Oven "Fried" Chicken and Collard Greens

A crunchy, juicy oven-fried chicken thigh. 

I was surprised at how fantastically this recipe turned out--I've made fried chicken before (for a chicken-and-waffles party) but never baked "fried" chicken. I invented the recipe, basically just doing everything the same as I would for fired chicken but subbing baking for frying.
It was GREAT. The outside was crunchy and salty, the inside juicy and perfect. Plus, the recipe is really easy and far less messy than frying chicken on the stove.
To go with, I made collard greens--a delicious, super easy side that braises for the hour when the chicken's baking.

Oven "Fried" Chicken

Ingredients
6 chicken thighs (or a whole cut-up chicken). Make sure it's on the bone, with skin.
1 cup lowfat cultured buttermilk
5 cloves of garlic
juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
2 teaspoons of cajun seasoning (or just salt and pepper if you don't have it)
2 cups Panko bread crumbs
a little bit of olive oil for greasing the pan

What to do
Combine the buttermilk, garlic, lemon juice, paprika and cajun seasoning (or salt and pepper) in the blender. Blitz it up to combine.
Place the chicken thighs in a bowl and cover them with the buttermilk mixture. Allow to marinate for at least 20 minutes, or up to overnight.

Marinating chicken

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a baking pan or cookie sheet.
Pour the breadcrumbs into a bowl. Dredge each chicken thigh in the breadcrumbs, covering completely.
Place skin-side up on the greased baking sheet. I like to tuck the skin underneath, forming a little roll.

Before

Bake at 375 for about an hour--until skin looks golden brown and feels crisp when you poke it.

After

I like my fried chicken drizzled with hot sauce and honey.

Collard Greens

Ingredients 
2 bags of cut, cleaned collard greens (available by the bags of salad in all grocery stores)

I buy pre-cut bags like this 

4 strips of bacon

1 red onion, diced 

water

salt

1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar 

1/8 cup packed brown sugar

What to do 
Dice the bacon and add it to the bottom of a large pot with a lid. Fry the bacon until crispy. Add the diced onion and cook for a couple minutes in the bacon fat.
Add the greens and stir, coating the greens in the bacon fat. Cover the pot--the greens will reduce considerably.
Add about a quarter cup of water, a dash of salt, the vinegar and the sugar. Mix everything together.
Cover the pot and turn the heat to low. Cook gently for an hour.
Before serving, taste for salt and acid--add more salt / vinegar / sugar as needed.

Chicken and collard greens, with some leftover spicy corn relish. 

Enjoy!