Nothing says summertime like a meal with fried chicken, especially when it's accompanied by summer salads and fresh corn. As delicious as fried chicken is, it’s the frying in oil that is the tricky part. Cooking with hot oil requires careful attention and once the cooking is finished the oil has to be drained then safely stored and ultimately disposed of so baking the “fried” chicken in the oven is definitely an easier option. What is my solution? Of course "frying" the chicken in the convection oven.

In this recipe this chicken soaks in a spicy buttermilk brine for 6 hours or overnight, it is then dredged in flour and set aside to rest before being baked. The buttermilk brine gives the chicken great flavor and spraying the chicken with some spray oil just before it goes into the oven helps with the crisping the batter.

INGREDIENTS

8 bone-in chicken pieces

2 cups buttermilk

3 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

3 tsp dry mustard powder

3 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp garlic herb seasoning

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

Avocado spray oil

PREPARATION

Combine the buttermilk with the seasoning and stir well, add the chicken and turn so that each piece is evenly coated with the buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or up to a day.

Combine the flour and baking powder in a shallow bowl and dredge each chicken piece in the mixture.  Shake off the excess and place the chicken on a rack in a shallow oven pan and set aside to rest before baking.

Heat the oven in the Convection Bake mode to 400 degrees.

Spray the chicken pieces with the avocado oil spray and slide the tray into the oven.  Bake for 35 - 40 minutes until the outside is crisp.

Serves 4