Baked Fried Chicken and Caramel-y Carrots

The Story:

I wanted me some fried chicken.  But I baked it.



The Recipe:

Better Than Kentucky Fried Chicken (from my cousin-one-removed-in-law[?], Carolyn)
1 cup cracker crumbs (I used Club)                       
2 cups Rice Krispies                          
2 teaspoons salt                                                        
1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin                                 
dash cayenne pepper
stick butter, melted
3 lbs. chicken thighs
Mix crumbs, Krispies, and seasonings. (I poured everything into an 8"x8" dish and crushed it together with the back of a large spoon. Incidentally, if you want to be near your husband while doing the crushing, ask him to come into the kitchen, because taking the crumbs into the living room to sit with him while he watches "G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra" can result in spillage of crumbs and seasonings. Just a thought.)

Dip chicken in butter, then in crumbs, coating thoroughly.

Place chicken pieces close together in pan (I used a 2-quart glass dish) and bake at 350° F for 1 hour, or until tender (do yourself a favor and use a meat thermometer).

Glazed Carrots (another family recipe)
1 or 1 1/2 cups carrots
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it before, but I don't usually measure while cooking, so I don't know how many carrots I use, but the recipe says a cup plus or minus a half cup.  I use fresh baby carrots, so I have to boil them about twenty minutes or so and then drain them before glazing.  If you use canned carrots, you can probably omit the pre-cooking.

Melt butter in saucepan over medium-low heat.  Stir in brown sugar until dissolved (I usually put the carrots in while it is still grainy). Add carrots and cook about 12 minutes or until tender-firm.


Rhodes Rolls
Buy a package from the freezer section.  Let them rise.  Bake according to instructions on bag.

(I'm not very good at bread, so I excuse myself here.) (Plus, Rhodes Rolls are tantamount to perfection in bread.)

The Verdict:

Soooo good!  This chicken really is better than KFC.  The carrots are not super healthy, but they get devoured every time I make them, even by my husband who would usually just rather not when it comes to vegetables.  When I've made the chicken before, I ran out of butter but had way too many crumbs, and this time I had more butter left, but just the perfect amount of crumbs. 

In the end we had enough chicken left to make lunch for each of us to take to work. Score!