Saturday, January 24, 2015

Crispy Mustard-Roasted Chicken



 

My coworker, Susana, gave me a fantastic cookbook for Christmas that I’m so excited about!  (She had only known me a few weeks at that point, so it was so thoughtful of her).  It’s called Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust by Ina Garten. 

I finally got the chance to try out one of the recipes – Crispy Mustard-Roasted Chicken – and it was one of the best chicken dishes I’ve made.  It was really simple to throw together, but it does take about an hour to bake, so make sure you have enough time. 

I halved the amount of chicken, but wish I didn’t because I would have loved leftovers!  I accidentally made enough of the breadcrumb mixture for the full recipe, so I saved half of it to use another time soon.  It was crispy like fried chicken, but so much more flavorful and not as greasy.  This is going to be one of my go-to recipes from now on. 

Crispy Mustard-Roasted Chicken (from Barefoot Contessa Foolproof)

Ingredients:
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 T minced fresh thyme leaves
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 cups panko bread crumbs
  • 1 T grated lemon zest
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 T unsalted butter, melted
  • ½ cup honey Dijon mustard
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 4 pounds chicken (we used thighs, but you can use whatever parts you like best)
 

Directions:
1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  

2. Place the garlic, thyme, 2 t salt, and 1 t pepper in a food processor and mix until the garlic is finely minced.   

3.  Add the panko, lemon zest, olive oil, and butter and pulse a few times to moisten the bread crumbs.  Pour the mixture onto a plate.
 

4. Whisk together the mustard and wine in a shallow bowl.   

5.  Pat the chicken dry with paper towels.  Generously sprinkle with salt and pepper.   
 

6.  Dip each piece in the mustard mixture to coat all sides.  Then, place just the skin-side down into the breadcrumb mixture, pressing gently to adhere the crumbs. 

7.  Place chicken on a greased pan crumb-side up.  Press the remaining crumbs on the chicken pieces. 

8.  Bake for 40 minutes, then raise the temperature to 400 degrees and bake for another 10, or until the crumbs are browned and the chicken is thoroughly cooked through. (Even though I greased the pan, I still had to let it soak for a bit afterwards...but it cleaned up just fine.)
 

We served ours with a simple spinach salad with strawberries, cucumbers, provolone cheese, and Olive Garden dressing. 
 

You could prepare the chicken in advance if you’d like – just refrigerate after dipping in the mustard and crumb mixtures, then bake when you’re ready. 

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