Our first experience in the Caribbean was back in 2014, when we took a chance and moved to St. Thomas USVI with nothing but our two yorkies and the clothes on our back. One of our biggest concerns was the food scene. Coming from San Diego, A food mecha with anything and everything you can imagine. We weren’t sure if such a small island could deliver. We were pleasantly surprised by both the local fresh ingredients and the creative dishes found at several restaurants on the island. There was one place we heard about that had great reviews on the food, atmosphere and one of the best views on the island. It sounded like the perfect place but it was NO WHERE near the beaten path. It was literally on the opposite side of the island in a remote spot off the side of the road called Thirteen. After pulling up and seeing the entrance, We had second thoughts. It looked more like a bar than a 5 star restaurant, But we decided to give it a try and it became one of our favorite places on the island where we had some of our best memories with friends and family. It was a great hangout and served some amazing food. We loved to order several different appetizers and share them around the table. One of the appetizers that really stood out for us was the pretzel crusted chicken tenders with honey mustard sauce. So this dish is tribute to all the fond memories we had sharing appetizers with friends and family while living in the beautiful St. Thomas US Virgin Island as known as “The Rock”
Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders with Honey Mustard dipping sauce.
Ingredients
Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders
- 15 Chicken Tenders
- 2 9oz Bags of hard pretzels
- 1 Cup of flour
- 5 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp. Mccormick pepper
- 1 Tbsp. Roasted Garlic Salt.
- 2 cups Olive oil (for shallow frying)
Honey Dijonnaise Mustard dipping sauce
- ½ Cup Honey
- ½ Cup Dijon Mustard.
- ½ Cup Mayonnaise
Garnish
- To Taste Green onions or parsley for a splash of color and taste
Instructions
Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders
- Gather you ingredients for you Chicken Tenders
- Wash the chicken tenders.
- Place in a large bowl.
- Season using garlic salt and pepper. Be sure blend well.
- Place your pretzels in a ziplock bag or use a food processor.( I used a dry blender.)
- You want to blend or crush until it is a large sand consistency and place in bowl.
Let us set up our dredging stations.
- We need 3 tins.
- One for our flour, One for our eggs (Mixed), and lastly one for our pretzels.
- Start by placing a tender in the flour
- Then in the egg.
- Lastly in our crushed pretzels.
- Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment of aluminum foil for quick cleaning.
- Continue this process for all your Chicken Strips and then place to the side.
- Get a large pan and fill with 2 cups of Olive oil. This is for a shallow fry.
- Place on Medium heat until oil is hot enough to fry. You will know when you can place a wooden spoon in the oil and it bubbles. This is a great trick if you don't have a thermometer, if you do it's to read at 350 degrees.
- Once the oil is ready. Place your tenders in the pan. Always place going away from you so if you splatter it is not towards you.
- Fry until it is golden brown then flip over using tongs.
- When that side is also golden brown then check with a thermometer reading of 165 degrees. If you do not have a thermometer, just cut in half and see if cooked through. There should be NO PINK.
- Once done place on new sheet pan that is lined with paper towels. Place in the oven under a warm setting.
Let's make the Honey Dijonnaise sauce.
- In a bowl combine your Dijon Mustard, Mayonnaise and Honey
- Whisk until smooth and combined (We then pour into dipping bowl for the tenders.
- Once, Everything is down. It is time to plate and ENJOY!
