COOKING AT HOME: Basic but delicious breaded chicken
This is not a hard recipe, it's just a bit of work. That being said, this breaded chicken is solid. So, when it comes time to make the breaded chicken I make enough to last a couple of days. My son loves it and Mr. Borscht too. My son will eat it by itself or with rice and Mr. Borscht will put it in his sandwich. I love it with hot sauceš„.
The chicken is pounded into submission, then coated, fried, then baked. It'll be perfectly cooked on the inside and crispy on the outside. Here goes.
What you'll need:
12 Pieces of boneless, skinless, chicken thighs
1 Cup of flour
2 1/2 Cups of bread crumbs
3 Eggs, whisked lightly, just enough to break up the yokes.
Oil, enough to fry with (I use sunflower oil but choose what you like, an oil that has a neutral flavor is best)
Salt, pepper, dill, garlic powder to taste
What you'll do:
1. Prepare the oven sheet pan to bake the chicken after its been fried by: lining the sheet pan with foil (for easy clean-up) and laying a cooling rack on top of it.
* I squeeze two cooling racks onto the sheet pan.
*Note: You can set the chicken directly onto the sheet pan without cooling racks, the difference is the underside of the chicken may stick to the sheet pan and tear the breading off, and secondly, the underside may also be not as crisp as the topside.
2. In a shallow dish large enough to dredge chicken, season the bread crumb by adding to it: salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried dill. (The ingredients get lost in the bread crumb so do put more than you think necessary. For example, I used a 1+ tablespoon of dill, 1+ tablespoon of garlic powder, about 3+ teaspoons of salt). Mix the ingredients together.
3. Break the eggs into another shallow dish, and whisk lightly just until yokes are broken.
4. Put the flour into a third shallow dish.
5. Pound out the chicken (I used to go pretty thin but then I realized I was doing a lot of work and it really doesn't make that much of a difference if you just pound it out a bit - our goal is to tenderize the chicken, not make it into paper).
*Note: I have tried making this chicken without tenderizing at all and the difference was very small. It did not change the flavor and only made it more difficult for the breading to stick. So if you're in a rush, you can totally skip this step.
6. Lightly coat chicken in flour, then dip into egg (allow excess egg to drip off), and then dredge the chicken in bread crumb mixture.
7. Pour enough oil into a skillet or pan with high sides to come half way up the chicken (the chicken should not be fully immersed in oil). Heat the oil on high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer but is not boiling, turn the heat down to med-high and add the chicken carefully into the hot oil in the pan. It should sizzle. And, don't crowd the chicken – I usually fry three pieces at a time. Fry the first side for about 2 minutes or until it's nice and brown, then turn the chicken to fry the other side for 2 minutes, until it is also nice and brown.
8. When the chicken pieces are nicely browned on both sides take it out of the oil and lay it on top of the cooling rack on the sheet pan. Start frying the next batch of chicken.
9. Now is a good time to start preheating the oven to 400 degrees.
10. After all the chicken pieces are fried up bake in 400 degree preheated oven for 15-20 minutes (I usually go for 15-18 minutes)
*When baking keep the chicken on the cooling rack on the sheet pan.
*NOTE: the recipe is a process with many steps, for this reason I make a batch of them when I do make this breaded chicken.
There's so many different ways to eat them: by itself with a couple of good sides, cut and tossed into a salad, in a sandwich with some slaw and hot sauce, over rice with teriyaki sauce.
So many different ways to eat it! The breaded chicken is by far one of the more helpful things to have in the refrigerator during an especially busy week.
THREE DAYS LATER...
My brunch. We've got the breaded chicken in the refrigerator from the last batch I made. I've had a very busy morning and am finally back home and have time, finally, to get my first meal in — its brunch time. I'm starved and get to fix myself a quicks eats — it still tastes delicious.
