Crunchy Bayou Baked Chicken

My family still protests my posting the recipe to my famous meatloaf (they’ve put it in the “too-good-to-share-so-keep-it-a-secret-till-we-open-a-restaurant” category), but I think I can get by with posting my baked chicken without incurring their wrath. 🙂

I got the inspiration for this from a cozy mystery I was reading a few months ago, Murder with Fried Chicken & Waffles.  It included some good soul food recipes, with a fried chicken one I adapted to my taste and for baking.  I’ve only actually made it a handful of times but it always seems to come out amazing – well-seasoned without being too spicy (great for picky kids), crunchy on the outside and super tender on the inside!

Pick Your Protein:

I typically use about 2lb. of chicken thighs for this.  Bone-in or boneless work equally well.  You could sub breasts, drumsticks or whatever you want.  Heck, I thought about maybe trying it with de-shelled crawfish, if it’d hold up to the dredges without being overwhelmed by them.  Probably need to adjust the cooking temp and timing, but why not?  The other day, I used 3-4lb. of drumsticks and just added a bit more flour, panko and 1 more egg on my dredges.

Flour Dredge:

• 1/2 – 1c. flour (any kind you wanna use, I used organic white flour)
• 1t. each pepper and Cajun seasoning
• 1/2t. salt
• 1/2t. garlic and onion powders, if desired

Egg Dredge:

• 2 eggs, beaten (I used an extra egg for the 4lb. batch and it worked well)

Crunch Coating:

• 1 1/2 – 2c. Panko breading
• 1 – 2t. Cajun seasoning (or as much as you wanna use!)
• 1/2t. each garlic and onion powders

The Process:

Prep your dredges and chicken (de-bone, dry, etc), then preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Dredge chicken in flour, coating thoroughly, then run it through the egg wash real good before coating with your Panko crunch mix.  Place on a baking dish big enough to hold it all without crowding together and cover loosely with foil (slit in top to vent).

Bake for about 45-60 minutes, depending on type and quantity of chicken.  If desired, you could remove foil hat for the last 10-15 minutes.  I’ve found it doesn’t affect the crunch much but it does seem to help it brown.  Corn, taters and cornbread are natural accompaniments (I bet buttermilk waffles and collard greens sauteed in bacon grease would be heavenly) but you could serve it with anything you want.

Now, I don’t know the nutrition info but baking is healthier than frying and, personally, I tend toward organic and/or farm-fresh ingredients anywhere I can, which tends to be healthier than conventional.  Use what you got and what works best for you.  And, if you try it for yourself, lemme know how it turned out, what you served it with and all that.

Enjoy!

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