This Monday, you get two things for the price of one! An absolutely wonderful recipe and a cookbook review. I can promise both the recipe and the book from which it came are worth your time!
I received a review copy of Southern Living’s No Taste Like Home – A Celebration of Regional Southern Cooking and Hometown Flavor, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite cookbooks. In addition to mouth-watering recipes, it has a wealth of information about food from all over the South and features different cities and their unique tastes…including one of my favorite Mississippi cities: Oxford. Yep, the fast-growing foodie culture of O-Town and some of its famous chefs make an appearance in this beautiful book. Want to make Chicken and Duck Pot Pie like Chef John Currence? It’s in there. How about Mississippi Delta Tamales? That’s there, too. But, this book isn’t confined to our cuisine, it features tastes and tables from Texas tacos to Tandoori Fried Chicken (I’m dying to try that!).
So, with all of these options to choose from, how did I settle on making something so simple as oven-fried chicken? Well, I’d been looking for an oven-fried chicken recipe, and when I saw this one by Bobby Deen, I went with it. And, I am so glad I did. It was tender and moist (even if I did cook it too long). It was crispy. And, though the recipe is simple, the mixture of hot sauce and Dijon mustard in the marinade gave the chicken a slightly spicy, complex flavor. It was delicious!
What you need:
2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup finely chopped chives (I didn’t have any so I left this out…was still delicious!)
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. hot sauce
4 (12-oz.) skinned, bone-in chicken breast (I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts.)
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
What you do:
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, chives, mustard, and hot sauce. Add the chicken to the bowl, and let it soak for at least 30 minutes or (covered, in the fridge) overnight.
2. Place a jelly-roll pan in the oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
3. Remove chicken from the marinade, and season with salt and pepper. Place the breadcrumbs in a wide, shallow bowl. Dredge the chicken into the breadcrumbs, pressing to adhere.
4. Remove pan from oven and coat with cooking spray. Immediately place the chicken on the pan; spray the chicken generously with cooking spray. Bake at 450 for 40 to 45 minutes or until chicken is just cooked through (at least 165 degrees when tested with a meat thermometer).
Enjoy!
And, do yourself a favor and get a copy of Southern Living’s new No Taste Like Home cookbook. Or get a few for Christmas presents….I can think of many people on my Christmas list who’d love to have it!