oven fried chicken
There's nothing like some comfort food when you're feeling blue. Which is why it was a good thing we had plenty of oven fried chicken leftover after our little Cubs playoffs party last Saturday.
I have been deluged with squash from our farm share lately, and the game seemed like a good excuse to whip up a big batch of butternut mac and cheese. And of course we had to have coleslaw. And what goes with coleslaw and mac and cheese better than fried chicken? (Answer: possibly barbecued pork. But I didn't think I could talk Jon into spending all day smoking pork so chicken would have to do.)
Since I'm still pretty "chicken" (GET IT???) to go all out and deep fat fry, and trying to at least put a cap on, if not reduce, the newlywed weight gain, I decided to go with the oven baked version. I turned to my trusty "The New Best Recipe" cookbook from the folks at Cook's Illustrated. Their recipe has 3 big secrets:
- Use skinless chicken legs
- Brine the chicken in seasoned buttermilk
- Melba toast crumbs for the base of the coating.
Aside from that annoyance, though, the recipe was terrific. The chicken was tender, juicy and very flavorful, and the coating was tasty, crispy, and a beautiful nutty brown color. And this recipe has only about 200 calories and 10 grams of fat per chicken thigh, which is not health food by any means, but looks pretty good compared with 330 calories and 24 grams of fat for a piece of good ol' Kentucky Fried.
Now let's hope the Bears start doing better or I may have to resort to the deep fat fryer.
Oven Fried Chicken
adapted from The New Best Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
1 head garlic, cloves separated
3 bay leaves, crumbled
7 cups lowfat buttermilk
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
5 ounces garlic flavored melba toast (about 1 box)
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions:
In a gallon-size zipper lock plastic bag, combine the 1/2 cup salt, sugar, paprika, garlic cloves, and bay leaves. With a flat, heavy object, smash the garlic into the salt and spice mixture thoroughly. Pour the mixture into a large nonreactive bowl, stockpot, or Dutch oven. Add the buttermilk and stir until the salt is completely dissolved. Immerse the chicken in the brine and refrigerate until fully seasoned, 2 to 3 hours.
Remove the chicken from the brine and shake off the excess; place the chicken pieces in a single layer on a large wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate uncovered for 2 hours. (After 2 hours, the chicken can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 6 hours longer.)
Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and set a large wire rack over the pan.
In a food processor, pulse the melba toast until the mixture resembles coarse sand with some pebble sized pieces. Move crumbs to a shallow dish or pie plate and and drizzle the vegetable oil over them; toss well to coat.
In a second shallow dish or pie plate, mix the eggs, mustard, thyme, 3/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, oregano, and cayenne pepper with a fork.
Working with one piece at a time, coat the chicken on both sides with the egg mixture. Set the chicken in the melba crumbs, sprinkle the crumbs over the chicken and press to coat. Turn the chicken over and repeat on the other side. Gently shake off the excess and place the chicken on the rack in the pan. Bake until the chicken is a deep nutty brown and the juices run clear, about 40 minutes.
Serves 4 (or 8 with a hearty side of mac and cheese)
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