Oven-fried Chicken

I love fried chicken as much as the next person. I especially like Ethan's fried chicken. He has it down to a science. Unfortunately, so do my hips and caboose. This chicken is a much better option. You could even add some flax seed to the mix if you so desire.

This meal is a good go-to. I keep chicken in the freezer all the time. Corn flakes and herbs are pantry items that keep for a while. There isn't anything in this that is exotic. So this could be something you know you can make at the last minute. Oh, and I just had an idea. You could even be so efficient as so keep the mix ready. Premake the corn flake herb mixture and keep it in a bag in the pantry. It will be there when you need a meal idea.



3 1/2 lb chicken, legs or thighs or both
Kosher salt and pepper
3 cups corn flake cereal
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp butter, melted

Set oven to 350 degrees.

Pat chicken dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine corn flakes, basil, thyme, oregano, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Process until corn flakes are coarse crumbs. Pour corn flake crumbs into a pie plate and set aside.

In another pie plate, combine eggs and milk. Whisk until well combined. Set aside.

Set up your breading station. In order, line up seasoned chicken, egg mixture, corn flake crumbs and a greased rimmed cookie sheet. With one piece at a time, dip the chicken in the egg, then into the crumbs (coating well) and then onto the sheet pan. Repeat until all chicken is breaded. Drizzle each piece with a little bit of the melted butter.

Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the chicken's internal temperature is 165-170 degrees.

Yields enough cornflake mixture for 8 servings.

For good measure:

Served with this: We really decided to make up for calories that we didn't get from the chicken not being fried. Ethan made some real french fries. He peeled and cut the potatoes just like regular French fries. And OOOOOEEEEE! They were good. Think In-N-Out. If you want potatoes, but not fried, you could do roasted potatoes or baked potato wedges.

Rookie's Notes: A tip for breading- have one hand be for the egg part and another for the crumb part. You won't get any breading in your egg mixture.

Also, if you don't have a food processor, no biggie. Put the corn flakes and herbs in a ziploc bag and take a skillet to it. Be sure to get all the air out of the bag BEFORE you start whacking at it. Go ahead and visualize THAT mess.