Oven Fried Chicken

Oven fried chicken is one of the easiest, most delicious chicken meals you can make. Most people love chicken, and few can resist the crispy, crunchy batter. Because chicken is so popular, oven fried chicken is not only a comfort food for the family, but it's also the perfect food for entertaining and for meals-on-wheels-those moments when life whisks you away for an impromptu picnic at the zoo or a day at the beach with friends.

Recipe For Oven Fried Chicken
Ingredients You Will Need:
¼ cup melted butter
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 3-pound broiler chicken, cut into pieces
1 cup crushed potato chips or corn flakes

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and then add the salt, pepper, paprika and garlic. When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat. Wait about 1 minute before brushing the chicken on both sides with melted butter.

Crush the potato chips or corn flakes by sprinkling them onto a cookie sheet and rolling a rolling pin over them. Another good way to do this is to put the corn flakes or chips into a plastic bag and then use the rolling pin or the bottom of a glass to crush them. Crackers or breadcrumbs work well as a coating, too. Just remember that crackers and potato chips have a lot of salt, and on the opposite side of the spectrum breadcrumbs can be a little bland. For best results, don't salt the chicken if you use crackers or potato chips and, if you're using breadcrumbs, use seasoned breadcrumbs. Corn flakes can also be a little bland, but they produce a wonderful crunch that's hard to beat. Just add a little more salt, perhaps Lawry's seasoned salt.

Dump the crushed corn flakes or potato chips into a shallow baking dish, and then roll each buttered piece of chicken-one at a time-in the mixture, making sure each piece is thoroughly coated. Place the coated chicken in a shallow pan or cookie sheet, and pop it into the oven for about 1 hour. This dish serves 4 and is delicious.

Hint: If you're looking for a little more pizza with your meal, try using Doritos, barbecued potato chips or some other type of seasoned cracker. The only real issue is the salt. If you're using a particularly salty potato chip, unsalted butter will provide a less salty dish. For zestier chicken, dip the chicken in butter, and then sprinkle it with breadcrumbs that have been sprinkled with one packet of Hidden Valley Ranch.

Complete Oven Baked Meal
Be smart-take advantage of the oven and make a double batch so you'll have enough for lunch the next day. For a perfectly created oven meal, serve baked potatoes and baked squash with this dish. To bake the squash, simply wash it, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, add a tablespoon of butter, sprinkle it with salt and pepper and then wrap it in foil. But when making the potatoes, don't wrap them. Wrapped potatoes actually steam in their jackets. To make really great baked potatoes, scrub the potatoes, brush them with olive oil, sprinkle them with sea salt and then place them into a shallow pan to bake. Check for doneness with a fork.