Oven-Fried Chicken

I've always shied away from making fried chicken mainly because I could never tell if the chicken was done or if the chicken was properly marinated and seasoned. But after watching Ina Garten make her oven-fried chicken on TV, I decided it to give it a try—with my twist, of course! Her recipe only calls for a lot of kosher salt and ground black pepper, however I found that by adding additional seasonings, the chicken is extra flavourful. So if you feel like making awesome comfort food for your family tonight, give this a try.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

• 8 pieces of chicken, such as bone-in-breasts, thighs, and drumsticks
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, divided
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 tablespoon McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)
• ½ teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt
• Vegetable oil or vegetable shortening

DIRECTIONS

Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and pour the buttermilk over them, and 1/2 tablespoon of kosher salt and 1/2 tablespoon of ground black pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, ½ tablespoon salt, ½ tablespoon pepper, one tablespoon McCormick Montreal Seasoning, ½ teaspoon garlic powder and ½ teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt in a large bowl and mix well. Take the chicken out of the buttermilk and coat each piece thoroughly with the flour mixture. Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed stockpot to a depth of 1-inch and heat to 360 degrees F on a thermometer.

Working in batches, carefully place several pieces of chicken in the oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side until the coating is a light golden brown (it will continue to brown in the oven). Don't crowd the pieces.

Remove the chicken from the oil and place each piece on a metal baking rack set on a sheet pan. Allow the oil to return to 360 degrees F before frying the next batch. When all the chicken is fried, bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Serve hot.