Crunchy Oven Chicken

Crunchy Oven Chicken

Well, the weather is getting warmer and you may be getting a little weary of soup.  Let’s take a short detour and add some fam favs that may work at your house as well.  This is HIGHLY influenced by the fact that for the last two days I have been cleaning out my pantry.  Why, you ask.  WHY I ask MYSELF.  

I uncovered a couple of forgotten items that went into my supper tonight.  Hope it works for you.  

Meat seems to be appearing a bit more regularly right now so let’s take a plunge and go chicken-breast crazy.  Recipe in comments and ... a new blog is rolling out later tonight or tomorrow.  Worked on it a lot this weekend and I think it will be easier for everyone to access.  

Crunchy Oven Chicken

Score yourself some chicken breasts (boneless, skinless if possible – if not, make them that way). For the LIFE of me I do not know how they get chicken breasts that big now-a-days. When I was growing up and my grandmother was snagging chickens by the neck and getting them ready for Sunday dinner (that is lunch, folks – evening meal is supper) they were NO where in the realm of a bought chicken breast today.  I digress.  Since these huge chunks of meat are so thick, I highly recommend that you cut them in half HORIZONTALLY.  So, one chicken breast equals two chicken breasts.  Like my math?  You are going to like my chicken even better.

In my pantry I discovered two opened packs of Parmesan crisps/chips.  These are just little round crisps that are pure Parmesan cheese that has been baked.  I keep them because they are carb-free.  And so yummy on salads.  Tonight I added both partial bags onto a paper plate and took my chopping tool to pulverize them.  Then I took some marginally-stale Ritz crackers and added them continuing to smash them to almost powder.  Then start adding salt (or salt-based flavorings), pepper and paprika until you have it seasoned like you like it.  Chicken gets the color from the paprika – we do NOT eat blonde chicken.  

Take your trimmed and horizontally cut chicken and bathe it in some melted butter.  Just enough to get every piece covered in butter on both sides.  Then place it on the plate with the crushed/seasoned combo – coat both sides heavily with crumb mixture.  Place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with olive oil (or some such coating).  Keep going until you have all the chicken coated and ready to cook.  Put in a 375 degree oven until it is done.  Do not turn the chicken over.  It should be thoroughly cooked but not petrified (don’t overcook it or it will choke you to death).  

Then add what you and your family like to this meal.  I used my Instant pot to cook some mixed wild and Basmati rice … I put a wire insert on top of rice and water and added enough fresh corn for my family.  Add a bit more water than usual so that the steam cooks the corn.  One pot, one time setting (about 15 minutes) and two dishes.  Boom.  We had a plate of sliced tomatoes, some leftover white beans and ham, and I cooked some French bread (my grandchildren love it).  The chicken is fabulous the next day – cold on a salad.  True story.  

No Parmesan crisps, you say.  No problem.  You can do the same thing with leftover/slightly stale:  Doritos, potato chips, pecans, saltine crackers, any kind of crackers, Cheetos, pork rinds (use hot ones for a mock-Nashville Hot Chicken) … you get the idea.  Put away the spoons for a while and grab a fork and knife!