Recipe: Alison Arngrim's Spicy Cinnamon Chicken
Nellie Oleson from "Little House on the Prairie" grew up to be a very good cook. Here's one her favorite recipes.
“I cook like a fiend,” says Alison Arngrim, who played mean-girl Nellie Oleson on "Little House on the Prairie." She’s even working on a cookbook of her own. In the new book TV Dinners: 40 Classic TV Kid Stars Dish Up Favorite Recipes with a Side of Memories, by Laurie Jacobson (see story here), she admits that as a kid, and even as an adult, she loved Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. But that’s not what she submitted for the book.
“I have a recipe I use for Cinnamon Chicken — which of course, is the infamous dinner from Little House," she says. "There’s 'regular cinnamon chicken'— and there’s the 'cayenne pepper version' that Laura made as revenge on Nellie!"
If you saw the episode “Back to School,” you know that Nellie forces poor Laura to cook cinnamon chicken for her and Almanzo so she can take credit and steal her man. Laura gets her revenge by replacing the cinnamon entirely with CAYENNE PEPPER, positively nuking Nellie and Almanzo’s taste buds and sending them from the table screaming and choking.
"Well, you really don’t want to make THAT," Alison says. "But...I’ve created a nice cinnamon chicken, with just a HINT of spicy bad girl hotness!"
Alison Arngrim's Spicy Cinnamon Chicken
2 medium chicken, boneless, skinless breasts
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons cinnamon (3 if you really like cinnamon!)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Dash of salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil
Butter or margarine
2 tablespoons liquid — water or chicken broth (or wine)
Mix flour, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper. Sift together or stir thoroughly with a fork. Dip chicken breasts in milk, then dredge in flour andcinnamon mixture till thoroughly coated.
Put a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and heat. (I use a non-stick, but cast iron, etc., works, as long as it comes with a tight-fitting lid).
Place coated chicken breasts in hot oil. Brown on each side, a few minutes each. After you’ve turned them and they’re sizzling, add butter or margarine and the liquid. Place lid on tightly and lower heat.
Let cook for a few minutes, until cooked through, allowing breasts to absorb liquid (and become super moist).
Serve with mashed potatoes, drizzling liquid from the pan over chicken and potatoes.
You may adjust the cayenne amount depending on taste: 1/4 teaspoon for mild, 1/2 for a light spicy kick, a little more if you’re very adventurous!
