Cooks Illustrated didn’t fail me again with this recipe. It tasted fried! Our only criticism is that it needed a little more spice – more black pepper and maybe soaking the chicken in a spicy buttermilk bath overnight like Martha Stewart does with her oil fried chicken.
But first, I went to the doctor, and he said that he believes my bronchitis is gone, doesn’t want to start me on round three of antibiotics, so I have a steroid, another medication and an inhaler. He said there is “debris” in my bronchial tubes and this should flush everything out. If I am not significantly better by Friday and I have to call him. I took the inhaler as soon as I got home and I feel better already!
The secret ingredient for the coating of the chicken?
Here’s how the crumb mixture looks after combined with the oil:
Here’s how they look before going in the oven:
I had Hannah bake potatoes before I got home since she didn’t have school today.
After the potatoes cooled, I sliced them in half and scooped out enough flesh to only leave about 1/4 inch of potato. Then brush both the front and back with canola oil (I used a total of about 1 tablespoon of oil). Then bake both sides for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Remove and then sprinkle with salt and pepper, cooked bacon and cheddar cheese, and then put under the broiler until crispy and cheese has browned.
My chicken:
I think I’ll use this method the next time I make wings and to make chicken tenders (Hannah would have preferred chicken tenders – she’s not a huge fan of meat on the bone!).
The Best Oven-Fried Chicken
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (don’t use olive oil because the oven temp is too hot for olive oil – canola would work too)
- 1 box plain Melba toast (5 ounce box), processed to sand and pebble texture
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon Dijon musard
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- (would have loved to add Tabasco to this, but I didn’t!)
- 9 chicken legs
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place cookie rack on baking sheet and spray with Pam.
Drizzle the oil over the toast and using your fingers incorporate the oil into the processed Melba toast. Mix the eggs, mustard, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder and cayenne and mix well with a fork.
At this point I put my Melba toast mixture in a large ziploc bag to shake and bake. Coat chicken all over in the egg mixture, drop in bag and shake until coated. I used my fingers to press the coating into the chicken. Repeat until done. Cook for 40 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165.
Looking forward to trying this with chicken breasts!
Off to relax with Tony – see you tomorrow!
I didnt have Melba Toast so I used cornflakes (and a handful of pretzels for crunch) and it was the easiest and yummiest chicken!! I will definitely be making this one again! And, while I was making dinner hubs walked by and saw your potatoes in the pic and was like, “hey babe – when can we have these potato skins? they look slammin’!!” So guess what I will be making real soon?!?!
<3 J
I’m definitely going to bookmark this recipe and I’m going to try it out on tilapia.
yum yum!!!! that looks fantastic!!!
That looks so amazing. Once again I have a difficult time believing one can lose weight/be healthy eating this way. You are so inspiring!
Looks so good. We’ll take a meal for 6 of that please. 😉
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That looks so good! I’ll have to remember this next time I’m making chicken!
the colonel must be quite jealous at the crispy looking feast
Can I order two legs to go?
I bet that would be great on boneless skinless chicken breast as well. I’m not a fan of the chicken on the bone either.
Oh my gosh, that looks amazing Biz!!
Those potatoes look incredible!
I love potato skins 🙂
Looks great!
What an amazing dinner! I love that it uses Melba Toast. Glad you are feeling better!
That looks awesome!!
Oh hey, I meant to ask you… would you like me to make you a header?
Your dinner looks amazing once again.
I would probably try it with the tenders as well because my children would eat it better.
Can’t wait to try!
I just got done working out and I’m starving, and I don’t know if anything has ever looked better than that chicken and those potatoes, YUMMY!