What are goujons? They are small chicken fillets that are coated in breadcrumbs. They are fairly easy to make using gluten free breadcrumbs but it is important to use the correct ones for the low fodmap diet. Clearspring rice crumbs are probably the best option. Some gluten free breadcrumbs use a blend including gram flour – this is chickpea flour and is a source of GOS, it might be OK for some people with IBS because of the small portions of crumbs used to coat ingredients – but pure rice crumbs are better and they are wholegrain too – bonus for those with constipation! Hale and Hearty breadcrumbs contain inulin so this should not be used for a low fodmap diet. You can make your own breadcrumbs with gluten free bread if you wish, again choosing wholegrain bread to give the dish added fibre – a way of using up stale gluten free bread and fibre is great for gut health! For health this is a recipe to have occasionally as it is a fried dish – but suitable for those who are underweight as frying adds additional calories to the dish. Mayonnaise is another addition but take care with ones that say low fat mayo as these can have increased amount of skimmed milk powder – a source of lactose. So it has to be full fat and a small portion! The dish includes making your own garlic infused oil at the start of the process – follow this part of the recipe closely, slicing the garlic makes it easier to remove it all before frying the goujons, so you remove all the fructans included in the clove. Don’t be tempted to use a garlic crusher as you cannot then remove all the pieces. I have added the goujons to a gluten free pitta bread with salad leaves.
Ingredients
Gluten free four (100g)
1 egg
Gluten Free Breadcrumbs (1/2 pack)
seasoning
1 pack of chicken mini breast fillets
Rapeseed oil – enough for frying
1 pack of gluten free pitta breads
Salad leaves of your choice (I used chard and radicchio but lettuce leaves are another option.)
1 clove of garlic.
Method
Wash Hands.
Wash and chop the salad leaves and prepare the pitta bread and put these on a plate away from the work surface you are using to prepare the goujons. If you have work surfaces on either side of the oven this is good, you can use one side for raw chicken preparation and one for cooked. Do this before handling the raw chicken fillets.
Open the packet of chicken fillets and use immediately – please do not wash them, they don’t need it, plus washing raw chicken is a food poisoning hazard – it can easily spread bacteria around the kitchen.
Place the flour and seasoning on a plate, crack the egg and mix well with a fork on a plate and breadcrumbs on separate plates. Dip the chicken fillets into the flour first, then egg and then the breadcrumbs – coat each fillet well and don’t forget the edges.
When coated, pile them on a dish for frying later.
Clean work surfaces down and wash your hands again after handling raw chicken.
Slice the garlic clove (this is better than crushing as it makes it easier to remove the pieces before frying the chicken.)
Add oil to the pan and fry the clove quickly then remove all the pieces of garlic from the pan.
Add the chicken goujons and fry till golden. Don’t overload the pan as this will lead to steaming instead of frying and soggy breadcrumbs.
Add 2 slices of goujons to each pitta – makes 5.
Serve with green salad.
