"Chicken" Strips with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

When Veggie Dad and I went on our whirlwind trip through the US, I have to say I was overwhelmed by the TV options. Growing up, I had two TV stations (yes TWO) and I got to see most of what everyone else was talking about in TV Hits magazine only at Christmas time when I visited my nana. Suddenly I was figuring out who the hell JTT was and why Pamela Anderson was so famous.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a big TV watcher, so didn't feel too left out. I had Roseanne, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Seinfeld, Video Hits, Degrassi Junior High and all the ABC cartoons one could want, so my comedy and drama needs were met. At Christmas i indulged in a great deal of Agro's Cartoon Connection and would wearily flick past the endless cricket.

When Dr Phil once mentioned America had 500 channels, my mind boggled. It literally could not comprehend the vastness of that number, I couldn't possibly watch or want or need that many channels. Hell, I don't even have pay TV now. I don't even have A TV.

But when we were Stateside and we had a bit of downtime, I was first in line to the remote. I wanted the Food Network, and I wanted it more than Veggie Dad wanted ESPN. I make no secret of my deep and abiding love for Paula Deen, and I watched her on planes, trains, automobiles and hotel rooms right across the country. In between getting my Paula fix, I was also introduced to the wonderful world of Food Network stars (and found Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives to be hilarious yet fascinating). Two such stars were the Neelys  and their "Down Home" cooking. They put bacon in everything (lovingly calling it "pig") and I could barely eat one-tenth of anything they made, yet I couldn't look away. They were... mesmerising.

I have some kind of weird attraction to Southern food, maybe because it always has the word "comfort" attached to it, maybe because it just screams hospitality and niceness, I don't know. I'm forever adapting Southern recipes (bacon, get out of my life) and testing them out on poor old Dad, who has never heard of them before, to fuel my addiction. I don't know whether to blame Dr Phil or Britney for my adoption of the word "y'all", but it's just so damn SOUTHERN I couldn't help myself.

So when the Food Network brought out an iPhone app, I was probably the first in the world to buy it. And I made the Neely's Chicken Tenders with Honey Mustard Sauce. Only I didn't fry it and I didn't use chicken. I think I would be banned from anyplace under the Mason-Dixon line.

So here you are, a recipe for non-fried, non-chicken chicken tenders.

Ingredients:
1 packet Sanitarium soy fillets, or any other chicken substitute. If you're feeling game, you may like to try tofu, but we all know how I feel about that.
1 egg
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Honey Mustard Sauce

1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to about 180C

2. Cut the soy fillets into strips.

3. Beat the egg in one bowl, and mix the panko crumbs with the rest of the ingredients in another bowl.

4. Dip fillet strips into the egg and then the panko to coat. Set aside.

5. When all are covered, place on an oven tray and bake until brown on either side. You could also fry them.

6. Mix all the honey mustard sauce ingredients together.

Original recipe here