- 3 pounds of chicken (leg and thigh
quarters are fine)
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
(optional)
- 1/4 cup margarine (1/2 a stick)
First remove the skin from your chicken
pieces. Some folks leave the skin on, but I
prefer my chicken skinless. Then cut your
chicken into smaller pieces if need be.
If you are using leg quarters, 4 leg
quarters is about 3 pounds. Cut each at the
joint where the thigh meets the leg. Use a
small sharp knife, and feel for the joint
with your fingers. It takes a little
practice to find the joint, it is the place
where the thigh and leg wiggle together.
Once you find it the first time though, it
is very easy to find it again. Cut the thigh
and leg apart and set them aside until all
of them have been cut up.
In an empty bread bag, or in a shallow bowl,
combine the flour, salt, pepper, paprika and
the poultry seasoning if you are using it.
Mix it well with a fork to evenly distribute
the seasonings. Shake the chicken in the
seasoned flour, or coat it in the bowl. Lay
the coated chicken in a well oiled 9 by
13-inch rectangular baking pan.
After it is all coated and arranged in the
pan, count how many pieces of chicken you
have. If you used 4 leg quarters, you will
have 8 pieces of chicken. Cut the margarine
into the same number of pieces (if you have
9 pieces of chicken you will cut the
margarine into 9 pieces, 10 pieces of
chicken will require 10 bits of margarine
and on and on to infinity.) Use more
margarine if you need to. Lay a bit of
margarine on top of each chicken piece. This
is the secret for my oven fried chicken.
Each piece of chicken gets it's own bit of
margarine on top. Using this method the
chicken is always tender on the inside and
crispy on the outside. It works really well.
Now bake the chicken at 400° for about 45
minutes to an hour. Some people recommend
turning the chicken over after it is half
done baking. This is probably good advice,
but I don't usually remember to do it. So I
will leave the choice for turning the
chicken up to you. when it is nicely golden
brown it is done. This recipe serves 6. If
you are making chicken for a crowd, this
recipe is easily tripled or quadrupled. All
chicken thighs makes it easy on the cook
when you are cooking 30 to 40 pieces at
once.
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