Crunchy Baked Chicken Recipe, Just as Good as Fried

Fried chicken is greasy and unhealthy, this Baked Chicken recipe gives you all the crunch of breaded fried chicken with none of the grease.

Chicken PiecesI buy bulk drumsticks, or thighs individually frozen in bags at Wal Mart, both work well for this recipe. You can take only what you need out of the freezer and reseal the bag for next time.

Crushed Corn Chex or Corn FlakesStore brand, the cheapest you can find.Place a cup or so, depending how many pieces of chicken your going to cook, in a 1 gallon zip lock bag. Close the bag and use a rolling pin to crush the cereal to small granular bits.

About a tbls spoon of salt and a little less pepper, put in the sip lock bag with the cereal.1-eggMixed well in a bowl, if your doing more then about 4 pieces of chicken you may need a second egg.

Remove the skin from the thawed chicken pieces, dredge in the bowl with egg then one piece at a time send it into the zip lock bag for a tumble in the cereal bits. Place the piece on a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 to 1-1/2 hours. A little longer will assure the meat is tender and well done. Extra time will only make the coating crispier, be sure your chicken is well cooked.

A hint to conserve energy, I use a teflone coated baking sheet in a toaster oven to cook 4-5 pieces. It's enough for my wife and I and usually there is a piece or two left over for later.

Now head on over to Survival Cooking and get some more good recipes and ideas about cooking when the budget is tight.

By Curtis Carper

Baked Chicken Slices And Kidney Bean Soup

Baked Chicken Slices

cup of mayonnaise or salad dressing

1 cups of buttermilk baking mix

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (8 ounces)

1 egg

cup of sliced green onions or scallions (with tops)

1 can of mushroom stems and pieces (4 ounces), drained

1 cup of cut-up cooked chicken

teaspoon of salt

pound loaf of French bread, cut lengthwise into halves, or 6 slices of bread

Dash of pepper

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix egg, baking mix and mayonnaise. Stir in remaining ingredients except French bread or plain bread. Spread about 1? cups of the mixture evenly on cut sides of French bread, or spread about ? cup of the mixture on each slice of plain bread. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet until golden brown and puffy for about 10 to 15 minutes. Cut each half of French bread crosswise into thirds. Serve immediately.

To Make Baked Frankfurter Slices: Substitute process cheese spread for the Cheddar cheese. Omit the green onions, cut-up cooked chicken, mushrooms and salt. Stir in 4 frankfurters, cut into ?-inch slices, ? cup of sweet pickle relish and 1 tablespoon of prepared mustard into mayonnaise mixture.

To Make Baked Chilli Slices: Substitute Monterey Jack cheese for the Cheddar cheese. Omit the green onions or scallions, cut-up cooked chicken, mushrooms and salt. Stir in 1 tablespoon of chilli powder, 1 can (4 ounces) of chopped green chillies, drained; ? cup of chopped onion and 1 medium tomato, chopped (about 1 cup) into the mayonnaise mixture.

To Make Baked Tuna Slices: Omit the green onions or scallions, salt, cut-up cooked chicken and mushrooms. Stir in 1 can (6? ounces) of tuna, drained, ? cup of sliced celery, ? cup of chopped onion and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice into the mayonnaise mixture.

To Make Baked Vegetable Slices: Substitute Swiss cheese for the Cheddar cheese. Omit the green onions or scallions, cut-up cooked chicken and mushrooms. Stir in cup of alfalfa sprouts, 1 medium tomato, chopped (about 1 cup) and ? medium cucumber, coarsely chopped; into mayonnaise mixture.

Kidney Bean Soup

4 ounces of dried kidney beans (? cup)

3 cups of water

teaspoon of salt

1 ham bone or 1 pound ham shank or smoked pork hocks or smoked turkey necks

1 small bay leaf

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, sliced (about ? cup)

? teaspoon of crushed dried chilli pepper

1 medium onion, chopped (about ? cup)

1 medium stalk of celery, chopped

3 lemon slices, cut into halves

3 hard-cooked eggs, finely chopped

2 tablespoons of chopped red onions

Heat water and beans to boiling in Dutch oven. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour.

Add ham bone or ham shank or smoked pork hock or smoked turkey necks to beans. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer until beans are tender, about 2 hours (do not boil or beans will burst). Stir in bay leaf, salt, garlic, celery, chilli pepper, ? cup of onion and carrots. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Remove ham bone or ham shank or smoked pork hock or smoked turkey necks and bay leaf. (Place soup in blender container. Cover and blend until uniform consistency, if desired.) Trim meat from the bone and stir into the soup. Serve with eggs, red onion and lemon slices.

By Michael Russell