Best Ever Spicy Oven-Fried Chicken - Southern

Mrs Goodall's Note:

I love this chicken recipe--after messing around with oil fried chicken, I found this recipe and it's exactly what I was looking for, darn close to "real" fried chicken without the hassle of oil frying. There is marinating time, but otherwise super easy. Don't be intimidated by th amount of hot pepper sauce in the marinade, the chicken will pick up only some of the heat.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

Marinade

• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons hot pepper sauce
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 12 chicken pieces, with skin and bones (breasts, thighs and drumsticks)

Coating

• 1 cup dry unseasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Whisk buttermilk, oil, hot pepper sauce, mustard, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in large bowl to blend well. Add onion, then chicken and turn to coat.
2. Cover, chill at least 3 hours or up to 1 day, turning chicken occasionally. I usually get a big gallon ziploc bag and place the marinade and chicken in the bag.
3. Place racks on 2 large rimmed baking sheets.
4. Whisk breadcrumbs, cheese, flour, thyme, paprika, cayenne and 1 teaspoon salt in large baking dish to blend.
5. Remove chicken from marinade, allowing, excess to drip off. Add chicken to breadcrumb mixture and turn to coat completely.
6. Arrange chicken, skin side up, on racks on baking sheets.
7. Let stand 30 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 425°F Drizzle butter over chicken.
9. Place chicken in oven and bake until crisp, golden and cooked through about 50 minutes.
10. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Reviews

[Londonsbk]

This is from a June 2000 Bon Appetit and I have been making it ever since I saw it in the magazine. It is excellent. To get the coating crispier, use panko bread crumbs. Excellent recipe. Thanks!

[Delenn]

My son refused to eat this. I started marinating it this morning. I loved coating it and letting it rest on the racks. I had never done that before and that is a neato bandido trick. I really did not like the crust. To me it was kind of like shake and bake. So, I think if I do this again, I am going to have to figure out a different coating.

[Claudia Dawn]

This was very good. I also used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and used spray margarine to reduce fat. I baked on a rack, and the tops got crispy but the bottoms were kinda soggy (still tasted great, however!). Next time I place directly on the baking sheet in hopes of the bottoms getting a little crispier. An easy make ahead dinner for weeknights.