Oven "fried" chicken

My friend, Ashley, came over to make dinner last night! Once in a while we get together, pitch in for ingredients, and cook something delicious... and make lady drinks. Lady Drink ["lay-dee dree-nk"] -noun- a girly cocktail, typically including a clear liquor, a very fruity component, and fizzy finish. Of course, also includes a ridiculous garnish such as a twist of orange zest.
Last night it was lemon drops and white wine spritzers. :)

Anyways, Ashley brought over chicken drumsticks, and the only application I could really think of was fried chicken. Well, if you guys have caught on.. I don't do fried. It's not that I don't enjoy eating crispy, amazing, nom nom delicious fried food- it's that I prefer to remain pleasantly curvy rather than unfortunately spherical.

I remembered hearing about a baked fried chicken recipe, so I turned to one of my favorite food blogs, Simply Recipes, to find a baked fried chicken recipe.  
For a sidedish, I remembered my rockstar designer friend, Tory, telling me about her discovery of fennel. I'd never made fennel before, so I decided to give it a whirl. Here it goes! 

Baked "fried" Chicken
(modified from Simply Recipes)
You'll need:
1/4 c Mayo
1/4 c dijon mustard
1 tsp Siracha
1/2 tsp dried dill
3/4 C dried breadcrumbs
1 clove garlic finely chopped
3 tbs finely chopped green onion
6 chicken drumbsticks

Sauteed Fennel
You'll need
1 large bulb of fennel (about 1-2 cups, chopped)
olive oil
1 tsp butter
1/2 tsp dried dill

For the chicken, preheat the oven to 450º mix the mayo, mustard, siracha, and dried dill together. In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, green onion, garlic, salt, and pepper together. Take each drumstick,  dip it into the mustard mixture, and then roll it in the bread crumbs.  Place the drumsticks onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Bake them for 20-25 minutes, until they are delicious and amazing!

Next, for the fennel, simply chop, and sautee in a pan (I used my enameled cast iron pot) with olive oil, butter, dill, salt and pepper. Simple enough, right?

Ashley brought a cucumber salad that was amazing (I promise to tell you the recipe as soon as I get it!) Dinner was delicious... and as I sit her sincerely regretting the lady drinks, I wish you a happy Saturday!



Foodie foodie!