How to Make Oven Fried Chicken - Flash Fry Version

This quick pan fry, then oven bake recipe gives all the great taste of deep fried chicken and the added benefit of less fat. As always, this is not a Food Police favorite, but this method allows most of the fat to drip to the bottom of the pan.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A baking pan with a rack insert to hold the chicken off the bottom
• 4 to 5 pound chicken, cut up in serving sizes
• Flour
• Mar's Chicken Spice Mix - Listed in Step 2

1. 
   Nice Big Whole Chicken

   Cut up a whole chicken the way you like the pieces. I have purchased cut up chickens and wondered who the apprentice was that shouldn't have been allowed even near a knife (and how many fingers they still have)! Besides, a whole chicken is usually a lot less expensive per pound - Aldi's whole chicken in Wisconsin is $.79 a pound all the time right now (June 2008). I also buy thighs or leg quarters on sale and cut the legs from the thighs. When I buy a whole chicken, I save the white meat for great sandwiches! See it in one of my other recipe articles - How To Make A Great Chicken Sandwich!

2. Here is a nice spice combo that you can mix up in a bowl and then spoon into a spice jar that you've saved - hopefully. Otherwise, spoon the spices into a container that suits your spice use. You will need about 3 tablespoons of the mix per meal.
   
   Marlaine's Chicken Spice Mix
   * 4 T. dark brown sugar or white sugar
   * 3 T. paprika
   * 2 T. onion powder
   * 2 T. poultry seasoning
   * 1 t. garlic powder
   * 1 t. sage
   * 1 t. ground oregano
   * 1 t. sweet basil
   * 1/2 t. chili powder
   * 1 t. black pepper
   * 1/2 t. lemon pepper

3. 
   Chicken Goop

   Wash the chicken well. Take out that goop in the thigh cavity - it is bitter if you accidentally eat it! You can soak the chicken in lemon juice for a couple hours but it's not necessary. When it's time to flour your chicken, either quickly moisten the pieces with water or just let the lemon drip off a little bit if you used that.

4. Use about 3 tablespoons of the spice mix to 1 1/2 cups flour. Mix it all up in a bowl about twice as big as your biggest piece of chicken and add about 1 more teaspoon of salt per cup of flour if desired. The ratio of mix to flour is about 1 tablespoon to 1/2 cup of flour. Add more or less spice mix if you want to! Dredge your moist chicken pieces in the flour mixture. Test the heat of your oil by putting a small piece of the coated skin into the oil. (That test is safer than dropping a bead of water in.)

5. Fry the chicken pieces in a pan or deep fryer until well browned - about 15 minutes. I suggest using a pan, straining the oil after using, and keeping the chicken oil in the fridge in between uses. Once you use the deep fryer for chicken, fries (or anything else) made in it later will taste like chicken. After the chicken is partially fried, put it in a pan on a rack and bake in the oven for about 30 to 35 minutes at about 400 degrees. Put some water in the bottom of the baking pan to keep the chicken moist in the oven.

Tips & Warnings

• Save all the cool spice jars you get when you buy spices, especially the ones with shaker and/or spoon out tops. Wash them and save for your own spice combos or for storing dried herbs that you've grown. I'll be adding an easy and inexpensive method for drying your home grown herbs soon!
• If your oil fizzes up a lot after adding your chicken or whatever you are cooking, it's time to change the oil.
• Use caution if you use the water drip method to test your oil... use a small bead of water off your fingertip and stand back. It should pop and sizzle nicely. If it explodes violently, turn down the heat and move the pan off the burner for a couple of minutes - being very thankful you didn't put a whole piece of chicken in there!

[cyclecyco]

on 6/30/2008 I'm doing this one too!