinade ingredients (everything except the chicken!).






• Pour this mixture into a resealable plastic back, add chicken, seal bag, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to marinate (recommended 4-8 hours for best flavor).






• Preheat grill to 400 degrees and lightly grease the grill.






• Take out enough skewers for each chicken tender. Gently put one piece of chicken on each skewer.






• Place marinated chicken on heated grill; cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until juices run clear.

This was awesome and unbelievably easy considering how flavorful it was. However, I left out a few GREAT tips in the directions that I learned at our class and I wanted to share them with you!

First of all, you know that tough tendon that runs throughout chicken tenders? The one you practically destroy the piece of chicken when trying to remove? Well, check out this easy way to remove it.

First thing you do is take a small piece of paper towel to grab the corner of the tendon with. Now, once you have a good grip, push your knife down along the tendon to cleanly and easily remove it! Maybe you guys already new this trick, but I didn't.

I did say this was EASY but it does take a little force. So don't be surprised if it doesn't just slide right out. That's normal :)

Another tip? You can make this even further in advance than just the 4-8 hours that the chicken needs to marinate. Did you know chicken starts to cook the chicken if it's over marinated? That's why 4-8 hours is just about perfect. BUT, if you wanted to make this ahead of time all you would need to do is freeze the marinated chicken! The freezing stops the curry from cooking through.

Anyway, just a few fun tricks to share. You could easily turn this from a delicious appetizer to dinner entree by substituting boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the tenders. Just serve over some delicious jasmine rice and you have a great weeknight meal!

Source: Nina Swan-Kohler