Thursday, July 3, 2014

Unfried Chicken

Tomorrow is Independence Day...on 4th of July, and as far as I'm concerned fried, or grilled chicken cannot be left out. In my case, as much as I would love to get the gas grill going of my family's grill...it's 'not happening'...since I'll be elsewhere, enjoying my celebration with friends, while my daughter and family are still vacationing in Italy.
Chicken is a huge favorite of mine, and the entire family's...can't get tired of it since there are so many ways of preparing it. Frying the chicken is not an option these days for health reasons, so unfried, is the best way for 'fried' chicken lovers. Instead of breadcrumbs, or Panko, I used crushed corn flakes to pat on the chicken.  I got the inspiration from Bobby Deen, Paula Deen's son. Check out his recipe for the...
 Unfried Chicken
Instead of buttermilk, I used Ranch dressing from a bottle, to dip the chicken into, NO Egg whites needed, and I crushed the cornflakes to a finer grade, using a large zip-lock baggie, and just used the heel of my hand to crush it. Also added 1 cup of flour right in the bag, and added the chicken pieces right into the bag. Make sure you tap the crust so it adheres well.

Most importantly, I replaced the boneless chicken thighs like the recipe mentions, and got with the skin, and bone in. A lot cheaper with bone and skin on. I removed the skin, of course. Baked it for additional 10 minutes in the Le Creuset cast iron glazed skillet. I only baked 4 pieces, and will make an additional for the next day, or freeze it!
We have been getting rain, every day...for the month of June...I mean, heavy, heavy downpour! Also there's a Hurricane watch, which may come our way. Watching through the window on the front of the house...there's a cute papaya tree in the middle which is only less than a year old, and it has lots of papaya's...still green, but I saved a large papaya to ripen. We get sunshine every morning until about 2:00PM, then it gets cloudy and the rain starts for over one hour, sometime longer! Cools things down a little, but everything stays so green!

26 comments:

~ Nee ~ said...

Good evening Elisabeth,
Saw Un-fried chicken pop up ... decided to hope over to see what's going on , I giggle when I saw the chicken , dear you know I thought it was raw chicken . Love this version and will try it this weekend , we also love chicken . Love the view out the window everything so green and pretty . Thanks for sharing :)

Joyful said...

It's so nice to get sunshine for most of the day and then rain to cool everything down and keep it nice and fresh! I do like all the luscious greenery and living in a rain forest area myself I know how much rain it takes to keep things nice and green. Your unfried chicken looks yummy and I'm sure you will enjoy your celebration with friends. Happy 4th of July to you.

~~louise~~ said...

Hi Elisabeth!
I was pleasantly surprised to see your title, Unfried Chicken, while I was just taking a break from a post I'm preparing for Sunday, which just happens to be National Fried Chicken Day!!! Seriously a 4th of July weekend celebration without fried or in this case unfried chicken would be abdominal (well mabe not that drastic:)

It is pouring out "as we speak." We aren't threatened by the storm as many others are. We're actually expecting a nice 4th tomorrow, forecast wise:)

Your chicken sounds yummy and a whole lot healthier than the fried chicken I made for Sunday's post. I may just need to link to yours in order to offer an option. I love the notion of the ranch dressing. I soaked mine in buttermilk and yogurt.

Have a safe and FUN 4th, Elisabeth and thank you so much for sharing...

Patty Magyar said...

I am going to try this chicken...it looks delicious. Take care!

wanna said...

Szuper ez a csirke, igazán guszta. Szép időt és ünnepet kívánok!

Elisabeth Pregadio said...

Hi Nee, that is sooo funny about the Un-fried version; it really does sound that it would be raw...except that it's baked, and just as juicy, and crispy. Although, I have trouble turning down a good deep fried chicken!

Elisabeth Pregadio said...

Do make this, Patty...you're gonna love it!

Elisabeth Pregadio said...

