Carmela's Crunchy Baked Chicken

Alrighty, then… glad to see you liked the lasagne recipes.

Lasagne is also great to add a bit of heft to the Christmas and New Year's Eve menus.

When Ma had the gang over, she served lasagne as a second course, after the soup.

That made the turkey go further and left a bit of the bird for the following week.

Now let's go on to the second post I did comparing Carmela Soprano's and Ma's recipes.

I made Carmela's Crunchy Baked Chicken from Entertaining with The Sopranos.

It was probably the only time I preferred Carmela's recipe to Ma's.

As I had explained in 2010…

I loved my Ma's fried chicken. To eat, not to make. When I made it, grease flew all over me and the kitchen. And when I served it, well, some parts were burned and some parts were raw. Ma's fried chicken was a fond memory, never to be recreated by me.

Baking... No problem.  No muss.  No fuss.  No burned.  No raw.

This is different from Carmela's Baked Chicken with Potatoes, Lemon and Oregano.

Which is also good, come to think of it.

Hints:

Carmela uses bread crumbs homemade from Italian bread.

Just so you know.

She also bought a whole chicken and cut it into 8 pieces and then skinned them.

Yeah, I know, tell me another one.

Ma made her crunchy chicken with Parmesan cheese.

So could you, if you prefer it.

She also would have bought parts and left the skin on.

The chicken is being dipped in oily bread crumbs.

This isn't totally a calorie counter's dream recipe.

Serve the chicken with a salad and figure you're even.

Carmela didn't mention lining the baking sheet with foil, but Ma would do that.

And so would I.

                        Crunchy Baked Chicken

Serves 4

In a shallow dish beat together

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon water

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

On a piece of wax paper combine

2 Cups plain dry bread crumbs

1/2 Cup grated Romano cheese

Drizzle with

1/4 Cup olive oil

Stir until blended.

Place out a few racks (the ones you use to cool cookies).

Line a large baking pan with foil and oil the surface.

Dip in the egg mixture

3 1/2 pounds chicken pieces, skinned

Then roll the chicken pieces in the crumb mixture, patting so the crumbs stick.

Be sure to cover all surfaces.

Place the chicken on the rack to let the coating dry 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400º

Place the chicken pieces in a single layer on the baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Using tongs, gently and very carefully turn the pieces.

Bake for another 20 minutes.

The chicken should be browned and cooked through.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

As this recipe is easier, I won't post Ma's recipe for Fried Chicken.

If you have a knack for frying, you know what to do.

I admit it - I definitely don't.