Garlic Chicken with a Crunchy-Crisp Crust

I am always trying to find a crisp-coated chicken breast that is crunchy outside and juicy inside. You can boost the flavor and texture of boneless chicken breasts without adding calories or extra fat with savory marinades, crisp coatings, and high-heat roasting.

The beauty of this dish is the potato chips added to panko that have been crushed with a mallet or rolling pin. Try not to use the processor, you want texture. The potato chips add, not only flavor, but saltiness and if you buy the baked ones the fat even goes way down.

Garlic Chicken with a Potato Chip-Basil Crust
Adapted from Fine Cooking
Serves 6

For the marinade and chicken:
* 3 Tbs. olive oil
* 2 Tbs. minced garlic
* 1/2 tsp. cayenne
* 3 Tbs. Dijon-style mustard
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
* 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 6 oz. each)

For the coating:
* One 6-oz. bag baked potato chips, crushed
* 1 cup Panko crumbs
* 1/2 cup roughly chopped basil
* 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
* 2 Tbs. melted butter spread (like Smart Balance)

Directions:
For the marinade: In a nonreactive bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, cayenne, mustard, and basil. Rinse the chicken breasts, pat them dry, and add them to the marinade; turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours.

For the coating: In a large, shallow dish, mix the chips, crackers, basil, and pepper. Drizzle the melted butter over the crumb mixture and toss until well combined.

To coat and cook the chicken:

Heat the oven to 450°F and butter a baking sheet or rack.
Take a breast from the marinade with one hand--this is now your "wet" hand. Don't wipe off the marinade. Lay the chicken on the crumbs. Scoop and pat the crumbs over the breast using your other hand (your "dry" hand), patting until both sides are thoroughly coated. Put the breast on a buttered baking sheet or rack and repeat with the remaining breasts. Roast the chicken until it's crisp, browned, and cooked through, 25 to 30 min. Check after 15 min. If the chicken is getting too brown, reduce the heat to 400° and add 5 min. to the total cooking time.








I wanted to show you this spider and web that appeared at the end of the summer. I looked it up on the internet and it is a standard Orb garden spider, that builds their web in a garden. I have watched it for 2 months now and finally the weather destroyed the web and the spider never came back. They only live 12 months and do not winter over in a freezing area, which that is the zone I am in.

I was telling everyone I have live Halloween decorations with 2 black cats and a spider....lol