Instant Chicken - A Delicious Dinner!

I was shopping last week and ran across a product I hadn't seen in my grocery store before. It might have been there and I just missed it, or maybe it's relatively new. Either way, it looked good:
PERDUE OVEN READY ROASTER


Perfect for a quick dinner, was my thought. Just add some baked potatoes and a salad, and I'd be ready to go.

The chicken comes pre-seasoned and packed in a nifty oven bag. All you have to do is place the bagged chicken in an open roasting pan, and cut a 1" slit on the top. Done, ready to cook! Here is how the oven bag looks:



The chicken smelled wonderful while it was baking, and tasted absolutely delicious! My 3 at-home sons declared it a success and all of them commented on how moist and well seasoned the chicken was. We ate about half of it the first night and then boned what was left and had plenty to make chicken quesadillas for dinner the second night.

Here is the chicken hot out of the oven:



The chicken wasn't cheap; I think I paid $11.95 for it at my local store. But we fed five people dinner for two nights, so in the end, that's only $6 per dinner for the meat entree, and that is a good price indeed. And you can't beat the easy prep and clean up!

Quick & Tasty Chicken for 2

This is a great go to recipe for any night. Most people have chicken in their fridge or freezer. A quick and safe thawing method is to place the frozen item in a sink of cold water for 30 minutes. Then check it. If it's not thawed change the water and do another 30 minutes. By then most normal cuts of meat will be thawed.

Plan for 1 hour of marinate time for this recipe, it's worth it though.

You need:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (pounded to 1/3" thickness)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp Lowry's Season Salt
2 cups vegetable oil

To pound the chicken there are many ways, a meat mallet, a meat pounding weight, or even a skillet will do the trick. I put the meat in a zip top bag and put that on a stable surface. Sometimes that surface is the tile floor. Then I pound it to the thickness I need.

If you don't have buttermilk on hand, and most people don't, then don't worry. Most recipes only call for small amounts and the smallest amount you can buy typically is 1 quart. I don't know about you but I don't need 1 quart of buttermilk. An easy remedy is to make your own. I use either milk, half and half or cream and to 1 cup you add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Let it sit on the counter or 5 minutes and viola, buttermilk.

Marinate the chicken after pounding in the buttermilk in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Drain the chicken of all excess buttermilk and dredge in the breadcrumbs and season salt mixture.

In a skillet on high heat bring 1/2" vegetable oil to 350 degrees and fry for 4 minutes each side.

If you prefer to bake this recipe you can do that at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until 180 degrees internal temperature.

Variation on this recipe sent to me by Nina after posting:

You can use chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts, about 3 per person. These would bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or more depending on the size of your chicken tenders.

And you can substitute crushed corn flakes for the seasoned bread crumbs.

I bet you can think of other substitutions too :-)