Pork Fingers

One of the recipes I pulled off Foodbuzz last week was for chicken fingers with peanut dipping sauce.  The sauce was made in advance so all I had to do was thaw a couple of chicken breasts, cut them in strips and turn them into chicken fingers.  Easier said than done when one gets home from the office around 7:30 and can't find any frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts...  How about pork specials?  What's the worst that could happen.  This is important to remember when cooking.  EVERYONE makes mistakes.  EVERYONE at some point in time says, YUCK and throws the food in the trash.  I figure as long as there's a box of pasta, some olive oil and plenty of garlic, I've got a back up plan.  So, the worst that could happen is that it tastes terrible and dinner's a little later.  Big deal.  The recipe called for dipping the chicken strips in "seasoned bread crumbs."  So, Connie and I talked about the flavors in the peanut dipping sauce and he suggested Chinese Five Spice.  Brilliant idea!  For a little more kick, I added a dash of Bangkok seasoning from Penzey's and we were in business.  We loved these pork fingers!  In fact, as I'm typing this at 7:00 on a Saturday morning, I could easily have some of them for breakfast...  Unfortunately, we weren't too thrilled with the peanut dipping sauce.  I don't know if it's because it was made ahead then warmed back up or what.  But, it wasn't a sauce.  It had to be dug out of the bowl with a fork.  And, the flavor was nothing to write home about.  So, this is something else important to remember - one person's five will be another person's two or three.  I've made several peanut dipping sauces and dressings that I've like a lot better than this one.  If all else fails, Trader Joe's has a great one called Satay Peanut Sauce.

Pork Fingers

Ingredients:

2 pork specials, thawed
1 egg, beaten
3/4 c panko
1 t Chinese Five Spice powder
1/4 t Bangkok seasoning or other spicy powder
olive oil

Directions:

Slice the pork in to strips.  You want them about as wide as the meat is thick.  Roll them in the beaten egg. 

Mix the panko and spices.  Roll the pork fingers in the panko. 

Cook them in sizzling olive oil. 

Serve with a peanut dipping sauce.