This bread crumb chicken has become a favorite around here, both piping hot right out of the oven for dinner and cold straight from the fridge for lunch. I made a few changes to the original recipe to make it work better for me: I used fresh bread crumbs in place of panko and roasted at a slightly higher temperature for the entire time. After 40 minutes, the chicken emerges beautifully golden with a coating begging to be devoured. With just a gentle prod of the knife, the meat, steaming hot, falls off the bone, salty, herbed bread crumbs spilling all around. The chicken is incredibly moist, and the flavors of thyme, garlic and lemon permeate the meat. Heaven. PS: How to Cut up a Whole Chicken PPS: How to Roast a Chicken (and Make the Most of It)
How to Make Mustard-Roasted Chicken
First: make the seasoned bread crumbs by pulsing garlic, lemon zest, salt, pepper and thyme in a food processor. (I love my 14-cup Cuisinart) Add day-old bread, and pulse to combine. Meanwhile, soak chicken legs in a mix of buttermilk and mustard. Transfer the chicken legs to a parchment-lined sheet pan, and coat with the seasoned bread crumbs. Roast until the crumbs are evenly golden, and the chicken is cooked, roughly 40 minutes. Transfer chicken to a board to rest. Let rest briefly before cutting and serving. 4.6 from 22 reviews If you feel like getting ahead, you can marinate the chicken in the mustard and buttermilk overnight or for a few hours; if you don’t have time, don’t worry. I made this for my in-laws without marinating the chicken at all, and they raved. If you marinate the chicken, too, the buttermilk definitely acts as a tenderizer. You can use any combination of bone-in, skin-on thighs or drumsticks. I love using thighs with this recipe. A few changes from the original recipe: You can find the original recipe online in various places, but these are the basic changes I’ve made: fresh bread crumbs versus panko; 4 tablespoons olive oil versus 2 tablespoons olive oil + 2 tablespoons butter; buttermilk versus white wine (because the buttermilk is thicker than wine, I find the breadcrumbs stick to it better); 4 thighs and 4 drumsticks versus 1 chicken cut into 8 pieces; oven temp at 400ºF the entire time. If you are up for a little adventure… … this is what I suggest: Buy two chickens. Cut them up (video guidance here). Use the 4 thighs and 4 drumsticks here. Remove the breasts from the bones and make these tarragon chicken breasts on a subsequent evening. With the wings, necks, backbones, and breast bones, make stock. After two hours of gentle simmering, pull the meat from the stock bones, and make a simple chicken salad: mayonnaise + relish + a squeeze of lemon. Return the bones to the pot and gently simmer for another hour.
