I'll Have Chicken. Baked, Not Fried.

While I have yet to master fried chicken, I quickly got down this oven-baked chicken strips recipe. It's easy, quick, and tasty.  The only mistake I made when making these for the first time was putting the strips on a regular baking sheet and leaving them alone until taking them out of the oven.  So most of the coating stuck to the pan, and what we were left with was just... plain chicken.  Most of the evening was spent scraping up and eating the "yummy crunchy bits" from the pan. The next time, I used a nonstick spray and made a couple other changes, and since then, I've used the recipe regularly.

What I did wrong/changed:
1)  Used a regular baking sheet without either a) flipping the chicken midway through baking, or b) using a nonstick spray or sheet.
2)  Used butter.  Admittedly, it does taste good, but ever since I've used about 1/2 c. olive oil because I think it doesn't overwhelm the taste of the spices as much.
3)  Used finely grated Parmesan cheese.  Again, it wasn't like this tasted bad. However, I think shredded cheese is better in this recipe.  The cheese, along with the bread crumbs, adds some crunch.

Because I use this recipe as a quick dinner, I usually use packaged Parmesan and buy chicken breast strips.  Because I recently started an herb garden, I did use fresh basil, thyme, and oregano here, but in this particular recipe, the taste isn't much different with dried.

1 cup of breadcrumbs is usually 2-3 slices.  I do cut the chicken strips in half just so that there will be more breadcrumb mixture on each bit.  

After preheating the oven to 400°F, I crumble the bread with my hands--make sure you have clean hands if you do this!--but if you want more evenly sized crumbs, you can use a food processor.  Then I mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan, thyme, basil, oregano, salt, garlic powder and red pepper* in a medium-size bowl, and put the olive oil in another, smaller bowl.

After dipping both sides of each strip lightly in the olive oil, I roll them in the bread crumb mixture and place them on a baking sheet (either nonstick, misted with nonstick cooking spray, or if neither, I flip them 10 minutes into baking).

Usually if there is more breadcrumb mixture left, 

I sprinkle a bit extra on top.

After much experimenting, I've found that in our oven, baking consistently takes 16-17 minutes.  If a meat thermometer reads about 155°F, take the chicken out and let it sit for a few more minutes until eating.  It should reach the required "doneness" (165°F) during that time.  Taking chicken out of the oven when it has already gotten to that temperature makes chicken tough and dry.

And it's ready to eat.  Some of the breading will inevitably stick to the pan no matter what.  Just use a spatula to enjoy the yummy crunchy bits :-).

**

DEEMS THIS RECIPE:

Much, much easier than pie.

*Because I have a peculiar affinity for mnemonic devices, I remember the herbs and spices like this:

True Blue Orangutans Smack Gorillas Roundly***, with the amounts decreasing, respectively, from 1 1/2 tsp, 1 1/2 tsp, 1 tsp, 1/2 tsp, 1/2 tsp, pinch (between 1/16 and 1/8 tsp).  

**Aren't these kitchen towels my mother-in-law made adorable?

***Well, I did say "peculiar."