This recipe has turned into my go-to recipe for fried chicken, even though it is not fried chicken but it satisfies my urge for it - another comfort food. I was getting my taste buds all ready for real Southern fried chicken next month when we have our annual Masters Weekend which involves eating Southern food all weekend. But now that has been cancelled like everything else because of the Coronavirus. I'm so sad. It's still hard to believe it has come to this. Our state closed restaurants and bars five days ago (except for take-out food) and then most everything else followed like beauty parlors, my physical therapy and massage clinic, a lot of retail stores and malls. There really isn't any reason to go out anymore. We are just waiting for our state to give the order to stay at home, like California, Illinois, Connecticut, and New York which means only going out to the grocery store, when necessary. (Officially, it means all "nonessential" workers stay home.) We've already been doing that or what I call "shelter in place" that is a term during catastrophes. Apparently, our governor says we're doing a good job of it so he doesn't have to order it. He can tell because traffic is down 60%! It's a great time to go out because no crowds or traffic but there is nothing to do since everything is closed! Our city is a ghost town and it's surreal. It makes me sad seeing pictures of the Pike Place Market deserted, downtown streets empty, and the Space Needle dark. We are all suppose to act like we are carriers of the coronavirus and to stay at home so we don't spread it to compromised people. Nobody wants to become like Italy where there is no more room for ICU patients and no more ventilators. They basically have to choose who to treat because of the best chance of survival and who to turn away to die. That is pretty unheard of in our country. We are on track of pretty unheard of things happening around here.
So far, I have not been bored at home in the least. In fact, I like staying home. I have so many "projects" that never get done and I like reading. I do my exercises in the morning while I watch CBS Morning News and in the evening, I'm currently watching "Anne with an E" on Netflix. I've had so many people tell me how good that series is so I finally started watching it and I love it just like everyone else. On Tuesday, we had the most wonderful St. Patrick's Day dinner with our usual Corned Beef and Cabbage and Irish Soda Bread.
We're not really eating big meals since we're not going to the grocery store that much, so this meal was like a feast! We just inhaled it, it was so good! That's one thing about "sheltering in place". You really enjoy a good meal when you get one. Lauren came over and we had our usual celebration, minus other family members since we're still practicing "social distancing".
We haven't stopped seeing Lauren, yet. She's working from home so she's not highly exposed but I don't want to "distance" myself from her, too. We haven't gone that far. I want to be able to share our food with her but I guess it might come to us setting some containers of leftovers out on the front porch and letting her pick it up. Again, so sad. I hate this coronavirus!
I served this Crispy Mustard Chicken with Salad Greens when Lauren came over for dinner last week and I asked her what she felt like eating. She said salad. She has always loved salads. When she was little, her most favorite meal was Caesar salad. I'd use Romain lettuce, green onions (I know they aren't in real Caesar salad but my kids liked them in their salad), shredded Parmesan cheese, Pepperidge Farm croutons and Johnny's Caesar salad dressing - bam! My kids loved this and we ate it a lot. Other parents thought it was so weird that my kids loved Caesar salad but they did. So, when she said she wanted salad for dinner, I remembered that I took this recipe over to a friend's house in January who was recovering from a knee injury (I can relate). It was the first time I'd made it and it passed the taste test.
It's similar to the Nicoise salad that I've made before and Lauren also made it for us over Thanksgiving when Bruce's sister was visiting. It's also an excellent recipe.
It's similar because the salad part is not the main attraction, if you know what I mean. There are potatoes and lots of protein in both salads. It may seem weird to put potatoes in green salad but trust me, it works.
When you serve the salad, you get a great protein source, in this case the most delicious "fried" chicken; you get a starch being the roasted potatoes and you get salad with finger-licking salad dressing drizzled over all of it.
You'll want to lick your plate when you're done. I've also used this recipe for plain chicken without the salad. It's great to have this chicken sitting in the refrigerator leftover. I think it would be great to take on a picnic this summer.
As usual, I got this recipe from Ina Garten from her cookbook, Cook Like a Pro. She uses a bitter green called Frisee or Chicory but I don't like bitter greens so I substituted salad greens. Basically, you can use whatever you like for your salad. Now, I don't expect you to run out to the store and buy all these ingredients to make this recipe because of all the Coronavirus restrictions but just keep this tucked away somewhere for when you need some easy "fried" chicken for your comfort food enjoyment.
Serves 4
2 garlic cloves
1-1/2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup panko (Japanese bread flakes)
1-1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
olive oil
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup dry white wine
1-1/2 pounds bone-in, skin on chicken thighs (4 large)
1 pound fingerling potatoes or other small potatoes, halved lengthwise
12 ounces salad greens
mustard vinaigrette (recipe follows)
Mustard Vinaigrette
Makes 3/4 cup
1/4 cup minced shallots
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the shallots, vinegar, olive oil, mustard, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a small bowl and whisk until emulsified.
1. Preheat oven to 375 degree F.
2. Place the garlic, thyme, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until the garlic is finely minced.
3. Add the panko, lemon zest, 1 Tbsp. olive oil and the butter and pulse a few times to moisten the panko.
5. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Dip each piece first in the mustard mixture to coat the top and bottom, then coat the skin side only with the crumb mixture, pressing gently to make the crumbs adhere.
6. Place the chicken on one side of a sheet pan, crumb side up and press any remaining crumbs onto the chicken.
7. Place the potatoes, 1 Tbsp. olive oil, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a bowl and toss. Spread the potatoes on the other side of the sheet pan in one layer and roast both together for 40-50 minutes, turning the potatoes once during roasting, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. The chicken and the potatoes should be done at the same time.
8. Meanwhile, place the greens on a serving platter. When the chicken and potatoes are done, toss the salad with enough vinaigrette to moisten and place the chicken and potatoes on top, adding any crumbs from the sheet pan.
9. Sprinkle with salt and serve while chicken and potatoes are still warm.
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