Snack foods give chicken crunch
Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jan 7, 2009 by J.M. Hirsch Associated Press
If you want crunchy breaded chicken, you need to start with crunchy ingredients.
That’s one of the problems with most baked “fried” chicken recipes. They coat the chicken with flour- or bread crumb-based coatings that rely on you to make them crispy.
Substituting a coating that starts life crispy long before it ever meets up with the chicken removes that element of chance.
For salty, savory goodness, this recipe uses crushed potato chips and pretzels, but any combination of similar ingredients would work. For example, for a Mexican chicken, you could use tortilla chips.
While a food processor is best for turning the chips and pretzels into crumbs, tossing them into a plastic bag and whacking them with a rolling pin or skillet works, too. But the crumbs must be fine; large ones don’t adhere well.
This recipe keeps the seasonings in the coating mostly neutral, but it’s easy to improvise. Grated Parmesan cheese would be good, as would any number of spices, such as oregano, paprika, even curry powder.
Or experiment with flavors by using varieties of potato chips with different seasonings. Ranch or salt and vinegar chips would be particularly tasty.
Creating a white pan sauce for the chicken is easy, but you could easily skip that step of the recipe and serve the chicken however you prefer.
POTATO CHIP AND PRETZEL BAKED CHICKEN
Start to finish: 30 minutes
Servings: 6
2 ounces plain potato chips
2 ounces thin pretzel sticks
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 eggs
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/4 pounds chicken breasts
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sweet white wine (such as Riesling)
Pinch saffron threads
1 teaspoon dry parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
Heat the oven to 450 F.
In a food processor, combine the potato chips, pretzels and red pepper flakes, then pulse until they are reduced to very fine crumbs. Transfer the mixture to a wide, shallow bowl and set aside.
In a second wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs and soy sauce. Set aside.
Carefully slice each chicken breast in half horizontally to create 2 thin fillets.
One at a time, place the chicken breasts in the egg mixture, turning to coat both sides. Dredge each fillet through the chip and pretzel mixture, turning to coat both sides.
In a large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high, heat the oil until very hot. Add the chicken breasts and cook until browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Turn the breasts, then place the skillet in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the oven and transfer to a serving plate. Cover with foil to keep warm.
Return the skillet to the stovetop over medium-high heat
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