Mustard-Roasted Chicken

I love to thumb through cookbooks.  I have so many that it seems I never run out of cookbooks to read through and recipes to try out.  Now, whether or not I actually do more than flag the recipe for "another time" is the issue.  I have a tendency to "over-flag" cookbooks.  In fact, I think I have flagged more recipes than there are days in a year!  But when I saw this recipe and had chicken thawing in the refrigerator, I leaped!

I was reading through Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Foolproof when I found Crispy Mustard-Roasted Chicken.  She said it was easy and moist which sound good to me. We weren't disappointed. I can see myself making this again...love mustard...love white wine...love the crispness of panko....sounds as though it goes on the rotation!

Mustard-Roasted Chicken

adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Foolproof

Yield: 4 servings
Preheat Oven:  350° F.

4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup dry white wine
3-4 pounds skinless chicken (I used a mixture of breasts and thighs.)

Fit your food processor with a steel blade.  Place the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper into the processor bowl.  Process until the garlic is finely minced.  Add the panko, lemon zest, olive oil and melted butter.  Pulse a few times to moisten the breadcrumbs. Pour the mixture onto a large plate.  Whisk the mustard and white wine together in a shallow bowl.

Trim the chicken of excess fat.  Pat dry and generously sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Dip each piece of chicken in the mustard mixture to coat on all sides.  One side of each piece is then placed into the breadcrumb mixture, press down so that the crumbs adhere.  Place the chicken on the baking sheet, crumb-side up.   The chicken may then be topped with any remaining breadcrumbs.

Bake the chicken for 40 minutes.  Raise the heat to 400° F. and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes, until the crumbs are browned and the chicken is cooked through.

Serve the chicken hot, warm or at room temperature.

Note:  This is a great way to prepare chicken ahead for a backyard get together!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

This has been different for us.  Instead of enjoying the outdoors, traveling to the coast and enjoying the patio with friends, we have found ourselves in the construction zone, taking care of my mom's house, helping her adjust to her new surroundings or addressing medical issues.  I am anxious to get back into a blogging routine.

That said, we are looking forward to a great vacation.  We are leaving in two weeks for Spain and Portugal.  It is a cruise and there are other ports to explore also, but Barcelona and Lisbon have us especially excited!