Chicken Lady Fingers with Romanian Romesco Dipping Sauce

From Better Homes and Gardens
Makes 40 fingers (10 servings)
Preparation time: fingers - 15 minutes, sauce - 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2" x 3" strips
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Smoke Spanish or regular paprika
• Romesco Dipping Sauce - See below
• 2  large red sweet peppers, halved lengthwise, seeds and membranes removed, flattened
• 1 cup day-old crusty bread, cubed
• 3/4 chopped fresh tomato (1 large)
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 3  cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2  teaspoon smoked Spanish or regular paprika
• 1/2  teaspoon salt
• 1/4  teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4  cup olive oil

 

Directions:

Prepare sauce; cover and chill. For Chicken Fingers, in large bowl combine flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Coat chicken strips in flour. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and butter in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add chicken strips, one-third at a time, browning well on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Dip the end of each chicken strip in ground paprika. Serve with Romesco Dipping Sauce. Makes 10 servings (about 40 pieces).

Romesco Dipping Sauce: For sauce, preheat broiler Place peppers on a broiler pan. Broil peppers, 4 to 5 inches from the heat, until skins are blacked, turning once. Remove, stack pieces together, cover with aluminum foil and let stand 15 minutes. Peel off skins; discard skins. In blender combine peppers, bread, tomato, almonds, vinegar, garlic, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover and blend. Add 1/4 cup olive oil in steady stream through the top of blender until mixture is almost smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl or storage container. Cover and chill until serving time.

Tip: You can prepare the sauce ahead of time. Cover and chill up to 3 days.