If I were to write the 10 Commandments of Home Cooking for sure one of the items on the list would be this: Thou Shalt Always Have a Leftover Chicken Leg in the Fridge.
Because when you’re hungry, tired, and not in the mood to cook, nothing will satisfy quite like a delicious chicken leg, coated in crunchy, tangy breadcrumbs.
Case in point: I came home from work late last night and it tunrs out I was the only one who hadn’t eaten dinner yet– Grandma had fed the kids, Tim had afterwork appetizers with an old work friend, so I was fending for myself.
The night before I had made a batch of what I think is one of the most perfect chicken recipes…
As some long time readers may recall from a previous post, the recipe is from Gourmet and is called deviled chicken drumsticks. The recipe is not only super easy but although the legs taste almost as good as fried they’re actually baked (so no pot of oil to clean up). I’ve made these succulent drumsticks for everything from potlucks to a Central Park picnic and now I think I’ve made the recipe even better…
Along with the coating of panko crumbs I’ve added crushed, toasted pecans.
The nutty crunch makes these even more interesting, and compliments the already delicious coating of panko, melted butter, parmesan and cayenne.
So for dinner I had the last leftover leg and a sandwich with one of the first Jersey tomatoes of the season, sliced super thin and layered on toasted Pepperidge Farm white bread with mayo, salt, and pepper.
Is there a better weekday summer solo meal? I don’t think so.
So here’s the recipe for the chicken legs:
Deviled Chicken with Pecan Panko Crust
*Preheat the oven to 450.
You will need 8 large chicken legs, patted dry.
-Coat them all in about 1/3 cup of dijon mustard (I’ve used whole grain and regular and both have worked well), rubbing it on by hand.
-In a shallow bowl toss together 1 cup of panko crumbs; 1/2 a cup of crushed, toasted pecans; 1/2 cup of grated parmesan, and a dash of cayenne pepper.
-Melt 3 tablespoons of butter and add stir it into the crumbs.
-Press the legs one at a time into the crumb mixture, rolling them around so they’re fully coated. Place on a buttered baking pan large enough to hold all the legs comfortably. Continue breading the remaining legs.
-Place pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
-These are delightful hot out of the oven or chilled and eaten the next day at a picnic or for leftovers.
*I like the crumb topping so much I scrape the crusty melty bits from the pan and eat them with my fingers.