Hi Louise, if it's National Fried Chicken Day on Sunday...by all means I'm going to make fried chicken, the old fashioned way, for sure! In the meantime I am enjoying the unfried version, rolled into the crispy-crunchy corn flakes!
Ranch dressing makes meats taste so much better. I discovered this on my own, or seeing it on some magazine ad!
Have a Happy 4th, dear friend!

Laurie M said...

everything is so lush and green, that sounds rreally good, I will try this recipe for sure, have a great 4th of July!

Phong Hong said...

Hi Elisabeth! It's 4th July over here today, so Happy Independence Day! I have always wanted to try an "unfried" "fried chicken" and that's why I came over right away when I saw your chicken on my sidebar. I just recovered from food poisoning and any kind of food doesn't interest me right now but I know that I simply have to bookmark your Unfried Chicken right away for later!

Mary Callan said...

Crunchy, juicy and delicious! raining like crazy here too!
Mary

scrambledhenfruit said...

I would love to have some of that rain! Storms have been all around us, but my poor garden spot is so dry! That chicken looks so crunchy, it's hard to believe it's not fried. It looks delicious! :)

Angie Schneider said...

Unfried, yet very crisp. Love the idea of using ranch dressing as the marinade and cornflakes as coating is a genius, Elisabeth.
Have a happy and relaxing 4th July!
Angie

Man Ridwan said...

Happy 4th july, the chicken looks crispy outside and moist inside,crushed cornflakes sound really good on this unfried chicken,looks so tasty, have agreat day :)

kitchen flavours said...

Hi Elisabeth
Happy 4th July! The unfried chicken looks yummy! A healthy version without all the extra oil, just fabulous! I do love fried chicken, baking them is a wonderful alternative.
We are having a dry weather right now, and could so with some rain!
Your papaya tree is looking great!

Kati said...

Drága Elisabeth, rég jártam nálad, olyan kevés időm volt mostanában a blogokra. Nagyon jól néz ki ez a csirke, biztos finom volt. Te jól vagy, minden rendben? Millió puszi, Kati

Amelia said...

Hi my dear Elisabeth, Happy 4th July, The unfried chicken look very delightful. I love the crust. :)) Yours look very well done.. guess I might need at least 2 pieces. Thanks for sharing with us.
That's a lovely garden.

Have a wonderful weekend, regards. With love and hugs to you.

Daiana Molineris said...

Ciao tesoro!!!!<3
This chiken is wonderful,delicious..:PP
Big kisses,happy week end :-***

Daiana

Böbe said...

Drága Elisabeth, végre ide értem hozzád!:)) Kevés időm volt mostanában.A csirke szuper, nagyon finom lehet! Remélem jól vagy! Sok puszi, Böbe

Liz Berg said...

Hope you're enjoying the holiday weekend, Lizzie! And that Arthur didn't wreak too much havoc in your area. Your chicken sounds divine...my mom used to fry it with corn flake crumbs and I remember how tasty that was! A good skinny tip for me...bake instead of fry! Thanks!!!! xo

Elisabeth Pregadio said...

Lizzy, Arthur just created tons, of heavy rains, and more rain every single day. No serious damage here, just keeps things very vibrant green!
Hope your holiday weekend is going well! xo

Gloria said...

Hi Elisabeth ,Your unfried chicken looks finger licking good..I'm drooling over this yummy pic..

Michael Toa said...

I hope you had a happy 4th of July day with the family! The unfried chicken looks really good. I love the idea of coating it with ranch dressing instead of the usual buttermilk. Definitely going to apply that method next time. Have a wonderful weekend Elisabeth!

~~louise~~ said...

Happy National Freid Chicken Day, Elisabeth! I just added your link to my post. Thank YOU!!!

lena said...

hi elisabeth, hope you had a wonderful celebration. Like you too, me and my family always have chicken and especially on special occasions or new year, chicken is something that cant be missed. The chicken certainly looks very appealing to me and I like the added cornflakes that gives the extra crunch to it!

Elisabeth Pregadio said...

Thank you everyone, for your sweet comments. I do appreciate you stopping by to say 'hi' and let me know of your opinion! xo