Pickled Brined Loaded Tenders

Welcome to Illegal Tenders, where we're in search for the best way to brine our chicken tenders! In this first edition, we're testing pickled gherkins, and all we can say is you've got to try this!

Done in 1 hour

Serves 6

Dish by Ori Goldberg

Ingredients

For the tenders:

1 jar ofpickles brine

800g chicken tenders

The spices:

1 tbspblack pepper

1 tbspsweet paprika

1/2 tbspchilli powder

1/2 tbspcelery salt

1 tbspgarlic powder

1/2 tbsp ofbrown sugar

The dredge:

200g plain flour

200gcorn flour

1 tspbaking powder

800mlsparkling water

Everything else:

50g chopped pickles

50g sugar

50ml water

1 brown onion, diced

ranch dressing

hot sauce

1 packet offuego takis

handful of chives

For this edition, we're taking our leftover pickled gherkins, and using the pickle juice as our brine, and using the gherkins in a sweet and salty relish that sits perfectly on top of these game day loaded tenders, with ranch, hot sauce, and loads of takis!

Method

Remove the pickles from the pickle jar, and set aside to drain. Add the tenders to the pickle juice, and leave to brine for 30 mins.

Chop up the pickled gherkins, and add them to a saucepan, with the water and sugar, with a pinch of salt, and simmer until thick and glossy.

Sauté off the diced onions with a tbsp of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper, until soft and sweet.

This is quite a quick process so be prepared. Preheat oil to 180°c, and mix the spices and the dry dredge ingredients together. Remove half the dredge, and whisk in the sparkling water, mixing until loose and combined, but leaving bubbles and some lumps.

Place the chicken into the dry dredge, then wet, and dry again, before carefully placing into the oil, and cooking for 7 minutes, or until they reach an internal temperature of 74°c (you can remove the tenders just before this, but keep checking the internal temperature. If it doesn't reach 74°c, fry again until they do!)

Plate up on a platter, covering with the pickle relish, drizzle on loads of relish and hot sauce, and garnish with fuego takis and chives.

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Ori Goldberg

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Coming from a family of entertainers and cooks, Ori (a professional eater turned chef) has been surrounded by all things food for as long as he can remember. Born and raised in NW London, post university Ori decided to dedicate some time into running the family restaurant, delve deep into his middle-eastern roots, and create menus expressing his love for traditional street foods and baked goods. Now, the dream is to continue to push boundaries of technique and fusion, through life experiences and upbringing!