Un-Fried Chicken Dinner

Who doesn't love fried chicken? It is the heart and soul of American comfort food. Serve it up with green beans and mashed potatoes and ooohhh my goodness I'm in heaven. It's no secret that fried chicken is chock full of saturated fat, so the choice between eating delicious and eating healthy is a really difficult one when it comes to this meal. Instead of either giving in to my Popeye's cravings or depriving myself completely, I decided to find a way to get fried chicken without the deep fryer.

This post actually has four different recipes. I haven't cooked for Brink in a while, so I decided to go all out and make a full chicken dinner for him (even though he helped some). Here's what you're getting in this post: oven fried chicken, buttermilk mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn on the cob. Two of the recipes are from Food Network (the chicken and the mashed potatoes), and the other two I just got from my brain. I know that's a lot of recipes, so if this is an overwhelming post, I'm really sorry...

Recipe Notes:

On the chicken, I just bought some legs and thighs on the bone and removed the skin. Brink and I both prefer dark meat when it comes to fried chicken. I also trimmed off a little bit of the extra fat. This is still not as lean as eating breast meat, but it's a lot better than keeping the skin on and deep frying it. I also didn't have a wire rack to put on my baking sheet, so I just put the chicken directly onto a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

On the mashed potatoes, I only used 2 tbsp of butter. I also only used 2 baking potatoes, so I ended up not adding much buttermilk at all. I'm guessing maybe 2-3 tbsp total. The milk was fat free. I also didn't use any of the fancy shmancy equipment like a food mill or a mixer. I just took a fork and mashed them by hand, because I like some chunks in my mashed potatoes and I also don't have a potato masher. If you prefer them to be completely smooth, then you'll definitely want to at least use the mixer. 

Pat and Gina's Oven Fried Chicken (Recipe)

Olive oil nonstick cooking spray
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon hot sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 (3-pound) chicken cut into 8 pieces, skin removed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Fit a sheet tray with a wire rack and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a pie plate or shallow bowl, whisk the eggs, mustard, honey, hot sauce, and salt and pepper, to taste, together until thoroughly combined.

Add the panko, salt and pepper, to taste, the paprika, cayenne, and garlic powder to another pie plate and whisk to combine.

Dredge the chicken through the wet mixture, then the dry mixture, patting the breading on so it adheres. Arrange on a wire rack lined sheet tray, making sure there is ample space between each piece of chicken. Give the chicken a spritz of the olive cooking spray. This will help brown and crisp up the coating.

Put on the upper rack of the oven and bake until the chicken is golden and crisp. The temperature should register 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the chicken, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

Taste Rating: 9

I would have given this an 8, but Brink says this is his #2 favorite meal that I have ever cooked for him (#1 is a tilapia recipe that I will have to share with y'all some day). I took the average and gave this a 9. Next time I make this, I will double all of the spices in the breadcrumb mixture. It wasn't bland per se, but I think a little more flavor would have made it even better. 

Easy Rating: 5

This was not so easy. Getting the skin off of the chicken was such a pain. When I'm craving some serious fried chicken, I will take the time to do it, but if I'm just throwing something together, boneless skinless thighs would be a perfect easy substitute.

Overall: 8

Do-over for sure!!! They tasted really good, and even though it took a while to get the chicken skinned, I think it was worth it.




Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes (Recipe).

Ingredients
Kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes
1/4 cup milk
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions


In a large pot, bring 2 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon of salt to a boil. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Add them to the boiling water and bring the water back to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes fall apart easily when pierced with a fork.

Meanwhile, heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan, making sure it doesn't boil. Set aside until the potatoes are done.

As soon as the potatoes are tender, drain them in a colander. Place a food mill fitted with a small disk/blade over a heatproof bowl. Pass the potatoes through the food mill, turning the handle back and forth. As soon as the potatoes are mashed, stir in the hot milk mixture with a whisk or rubber spatula. Add enough buttermilk to make the potatoes creamy. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and the pepper, and serve hot. To keep the potatoes warm, place the bowl over a pan of simmering water for up to 30 minutes. You can add a little extra hot milk to keep them creamy.

Taste Rating: 7

These really didn't taste bad at all. I thought they needed some extra salt, but I was too lazy to get up and go get some. I must have liked them well enough or I would have taken the energy to walk 10 feet and get some. They weren't as rich as mashed potatoes made with a full stick of butter, sour cream, and half and half, but I thought it was a pretty good subsitute.

Easy Rating: 7?

I can't actually give an honest rating of this, because Brink did most of the hard work. Cutting raw potatoes is not always easy, so I'm giving my best estimate. It does taste a lot better than using like the powdered instant potatoes, so even if it is a little bit difficult, I think having fresh, real mashed potatoes is worth the effort. 

Overall: 7

Corn on the cob

Ingredients:

2 corn cobs, husked and cut in half

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Emeril's Essence (Recipe)

Salt to taste

Drop the corn into a pot of boiling salted water. Cook 5-10 minutes until thoroughly cooked. Take out with tongs and set on a plate. Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil, and season with essence and salt to taste.

Taste: 9

The herbs and spices work really well with the sweetness of the corn.

Easy: 8

Husking corn kind of sucks, because you have to make sure you get all of the little pieces off. You can usually find the pre-cleaned stuff in the same area, so that's another possibility. I thought it was fine, it just wasn't the easiest it could have been.

Overall: 8.5

Another seasoning option that I like: cumin, chili powder, and cayenne. 

Green Beans

Fresh Green beans, washed, ends removed

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Onion Powder to taste

Salt to taste

Put a little bit of water in a microwavable dish with the green beans and microwave on high 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes until cooked to desired done-ness. Drain the water, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with onion powder and salt to taste.

I'm not going to rate this recipe, because I literally make it allllll the time. That's why this looks more like a list of ingredients than a recipe. This is how my mom seasons a lot of veggies (broccoli, asparagus, etc.), so I'm just going to share it with you and say that I have always liked seasoning them like this. It's not overwhelming, and the onion powder balances the "vegetable-y" taste.