Oven Fried Chicken

Really, what’s not to love about fried chicken?  Crispy and crunchy on the outside, and moist and juicy on the inside.  Well, I suppose there’s that high-calorie and fat conundrum (not to mention the oily mess of a kitchen when you’re done!), and so my quest to find an oven fried chicken that I could stand behind began.   Well folks, here it is, and it has a delightful surprise ingredient: Dijon mustard. Uh, yeah that’s awesome.

I love how easy this recipe is too, using boneless chicken breasts and Panko bread crumbs, which give this chicken the best texture!  A squeeze of lemon at the end really brightens the dish, but of course my obsession with lemon is hardly a secret.

You know what’s a good idea?  Serving this chicken with a mushroom-lemon-parsley salad to start (which can I tell you, I’m eating right now and I just can’t get over my love for it) and pairing it with wilted swiss chard with onions and garlic.  Mmm, mmm, good.

Oven Fried Chicken
Adapted from the delightful Paula Deen

2 cups Panko bread crumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoon freshly minced thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons water
2 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to ¼-inch thickness (place it between 2 sheets of wax paper, and pound away).

Preheat oven to 400ºF.  Line a baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil.  Place a cooling rack oven pan and spray rack with nonstick cooking spray.

In a shallow dish, combine bread crumbs, Parmesan, 2 tablespoon olive oil, thyme, and a dash of salt and pepper.  In a separate shallow dish, combine mustard, water, a dash of salt and pepper and remaining olive oil.

Coat each chicken breast with mustard mixture and then dredge each chicken breast in bread crumb mixture.  It’s messy, but worth it.

Place on prepared rack in pan.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until chicken is golden brown.

Serves 4.

Tagged as: chicken, Dijon mustard, mushrooms, Panko, swiss chard