Monday, March 3, 2014

mustard-dipped oven "fried" chicken

I'd say "happy Monday," but I'm not sure such a thing exists.
So, lets just dive right in.

How was your weekend?

Mine was pretty darn amazing if I'm being honest!
One of my bridesmaids hosted an engagement party for us at her house, and it was nothing short of amazing.
I mean above and beyond, times ten.


You can't really read the sign in this photo, but we decided on the hashtag #destefanieverafter for the wedding.
No one warns you how hard it is to come up with a good wedding hashtag!
But if you want to see what's new with our wedding, you can search that on Instagram and have at it.
Or click here to see more photos from the engagement party.

I'll spare you a photo recap here since we have that nifty link above, but I will share one thing.
My MOH, Kayla, taped the speech Joe gave, and it's just to sweet not to share.


Thanks again for the amazing party, friends.  We love you all!

Jumping back about a week, I made something to tell you about last weekend and never got a chance to write about it.
Do you ever get a craving that's so intense that literally nothing else sounds good?
Last weekend I had that issue with fried chicken.
Which is so weird, because I hardly ever eat fried chicken.
But out of nowhere on Sunday night, I could not stop thinking about it.

As you know, fried chicken is not so great for a person on a diet.
That's part of the reason it tastes so good, I suppose.
It's not supposed to be healthy.
It's just fried deliciousness that you have to embrace if you're going to eat it.
And I'm all for indulging when the time is right.

Last Sunday was not that time though.
After a weekend of indulgence, I was ready to get back in the kitchen and make something a bit lighter to get us back on track for the week.

So what's a girl to do when she wants to be healthy, but she's also dying for a piece of fried chicken?

Embrace the oven and bake it, that's what.

recipe adapted via
Things you'll need:

2-3 thinly sliced chicken cutlets
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup dijon mustard
2 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a cooling rack on top of it.
Lightly spray cooling rack with cooking spray.
In a dish {I used a flat tupperware bowl}, mix together breadcrumbs, Parmesan, cayenne pepper, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and one tablespoon olive oil.
Feel free to add a little more olive oil if you don't feel like one tablespoon was enough.
I added an extra little splash for good measure.

In a separate bowl, use a fork to gently whisk together dijon mustard, two tablespoons of olive oil, water, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

One piece at a time, coat the chicken in the mustard mixture, and then dredge through the breadcrumb mixture.
Bake for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, flip the chicken and bake for an additional 10 minutes {to give both sides a chance to crisp up}.

Serve with your veggie of choice and enjoy!

This chicken was so so good, I can't say enough good things.
I had never heard of using a mustard coating before, so I was a little nervous about that part {Joe's not a huge fan of mustard}.
But, in this recipe, it makes ALL the difference.
We both loved the flavor it gave to the chicken, and it also kept it extremely moist and juicy.
That, paired with the little bit of heat I added with the cayenne, made for quite a yummy dinner if I do say so myself.

And, because this chicken is baked instead of fried, you can feel a little less guilty about eating more than one piece {because if it's available, you will...trust me}.

Do you have any tricks for oven-fried {or regular fried} chicken?
The mustard mixture blew my mind, so now I'm curious as to what else I can dip it in!

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