I’ve been super busy the last few weeks with several tasks around our house.  I was pushing to finish the previous semester, and then we started a reno to our bathroom at the start of May; the only full-sized bathroom in our house, I might add.  So my mind has been somewhat occupied for the last little while, which lead to the break from my articles for a couple of issues.  But, rest assured, as soon as our bathroom is finished, I’m back at it in full swing.

This week I decided I’d try my hand at a breaded chicken recipe.  I was searching for something quick to eat one night, and it happened to be a day when our bathroom work was light, and I could concentrate on getting something done.  I had some thawing chicken thighs in the fridge, and I was looking for breadcrumbs but only found some saltine crackers.  I threw them into my food processor and chopped them into the consistency of breadcrumbs.  I decided on the crackers thinking that crackers are crunchy and make an excellent coating.  Next, I added some spices, heated up my oven, then got a frying pan with half an inch of oil in it.  I set up a dredging station and browned the chicken coating.  Once browned, I finished them in the oven and removed them at 175F.  A five-minute rest later, they were done!

I hope you enjoy making this recipe, and I hope I’m done with my reno soon!

Crispy Parm Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:

12 chicken thighs
30 unsalted saltine crackers – ground to crumbs
½ Kosher salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp mustard powder
2 TBSP powdered parmesan cheese (use ¼ cup if you have real parmesan)
4 eggs
1 cup flour

Directions:

• Heat your oven to 425F.
• Get a large frying pan out, fill it with a ½” of canola oil, and heat the burner over medium-high heat.
• Add the breadcrumbs, spices, and parmesan to a medium mixing bowl.
• Break the eggs into another medium mixing bowl.
• Add the flour to a third mixing bowl.
• Dredge the thighs in the flour, then the eggs, then the breadcrumbs.
• Place the thighs, one at a time, into the frying pan and brown on the top and bottom.
• Once brown, remove the chicken to a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper helps the chicken not stick to the baking sheet.
• Bake in the oven until an internal temperature of 175F (this might take about 20 minutes depending on your oven, but I highly recommend a digital probe thermometer.
• Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving!
• Enjoy!