Southern Oven-Fried Chicken

(Repost) I recently purchased the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook, 1950 edition off eBay. This cookbook is just like the one my mother had when I was a child and I suppose it's been gone for years or still packed away in some obscure place. Anyway, when I saw one like it on eBay....I had to have it! It's really in remarkably good shape to be so old and has no missing pages! And the extra part is, the lady (assuming it was a lady) who owned the book had taken much care to tuck in recipes from Better Homes and Gardens magazines dating back to 1944. These recipe pages were designed to be cut out and placed in a ring-binder cookbook. Each recipe has a little note that tells you which tab to file the recipe under. This recipe is for Southern Oven Fried Chicken and dated September, 1955. I made it for our Sunday lunch and it was really good! Even the grandchildren ate it......now, I don't know about yours, but our grandchildren are a bit of picky eaters.....except for the little one and bless his heart, he will eat anything))) He's only three and he just accepts anything you offer. He'll spit it out if he doesn't like it, but by gosh....he'll try it! The other two, 8 and 10 year old......if you ask them to try something new they act as if you've said you were going to cut off an ear or something! But they liked this))) And for some unknown reason, they like my baked macaroni and cheese! Now, I know MOST kids all love macaroni and cheese, but they actually like the homemade kind better than Kraft in a box....go figure...So at least now we have a meat and casserole they will eat, now if we could just camouflage broccoli or something....

Southern Oven-Fried Chicken

"Couldn't be easier - no browning - no turning! And delicious!"

1 4-ounce package potato chips (two cups crushed)

1/4 Tsp garlic salt

Dash Pepper

1 2 1/2 to 3 pound ready to cook frying chicken, disjointed

1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

Combine crushed chips and seasonings. Dip chicken in melted butter; roll in chip mixture. Place pieces, skin side up, so they do not touch in greased shallow pan or jelly-roll pan. Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) 1 hour, or till tender (do not turn). Makes 4 servings.

Mrs. Robert Regg, Jr., Hendersonville, Tennessee

The chicken was very tender, crisp on the outside and overall very good. The things I did different in this recipe were only to add more crushed potato chips and more butter. I had more chicken that the recipe called for I'm sure. Our best friends ate lunch with us too and the first thing my friend said was "did you cut up this chicken???" No, I didn't cut up a whole chicken or "disjoint" one as the recipe called for....but I've done it plenty of times! It's one of the "good ole day" things that I don't plan to do again unless I have to do it just to prove myself to someone))) And, I use parchment paper on my pans....no stick and makes clean up a snap.

Four ounces of potato chips would hardly have covered a leg and breast of this chicken. But honestly, what is it with today's chickens! They are SO large. The split breasts I had were huge! I had to cut them in half to make quarter breast! And the legs were hefty too! I don't know what's in the breeder's chicken feed nowadays, maybe they're getting growth hormone.....it's just not right.....I'd hate to meet one of the chickens in a dark alley!

I was saying to my friend at the dinner table about this looking and tasting like real fried chicken, but since it was baked....so much healthier.......we just looked at each other and laughed.......I had forgotten about the potato chips and butter.......oh well. We do live in the South and you know we can fry anything when given the opportunity!

The baked macaroni and cheese recipe came from the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Typically the macaroni and cheese I make uses boiled macaroni. The I make a mixture of butter, milk, flour and a little cheese. Shred cheddar cheese and stir it into the macaroni and then pour the mixture over it, and bake in the oven. This recipe specifically did not include the step of making your liquid mixture. I was skeptical about this one, but thought I'd give it a try.

Pioneer Macaroni and Cheese (a Betty Crocker Key recipe)

"The simplest kind of dish."

Place in alternating layers in a buttered 12 x 7 1/2 x 2" baking dish

Boiled macaroni (8 oz uncooked)

Dots of butter (2 Tbsp in all)

1 1/4 cup cut-up sharp cheese (1/2" cubes - 1/3" lb)

Salt (3/4 tsp in all)

Pepper (1/4 tsp in all)

2 cups milk

Sprinkle with Paprika

Bake until golden brown on top. Serve hot from baking dish.....garnished, if desired, with parsley sprigs, pimiento strips, pepper rings, etc.

Temperature; 350 degrees (mod oven)

Time: Bake 40 min

Amount: 6 to 8 servings

What I did different: Well, as you can see, I didn't cube my cheese.....I just cut it up and dropped it in. I also didn't let it get quite as brown as I would have liked, but it was done and I was pressed by time....so next time I'll wait until it gets a little browner. It was a nice consistency even without the flour. I was pleasantly surprised! And the cheese even tasted sharper. I think this may also have been because of no flour.

I most definitely will change my way of fixing macaroni and cheese to this method.....it's quicker and the finished result is tastier! There is a version to this key recipe that calls for cooked tomatoes....can't wait to try it.