Grandma Pat’s Oven-Fried Cornflake Chicken {Naptime Entertaining}

At Applemania last October Nicole served homemade fried chicken for a picnic dinner. It was the perfect dish to serve a crowd on a mid-fall evening. I don’t make fried food very often, but I was thinking about that meal the other day and it put me in the mood for a homemade crispy chicken bucket. We weren’t entertaining, though this recipe is excellent for serving a crowd, but I didn’t let that stop me from making it the centerpiece of our Sunday night feast. One of my favorite things about it is the chicken is baked at a high temperature giving it a crispy “just fried” texture without any actual deep frying. While deep frying is, of course, delicious, I don’t love how unhealthy it is, not to mention that smell that lingers in my kitchen for days afterward.

There is a chance that my preference for oven frying is genetic. This recipe is from the written notebook of recipes my grandmother wrote for my father when he was in medical school. It is simple and straightforward, it is kind of like a homemade shake-n-bake, and perfect for home cooks. Every time I make it I marvel at how this simple technique yields moist chicken with delicious tangy undertones and a perfectly crispy crust. When I eat it I like to imagine my grandmother making big batches of it to entertain friends in the backyard.

Last Sunday I made this while my husband and daughter were out for a late afternoon walk. I dipped the chicken, coated it in crushed cornflakes and popped it in the oven to crisp up. With a side of her favorite “potato circles” (simple roasted potato slices), and a salad packed with tomatoes, avocado, and cucumbers it made a wonderful warm dinner at home. It even, dare I say it, inspired me to start planning the first picnic of the summer.