People tend to divide into two camps when it comes to dipping sauces. Those who oppose dipping wonder why anyone would bother eating something if they are only going to use an overpowering sauce to completely mask its flavor. Those in favor love the fact that dipping sauce adds excitement to even the simplest of dishes. I fall squarely in the second camp, with a couple of caveats:
- I always make sure to eat some bites with sauce and some without. I want to taste my food, but I like the variety that the sauce provides.
- I never smother my food in sauce. Dipping sauces are strong, and a little goes a long way. Besides, the best things to dip are crispy, and overdoing it on the sauce just totally kills the crunch.
With nearly a quart of buttermilk leftover from making homemade blue cheese dressing, I decided to test out the whole brining chicken in buttermilk thing that supposedly makes southern fried chicken so juicy. In order to do this, you just stick chicken in buttermilk and let it sit in the fridge for a day or so. It’s so easy that I successfully completed this step in an intensely mindless state, after working 13 hours straight starting at 3am. All you have to do the next day is take the chicken out and cook it however you like. The theory is that the buttermilk makes the meat juicy and tender when it’s cooked. It actually works quite well.
I opted to just make oven baked chicken fingers (coat the brined chicken tenders in panko bread crumbs, spray them with olive oil and bake at 375-400 until cooked), which are an otherwise boring meal, no matter how interesting buttermilk may be. I recruited the help of 4 easy dipping sauces that take almost no work to make and bring plain chicken to new heights. For a bit of a smoky flavor, I made a mexican style dip with store bought fajita seasoning. Then, I made my own honey mustard (which is literally just honey and mustard, but beats the store bought stuff by a mile). After that, I tried an amazingly simple apricot sauce, and lastly an Indian curry dip with red onions. These sauces are all about contrast: two are creamy and spicy, two are sweet and tangy. None of them took more than 2 minutes to throw together.
Mexican Fajita Dip
What you need:
- 1 tsp store bought fajita mix
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp juice from a can of chipotles (1 chopped chipotle pepper)
What to do:
- Mix everything together in a bowl
Honey Mustard
What to do:
- Mix equal parts honey and mustard together in a bowl. Add more of either one depending on your tastes. Note:To be fancy, use whole grain mustard, otherwise regular will do just fine.
Apricot Sauce
What you need:
- 2 tbsp apricot preserves
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp lemon or lime juice
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
What to do:
- Mix everything together in a bowl
Indian Curry Dip
What you need:
- 2 tsp indian curry paste Note: I use Patak’s brand, you can choose hot, medium, or mild depending on your likes
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/4 red onion, chopped into small pieces
What to do:
- Mix everything together in a bowl
Tags: chicken
