Mom's Oven "Fried" Chicken

Monday night my brother came over for dinner and I made him one of our favorite meals- oven "fried" chicken.  This is a dish that my mom would make for Sunday dinners, birthdays and other special occasions.  There really isn't anything fancy about the dish, the recipe is actually incredibly simple, but the chicken always tastes great and reminds me of home.  Plus a major bonus is that the chicken isn't actually fried and therefore is much better for you!

My mom typically uses Chex or Corn Flakes as the crunchy coating for the chicken.  I didn't have either so I used panko bread crumbs that I had recently purchased.  The panko worked just as well and provided the same crunchy consistency that I was hoping for.  She usually uses a egg wash prior to coating the chicken with Chex- again I didn't have eggs (not very prepared apparently) so I made a marinade of a little Dijon mustard and honey.  Either way works and I have noted instructions for both below.

I served the chicken with basic mashed potatoes and sauteed green beans.  I have to admit that I need to work on my timing on everything, the potatoes may have been a lukewarm by the time the chicken was ready but that's nothing that the microwave couldn't fix :)

Mom's Oven "Fried" Chicken

Serves 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 45min-1 hour depending on oven temperature and size of chicken breasts

4 chicken breasts, boneless and skin removed
2 cups panko (chex or corn flakes work too)
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
6 T. flour
1 egg, beaten with 2 T. water (or mix 2 T. Dijon mustard and 1 T. honey)
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
2 tsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375.  On a large dinner plate mix panko, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper; set aside.  In bowl, mix 1 egg with 2 T. water; set aside.  Put 6 T. flour on another large dinner plate.  Set up assembly line of flour, egg mixture (or mustard/honey mixture) and then bread crumbs.  Take chicken breast, coat in flour mixture, dip in egg, and then roll chicken in bread crumbs; repeat with the remaining chicken.  Place chicken breasts in a glass baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Drizzle 2 tsp of melted butter over the chicken.  Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until chicken is no longer pink.