You Don't Have To Be Jewish: Oven-Fried Chicken

    Even when all we knew about fat was that it was fattening, Americans struggled to imitate the inimitable: the taste of fried food. The food technologists have given us baked tortilla chips, baked potato chips, and fast-food fries that are, at least, cooked in unsaturated vegetable oil instead of suet, lard or hydrogenated shortening, but I've always credited my Great-Aunt Pauline from Baltimore with the first attempts at "oven-fried" chicken. At one time, I would have sworn she was the inspiration for Shake 'N Bake.

    Then I started to do some research. Of course, my aunt, whose grandchildren weren't born until the 1950s, was inspired at that time by magazine stories galore about how to "fry" chicken in the oven. There was the buttermilk method, the sour cream method, the Rice Krispie and Corn Flake crumb versions (obviously opportunistic recipes created by Kellogg), and a slew of recipes using breadcrumbs (homemade and store-bought) with various flavorings. Almost always, however, as in Aunt Pauline's recipe, fat was poured over the coated chicken pieces before they were put in the oven. Naturally, given that and the fact that the fatty chicken skin was left on the meat, these recipes didn't save as much fat as they saved the cook the trouble of having to stand by the stove tending fried chicken, then having to clean up the spattery mess.

    To this day, recipe developers are still trying to come up with the ideal low-fat "oven-fried" chicken. In "Roasting," by Kathy Gunst (MacMillan), a 3 1/2-pound chicken cut into eight pieces is marinated in 1 1/2 cups of (no fat or low fat) buttermilk for four to 48 hours, then dredged in 3 cups of coarse, fresh breadcrumbs seasoned with salt, pepper, 3 tablespoons of fresh rosemary (1 tablespoon dried) and 1/2 cup chopped fresh chives or parsley. The coated chicken is then baked at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. For a crisper breading, Gunst says to slide the chicken under the broiler for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. And although Gunst doesn't suggest it, for an even lower-fat product, remove the chicken skin before marinating and breading the pieces.

    Another method for "oven-fried" chicken is in another book, "Lighter, Quicker, Better" by Richard Sax and Marie Simmons (Morrow). It is called " 'Un-Fried' Fried Chicken" and it's a streamlined version of the old sour cream method. In this case, you drain non-fat yogurt to make a thin yogurt cheese, spread it on 8 skinless chicken pieces, then dredge them in 2 cups of soft breadcrumbs seasoned with 1/4 teaspoon paprika and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne. The chicken parts are then chilled in the refrigerator for 30 minutes -- to set the breading -- drizzled with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and baked in a 400-degree oven for 60 to 70 minutes.

    Following is (more or less) my Aunt Pauline's recipe as outlined by Michael Stern, food columnist (with his wife, Jane) for Gourmet magazine, whose mother also made the dish in the '50s. "Of course," writes Stern, "it is no replacement for chicken pan-fried in lard; but it is easy, delicious in its own right, and it is fun."

    My Aunt Pauline was kosher, so she didn't use butter with chicken. She either dotted hers with margarine or drizzled it with vegetable oil. Stern contributed this to "365 Ways to Cook Chicken" by Cheryl Sedaker (HarperCollins), which, by the way, has several other baked "fried" chicken recipes.

    Preheat oven to 350-degrees

    Mix together eggs and milk in a shallow dish. Mix corn flake crumbs, salt, and pepper in a separate dish.

     Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture, then dredge in crumbs to coat evenly.

    Arrange chicken pieces in a greased 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking dish. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake uncovered for 1 hour.