Buttermilk Oven Fried Chicken

I'm not really what you would call a southern girl. For one, I live in the north and for two, I don't like country music. (sorry people) What I do like is southern cooking. ALOT. 

I order fried chicken every chance I get. And I know it is terrible for you and full of salt...which is why I love it...but who can resist that crunchy outer skin and warm juicy inside?! I believe that a little treat in moderation is acceptable in my books. 

Now I have tried to make fried chicken a couple of ways in the past. But after being to Tennessee last year and tasting the real thing, and after studying my cookbook by Southern Girl and Master Chef Winner Whitney Miller (check her out, the cookbook is great, and she is adorable: http://whitneymillermc.blogspot.com/) I knew that I had to try it the true southern way to get it right.

The type of chicken I had was drumsticks, but you can use thighs or breasts...use what you have! If you can, get this meal prepped a day or a few hours ahead, marinating the chicken makes it wonderful!

Ingredients: (these are not exact, because no one's palate is the same!)

Your choice of chicken, I left the skin on, but you don't have to.

1 carton of buttermilk

Garlic powder

Dried thyme

2 Bay leaves

Paprika

Salt

Pepper

Flour

Bread Crumbs (I used plain but use what you have)

non stick cooking spray

In a large bowl I placed the chicken drumsticks and poured in enough buttermilk to cover them. Then I sprinkled a bit of garlic powder, thyme, paprika, salt and pepper and placed the two bay leaves in the mixture.  Use as much or as little as you like of the seasoning, you can even add some hot sauce if you like things a little spicy. I think if I were to measure I would have put in about 1-2 teaspoons of each ingredient. I then mixed the mixture together to combine and placed it covered in the fridge overnight. 

The next day when I was ready to make dinner I took the chicken out of the fridge and created the breading in a shallow dish. Don't forget to turn the oven on to 400 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with a cooling rack inside or if you don't have one, line it with tin foil. I combined 1/2 cup of flour and a 1/2 cup of bread crumbs with some paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I then mixed the ingredients to combine them. 

 I then took the drumsticks out one by one, let the excess buttermilk mixture drip off before I added it to the breading mixture. I tossed each drumstick in the dish to make sure it was coated well. I then transferred each to the prepared baking sheet. See below:

I sprayed each of the drumsticks with non stick cooking spray, which helps to make the skin nice and crispy without having to fry the chicken in lots of hot oil. I then placed them in the oven for 20 minutes, then turned them and let them cook for another 20 minutes. Watch them near the end to make sure that they don't over cook, but a golden brown skin is good!

In the meantime I prepared a light salad, mashed potatoes, garlic green beans and corn. Feel free to add sides of your choice!

And this my friends is the finished product. I fed it to my sister and husband and received rave reviews. Because the dish is only marinated in the buttermilk, sprayed lightly with oil and oven baked, its actually lower in fat and calories than your average fried chicken dish. 

Yummy!!