Walnut Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken

If you've been reading along routinely, you know that I'm trying to work my way through a recent purchase of a massive quantity of chicken tenders, obtained basically off the back of a truck in the hopes that I could learn how to make the perfect 'boneless wing'.  Well it turns out that frying chicken for every meal isn't very healthy, so I have been thinking about alternative, healthier methods to fill the gaps between random bouts of "fry everything", which often end both deliciously and with chest pains.

Consider instead this oven-fried chicken, soaked in buttermilk, breaded lightly with an amazing and fragrant assortment of herbs, nuts, and other crunchy bits, and then baked rather than fried but with fantastic results.  I would by no means call this a compromise from a fried chicken finger, but I wouldn't even put it in the same category.  These are so good that I hate even putting any of my traditional chicken finger condiments on them, although a nice honey mustard might complement them fairly well.  So thank you, Cooking Light, for helping me stay alive just a little bit longer.

Oven-frying is an excellent, healthy alternative to deep frying

Walnut and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken
Cooking Light, June 2010

• 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 4 (6-ounce) chicken cutlets
• 1/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• Rosemary leaves (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°.

Combine buttermilk and mustard in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk.  Add chicken to buttermilk mixture, turning to coat.

Get your breading ingredients together

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat.  Add panko to pan; cook 3 minutes or until golden, stirring frequently.  Combine panko, nuts, and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a shallow dish.  Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture; discard buttermilk mixture.  Dredge chicken in panko mixture.

Toast your bread crumbs briefly in a dry skillet

Toss this mixture together and bring the chicken nearby

Toss tenders to coat, then place on a baking rack set over a sheet pan.

Arrange a wire rack on a large baking sheet; coat rack with cooking spray.  Arrange chicken on rack; coat chicken with cooking spray.  Bake at 425° for 13 minutes or until chicken is done.  Garnish with rosemary leaves, if desired.

Serve plain, with sweet chili sauce, or with a honey mustard sauce