on Aug 6th, 2007Oven fried chicken
“Oven fried” is an oxymoron, but I’ve tried several recipes over the years in hopes of a healthier alternative to fried chicken, and perhaps you have too. If the taste is good, the texture is not and vice versa. So I keep trying, and this is the latest, which is from the anonymous staff of the Food Network Kitchens and is somewhat tucked away in a special section of meal makeovers.
What convinced me to try yet another version was the use of two different breading products here: a two-grain cereal and Melba toast or bagel chips. I chose Melba toast, having had good luck with it before. The cereal, Crispix, was new to me and I’m happy to have the rest of the box on hand.
I’m also happy I tried it. It’s crispy on the outside, when still warm, and moist on the inside. I will make it again but will turn the pieces over for the last five minutes to crisp up the bottoms a bit more. I enjoy spicy stuff and doubled the cayenne called for; I like the results, especially with the Dijon mustard. There’s some bite here. It’s not as comforting as Mom’s old recipe using corn flakes but she used skin-on, bone-in pieces. And she was Mom, G-d love her.
I deviated from the recipe in other ways. Instead of using bone-in skinless breasts I used boneless because that’s what I had, and they were from a Dolly Parton chicken so I used only two, to be cut in half at mealtime. Since they were boneless, 30 minutes in the oven was fine but 28 would have been better. In my never-ending quest to reduce clean-up, I tried to avoid grinding the cereal and Melba toast in the processor, only to transfer the crumbs to a plastic bag. I put them into the bag straightaway and used a rolling pin on them; unfortunately, the rigid Melba toast was too formidable a foe for that, but when I gave up the pieces were small enough to go into the mini-chop. And, no surprise to anyone who knows me, the mayo got replaced with plain yogurt.
Oven Fried Chicken from Food Network Kitchens
1 1/3 cups rice-corn crispy cereal, (recommended: Crispix)
2 1/4 cups broken bagel chips or melba toast
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 bone-in, skinless chicken pieces (about 6 ounces each) See Cook’s Note
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Set a rack on a foil lined baking sheet. Spray the rack generously with cooking spray.
Finely grind the cereal and toasts together in a food processor. Transfer crumbs to a large gallon size plastic bag. Add the oil, salt, cayenne, paprika, and ground pepper and toss to mix thoroughly. Whisk the light mayonnaise and Dijon mustard together in a medium shallow bowl. Add chicken to mayonnaise and turn to coat all the pieces evenly. Drop the chicken into the plastic bag, seal and shake until each piece is evenly coated. Place coated pieces on the prepared rack. Spray the chicken pieces evenly with cooking spray, and bake until the coating crisps and browns and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the pieces registers 160 degrees F, 35 to 40 minutes.
Transfer to a platter and serve hot or at room temperature.
Cook’s note: We like to cook the chicken on the bone for a real moist and juicy chicken experience. If you can’t find bone-in skinless chicken, simply pull off the skin before coating. Chicken breast halves can be quite large. To get a healthy 6 ounce portion, cut the breast pieces crosswise with a heavy knife into pieces about the same size as a chicken thigh.
Source: foodnetwork.com
Add to: | del.icio.us | furl
Sphere: Related Content
That sounds good! I use an old Betty Crocker recipe for oven fried chicken. It is a recipe my husband requests a lot. I think your recipe sounds a lot healthier.
It looks good.
Let me know how you like it if you try it. It’s such a darn shame that fat gives food flavor!
(I’m sure you’ll appreciate this….sort of)
If one were to want to replace the mayonnaise in the recipe with something else, what ingredient would be a good replacement?
I also have an old Betty Crocker oven fried recipe, but I’m a bit bored with it. This sounds fun and good.
The only main difference that I enjoy is using a combination of Crisco and butter and I actually have the chicken setting IN the oil/butter so I suppose it is more fried than oven!
When I turn on the oven I put the Crisco & butter in my pyrex 9×13 and put it in the oven just long enough to melt off and get somewhat hot. Then the chicken goes in. I like your idea and want to try that.
You’re in the right place, chickenbutt, ’cause I’m a mayo-free zone. I usually use plain yogurt, well-drained in a strainer, as a replacement for mayo, as I did with this recipe. It’s the last sentence before the recipe and easy to miss. Sometimes I use sour cream in sweeter recipes if it’s all I have. I’ve seen, and might even have, a recipe like yours; it really is fried chicken, just not deep fried.
If you’d like a blueprint for the way I used yogurt in an oven chicken recipe of my own, go here. For other mayo-free recipes, some my own, just put “no mayo” in the search box. As I write this, No Mayo Potato Salad is on top of the Most Popular list. It’s there often. I’m not the only mayo hater!
Hey E! Thanks for the recommendation.
I already stole your no mayo potato salad recipe. That’s right up my alley…no mayo and no eggs! oh yeah