Oven-fried Chicken

Who doesn't love the crunch of southern fried chicken, but there's the fat in the skin and the fat that it's fried in just waiting to creep around your middle. Don't worry, you can have your crispy chicken and lose weight/stay healthy by using your oven to produce delicious, moist chicken with a satisfying crunch. The original recipe called for bone-in, skinless chicken breasts, but I substituted bone-in, skinless chicken thighs. I much prefer bone-in chicken as it retains the juices far better.

Serves 4 (7 PP)
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk (I make my own by adding 1 tbs vinegar to skim milk and letting it stand)
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
4 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (about 5 oz each)
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tbs grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried sage

Combine buttermilk, salt, and pepper in large zip-lock bag and add chicken. Squeeze air out of the bag and seal. Turn to coat chicken and refrigerate 20 minutes to 3 hours, turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with foil sprayed with nonstick spray.

Mix together bread crumbs and cheese. Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture and discard mixture. Coat chicken, one piece at a time, in panko mix. Place chicken pieces on prepared baking sheet and bake 30 minutes. Remove from oven and lightly spray chicken with nonstick spray. Return to oven and bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes longer.
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TASTE NOTES
The recipe above is adapted from WW Best Darn Food Ever cookbook. The first time I used the exact recipe, but we didn't enjoy the spice mixture. The second time, I revised it and it turned out perfect: moist inside, crispy outside, and very flavorful. Leftovers--if there are any--are delicious cold or at room temperature. With corn and potato salad, this is a picnic. With mashed potatoes and greens, it's a southern-style meal that will have you singing Dixie.

Oven-Fried Buttermilk Chicken

A recent article in our Sunday paper brought back memories of that favorite childhood dinner, the Swanson's fried chicken TV dinner. If mom had allowed, I'd have eaten one every night. Those tiny little legs and breasts, the wonderful mound of whipped potatoes, and the little square carrots--never mind that I had to pick out the peas--appealed to my as-yet-unformed palate. Being a "woman of a certain age," my TV dinner came without  a dessert indentation in the metal try. At the end of the article, I was delighted to find a recipe for oven-fried buttermilk chicken, Bobby Flay's 21st century take on this 60's classic.

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk

2 tbs Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp sweet paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 ounces each

2 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

3 tbs canola oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk together the buttermilk, mustard, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and cayenne in a large baking dish. Add the chicken breasts, turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to the upper-middle position.

Pulse 1 1/4 cups of the panko bread crumbs in a blender until fine. Mix them with the remaining panko bread crumbs, the canola oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a baking rack on top. Liberally spray the rack with nonstick baking spray.

Working with one breast at a time, remove chicken from the marinade and dredge in the crumb mixture. Place on rack.

Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the breast registers 160 degrees, about 30 minutes.

NI: 310 cal, 9g carbs, 38 g protein, 110 mg cholesterol, 13 g fat, 400 mg sodium (based on 4 servings)

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TASTE NOTES

While DSO and I prefer dark meat to white meat, we both agreed that these breasts could change our minds about that preference. The meat was succulent with a bit of tang from the buttermilk. The panko coating more than made up for the lack of skin and we were both more than satisfied with this more healthful approach to fried chicken. I would say this is Bobby Flay at his most restrained and I, for one, was glad of it. The marinade had just enough cayenne and mustard to provide flavor. The marinade went together very quickly and the chicken benefited from a nice soak in it. The prep was easy enough for weeknight cooking. This is definitely a keeper.