03 November 2010

Love my chicken (cluck cluck cluck)

Mmmkay. First a recipe . . . yes, I posted sticky ginger chicken a little while ago, but this has more of a spicy kick. Also a crunchy flavorful coating, and it's definitely not as messy!

Technically this would be "oven fried" chicken, but I always find that a deceptive name because "fried" implies that it will be as crispy as KFC. It won't.

But man, it will be delicious, and you will want to eat all the leftovers for lunch. Which I just did.

Spicy Baked Chicken
(I've forgotten where I found the original recipe, but it was probably somewhere on Food.com)

3 lbs chicken thighs*
2 eggs
1 cup yogurt or buttermilk
2 cups coarse breadcrumbs**
1 tablespoon ground paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat glass baking dish or heavy cookie sheet with nonstick spray-- too much spray makes soggy chicken. Ew.
2) Whisk together eggs and yogurt in one bowl, and remaining ingredients (except chicken thighs) in another.
3) Dip chicken thighs in egg mixture, coating thoroughly. Roll in breadcrumb mixture to form a nice thick crust. Place coated thighs in prepared baking dish.
4) Bake chicken for 20 minutes. Turn and bake for 10-15 more minutes. Thicker pieces may need more time, smaller pieces less, so use common sense and a sharp knife to determine doneness.

*I use bone-in, skin-on thighs, but remove the skin before breading them.
**Coarse breadcrumbs are key. If they are finely ground you won't get a nice crunch, and that's no fun. Suggestion: whenever you have stale bread heels or uneaten toast, pile it all on a plate to dry out completely. Then whiz it up to make breadcrumbs. More frugal and much tastier than buying a canister of bread dust at the store. If you don't have stale bread lying around, please use panko instead of standard breadcrumbs.

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Second, if you haven't seen the "Bust the windows out your car for chicken" song yet, please do so immediately.

1 comment:

  1. i agree, it's so much better and so easy to make your own breadcrumbs from stale bread! i always have some on hand for any recipes that call for them!

    http://mummyicancook.blogspot.com/2011/04/salmon-korokke-croquette-balls-with.html

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