After posting about necessary spices and small appliance avoidance, it only seems right to post about oven-fried chicken! Three spices that must be used are Celery Salt, Garlic and Onion powder. In addition, salt, pepper and oregano are also part of the mix. If the first three mentioned aren't part of your regular spice collection, at least try Adobo seasoning -- Goya makes a good blend.
No one single type of bread crumb will do. At the very least, use Italian Style and Panko. We like to add whole wheat. Plain is fine if all the seasonings are on hand. We always have plain on hand to thicken soup and for other uses where a spiced version won't work.
The chicken needs to sit in a bath of some sort of tangy dairy product for about an hour. Buttermilk is preferable but plain yogurt will do just as well. Like any marinade, it shouldn't be re-used. We actually let the dog have it.
Dump the bread crumbs and spices into a large zippy bag. Don't skimp on the amount of mixture. It's better to have too much than not enough. The bag will be used to shake the meat in. Throw out any leftover crumbs. They should not be stored for another time.
We used "special today" boneless skinless chicken thighs. Full pieces with bone/skin are fine too. The nice thing about dark meat, is it stays moist. To get a good crispy result, cook at a high temperature -- 475 degrees, on parchment paper. This is how the batch looked after fifteen minutes.
We were making parm, so we stopped part-way through to top with whole milk mozzarella. If not topping with cheese, let it bake for about 25 minutes. With the bone in, add another five minutes. The secret is to bake at a very high temperature.
Dinner was yummy! The chicken was baked in the convection oven. The bread started in the regular oven in a pot with a lid, lined with parchment. It baked at 375 for 20 minutes, then was pulled out of the pot and baked in the convection oven for 20 minutes at 375.
The sauce was not from a jar! It's one large can of San Marzano and one large can of tomato puree. We love Cento because of the quality and price. One large batch of sauce was about five bucks, but we made three and a half meals out of it. If we were to use sauce from a jar, the batch would have been at least three jars -- so scratch made is more economical (and healthier).
We love "oven frying." It is healthier and less of a mess than deep frying, and we don't need a separate small appliance to get great results.
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