Healthier Southern Fried Chicken

What could be more American than a big bucket of fried chicken!!!! So to celebrate the 4th of July tomorrow I decided to make some southern fried chicken for dinner to celebrate the occasion.

While I admit these fried chicken pieces are not something you should eat everyday, I have significantly reduced the calorie content of the chicken by baking the chicken rather than deep frying. Even though the chicken is healthier they are still finger licking good, and with a slaw accompaniment; in the words of Ina Garten, what's not to like???!!!

This recipe is based on 14 drumsticks. Here was I thinking that we will have the leftovers on our picnic to Dingle tomorrow, no such luck as my ravenous husband ate every last one of them. Oh well that's what they were there for!

Ingredients

• Chicken drumsticks x 14
• 8 tbsp of wholegrain flour
• 2 tbsp of sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp of white pepper
• 1 tsp of salt
• 2 tbsp of paprika
• 4 tbsp of oil 
• 250 ml of butter milk

Method

1. Marinade the chicken in the buttermilk, either overnight, or for at least 4 hours. This really tenderises the meat.
2. In a large plastic sandwich bag, add the flour, seeds, pepper, salt and paprika and ,mix well.
3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
4. Take the chicken pieces out of the buttermilk, shake off the excess and place in the flour mixture bag. 
5. Seal and shake the bag well ensuring all chicken pieces are coated.
6. Remove the chicken from the bag, shake a little to remove the excess coating and place on a plate ready to give them a gentle fry before baking in the oven.
7. Put the oil in a non stick frying pan and heat to a high heat, then quickly fry the chicken until lightly browned.
8. Place the browned chicken in a single layer on a baking dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, turning once or twice. The chicken should be a beautiful bronze colour when fulled cooked.
9. Serve with a generous side of slaw and lots of napkins.

Happy 4th of July