Chipotle Chicken Tenders With Cucumber Slaw

Sandi (From CA)'s Note:

This adapted-from-Emeril recipe was a delightful surprise of combined flavors. I'd never have thought of joining the slaw ingredients, but it totally worked! We're pretty wimpy when it comes to peppers, but the heat here was tamed with the yogurt-based slaw and each bite grew on us. I halved the given recipe, added about 2 tablespoons of very finely minced broccoli to thicken the slaw and omitted the mint for our tastes. I include Emeril's ingredients and directions below, but I found that the chicken didn't need to cook as long as stated before it was done. Keep a close eye on yours. Chicken tenders are pretty thin and the heat was considerable, so we cut the frying time at least in half, cooking 3 tenders at a time and storing them in a warm oven until all were done. Estimated time includes marination and cucumber draining.

• Total Time: 5 hrs 8 mins
• Prep Time: 5 hrs
• Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

CHICKEN

• 1 (7 ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 2 lbs chicken tenders
• 1 cup masa harina flour
• 2 cups panko
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• canola oil, for frying
• fresh cilantro stem
• cucumber, wedges

CUCUMBER SLAW

• 2 English cucumbers, coarsely shredded
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups Greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 small carrot, finely shredded
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar

Directions:

1. SLAW: Stir together the cucumber and salt. Place in a colander over a mixing bowl. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Squeeze remaining moisture out of cucumbers, discard all liquid, and place cucumber in mixing bowl. Add yogurt, lime juice, mint, cilantro, carrot, scallion and sugar to the cucumber. Mix until well combined. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.
3. CHICKEN, ETC.: Pour chipotle peppers and adobo sauce into a blender. Add 2 cups buttermilk; cover and process until peppers are completely pureed.
4. Place chicken in a large zip top plastic bag and pour buttermilk mixture and remaining buttermilk over chicken. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
5. Combine the masa, panko, salt and pepper in a large zip top plastic bag. Drain chicken pieces; add to masa mixture, 1 at a time, and shake to coat. Shake off excess; place on waxed paper for 15 minutes before frying.
6. Heat 4 inches of oil to 375 degrees F in a large cast iron skillet.
7. Fry chicken for about 4 minutes on each side or until browned on all sides. Remove chicken from skillet and place on a paper towel lined platter. Once well drained, keep chicken warm on a wire rack over a baking sheet in a oven preheated to 300 degrees F.
8. Serve chicken on a large platter with Cool Cucumber Slaw. Garnish with Cilantro and cucumber wedges.