Panko Chicken With Creamy Sauce

Most of us make a lot of chicken dishes. This one is quick and easy, and full of flavor. It has been created for a Ready, Set, Cook contest. It uses seven RSC ingredients (two more than required), so you can omit the mushrooms if you are a non-mushroom lover. The timing is a little hard to calculate. Not counting the marinating (which I did overnight once and 8 hours for another time), I found that I could make all of the rest of the recipe within 50 minutes. But I was busy for a lot of the time.

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1  lb chicken thigh, boneless and skinless
• 1  cup buttermilk
• 1 1⁄4 cups panko breadcrumbs
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  smoked paprika
• 1  lemon, zest only
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 3  tablespoons olive oil
• 2  tablespoons butter
• 1  lb button mushroom, sliced
• 1⁄2-1  medium onion, sliced thinly
• 2 -3  roasted garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 1⁄2 cup  cream
• 1⁄4 cup parsley, chopped finely

Directions

1. Combine chicken thighs and buttermilk in a bowl. Stir well. Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours. Overnight is okay, too. My chicken thighs were quite large, so I cut them in half to maximize the coverage of panko breadcrumbs (see note in Step 4).
2. When ready to cook, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Combine panko breadcrumbs, thyme, smoked paprika, lemon zest and salt in a bowl and stir well.
4. Remove each thigh piece from marinade and dredge in the panko mixture. Transfer to a plate. Note: Panko breadcrumbs are larger and crispier than regular breadcrumbs. I love their taste and texture -- I cut the thighs in half so I can use more crumbs. If you leave the thighs whole, you will probably need only 1 cup of crumbs.
5. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet/frying pan. Brown the thighs, on both sides – about 4-5 minutes per side. Depending on the size of your skillet, you may need to do this in more than one batch.
6. Transfer partially-cooked thighs to a baking dish and pop in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.
7. While the thighs are cooking, wipe out the skillet/frying pan you used for the chicken, so you can use it again. Hey, why wash pots and pans unnecessarily. And slice the onions and mushrooms, and chop the garlic and parsley.
8. Melt the butter in the wiped-out skillet and add the last tablespoon of oil. Heat. Then add the sliced onions and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the sliced mushrooms and chopped garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until everything has softened.
9. Stir in the cream and parsley. Heat through.
10. When serving, spoon sauce over the chicken.