RECIPE: Crispy Oven Chicken

Crispy Oven Chicken has been a family favorite since Meelyn was a kindergartener - this was what she requested for dinner on her first day of school 'way back a long time ago when she was only five and I was STILL thirty-five. Oh, wait...I'm thirty-nine now. Kind of. Never mind.

Anyway, Crispy Oven Chicken is easy to make and very delicious and goes with just about any side dish you'd care to serve with it - it leaves enough room in the oven that you can bake a broccoli casserole or roast some potatoes right alongside it and everything can come out at the exact same time, ready for the table. It has all the crispy goodness of pan-fried chicken without the guilt. Deeelicious!

Crispy Oven Chicken

Ingredients:

5 or 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (soaked in buttermilk to tenderize for two or three hours, if you prefer)
1 stick of butter, melted and poured into a shallow pan (I use an 8x8 baking dish)
5 cups crispy rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies)
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper (use 1/4 teaspoon if you prefer a less spicy coating)

Directions:

Pour rice, flour and seasonings into a 1-gallon sized plastic bag; crunch up cereal. Remove chicken breasts from buttermilk. Dredge meat in the butter and then place, piece by piece, into the bag of rice cereal; toss to coat. Place coated chicken breast in a 9x13 baking dish; repeat until all chicken breasts are coated. Press any remaining topping onto chicken breasts and drizzle the meat with any remaining butter. Bake at 350 degrees for about forty minutes or until juice run clear when thickest chicken breast is pierced in the middle with a fork.

Leftovers are very yummy when sliced up or cut into chunks and made into sandwiches for the next day's lunch.