"Incredible Oven Fried Chicken"

Who doesn't like fried chicken?

Here is another great recipe from recipezaar.com. This is some really finger lickin' good chicken with a fried coating made in your oven (no standing and frying over hot, stinky oil!)

Mark's words in between mouthfuls were: "you should keep this recipe- it's good." So there you have a ringing endorsement from the man himself. Also, it passed the picky kid test with Simon yelling "chicka! chicka!"

I would say it's a little labor-intensive, by my standards, but just looking at this photo makes me want to fix it again! So here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 
  
• Marinade:
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 10-12 chicken pieces
• 
  
• Coating:
• 1 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons thyme
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Directions

1. 1

   Whisk buttermilk, oil, hot pepper sauce, mustard, garlic, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.

2. 2

   Add the onion and then the chicken turning to coat each piece with the marinade.

3. 3

   Cover; chill at least three hours or up to one day turning the chicken occasionally.

4. 4

   Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, flour, thyme, paprika, cayenne and 1 tsp salt in a large baking dish.

5. 5

   Remove the chicken from the marinade and roll in the breadcrumb mixture.

6. 6

   Set chicken on a rack to dry for about 30 minutes.

7. 7

   Preheat oven to 400F degrees.

8. 8

   Place chicken in large baking dish, and pour butter over each piece of chicken.

9. 9

   Bake until crisp and brown, approximately 50 minutes or until juices are no longer pink and run clear.

Just a few notes:

I never follow a recipe exactly as stated, so I changed a few things. I eliminated the drying time after you coat it- 'cause it was late and we were hungry! I also did not add hot pepper sauce, or thyme. I was out, but I think you can play with the seasonings in the coating a little. I used onion powder, not chopped onions in the marinade, and also added garlic and onion powder to the bread crumb mixture. ( I ran out of coating for 5 drumsticks and 5 thighs, so use 2 cups bread crumbs, I say.) Also, be smarter than me and COAT YOUR PAN WITH FOIL before you bake. Unless you want to spend a fun evening scraping burnt, greasy chicken bits off your pan. I would like to try this with skinless chicken next time, I think the butter might be enough to form a crust on the chicken. Anyway, it would be great with coleslaw or potato salad for a family dinner. Yum yum!