Rookie Cooking: My first (sort of) Disaster

So I got in the kitchen and I made up my own concoction. I didn't even pretend to follow a recipe. I definitely proved myself to be a rookie cook.

The thing is? It was delicious. It was spectacular. I made BBQ Chicken Fingers, and I loved them. I made plenty and ate them over several days, and each day I felt more ill than the last. I knew the culprit was gluten.  

"Where could I be getting gluten?!" I wondered, I'd been so careful! I decided to scour ever ingredient of everything I'd eaten and checked one of the ingredients that I'd used for this recipe - which, yes, I am still going to share - when I discovered the word MALT.

Malt, my friends, is a secret ninja gluten enemy. It is made from barley, and makes me very very sick. That means I can't even have my favourite chocolate bar anymore - the Snickers with Almond.

So if you are gluten-free, do not eat this! 

But if you could go either way, then this was a fantastic success and I'd love to hear if you liked it.


The Supposed to be Gluten-free (but not!) "Breaded" BBQ Chicken Fingers

What I used:

• Chili Sauce (I had half a jar sitting in the fridge I wanted to use)
• Franks Red hot Sauce
• Tabasco
• 1.5 cups of corn flake crumbs (My nemesis supposed-to-be-gluten-free-but-wasn't ingredient!)
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp basil 
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• ground black pepper



Beware the evil Malt!

• 4 chicken breasts cut into thin strips 

What I did:

I really just wanted to re-create that awesome breaded spicy chicken meal that I hadn't been able to find gluten-free in over a year, as well as use up some stuff that we had in our refrigerator. I went ahead pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees. I mixed half a jar of heinz chili sauce (around 1-1.5 cups) with one cup of Franks Hot Sauce (hey, I said spicy, so use less if you can't handle it) as well as a light sprinkling of tabasco. I put this all in a long and shallow glass dish.


In another long shallow dish I mixed the corn flake crumbs and spices. Now, I've used corn flake crumbs in other recipes to acheive a fake "breaded" taste and texture because I had been told that boxed crumbs were safe - while the breakfast cereal wasn't safe. Looking back, I cannot remember if I checked it myself before ever using it, but I paid the price and it reminded me to check every box before I dive in!

I cut the chicken breasts into strips, placed them in the first dish and coated them in the prepared sauce. I then moved them into the second dish, coating them in crumbs and spiced before placing them in a greased pyrex dish (I used olive oil for this) tight like little sardines. Some people prefer to shake their chicken in the crumbs using a ziplock bag, but I like to minimize my trash.

I put them in for 45 minutes and they came out perfect. Perfect and delicious and, for me, gluteny poisonous. Gloisonous.

My first Rookie Cooking Disaster. And I didn't even use Mrs. Dash this time!