I love some crispy, delicious fried chicken, but the process to cook it at home and the lingering fried food smell is enough to prevent me from doing it very often. This crispy chicken recipe (an Ina Garten) is a much easier substitute, and though it doesn’t result in crispy chicken skin you can eat (my fave), it’s still quite delicious. You get great flavor and a little tang from the white wine/dijon mustard combo, and I’m a huge fan of panko vs. traditional bread crumbs (crunchier, lighter). I served this with some mashed potatoes and green beans with pine nuts.

TW’s Tips

• Make this for a dinner party and you can get it ready to pop in the oven and work, so you can take care of the sides/have a drink and socialize.
• Make sure you do a good job of patting the chicken dry before you start the breading/coating process, so everything sticks sufficiently.
• Serve with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables in cooler weather, or pasta salad/green salad or grilled veggies in the summer.

Enjoy!

Crispy Mustard-Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups panko (Japanese bread flakes)
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup Dijon mustard, such as Grey Poupon
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) chicken, cut in eighths

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the garlic, thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until the garlic is finely minced. Add the panko, lemon zest, olive oil, and butter and pulse a few times to moisten the bread flakes. Pour the mixture onto a large plate. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the mustard and wine.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Sprinkle generously all over with salt and pepper. Dip each piece in the mustard mixture to coat on all sides, and then place skin-side down only into the crumb mixture, pressing gently to make the crumbs adhere. Place the chicken on a sheet pan crumb-side up. Press the remaining crumbs on the chicken pieces.

Bake the chicken for 40 minutes. Raise the heat to 400 degrees F and bake for another 10 minutes, until the crumbs are browned and the chicken is cooked through. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.