Crispy Un-Fried Chicken

Crispy Un-fried Chicken

During WWII, Chicken consumption increased.  All meats were rationed, including poultry. Many people decided to grow chickens themselves for food and eggs.  Since fats were necessary for making soap and glycerine used in bomb making, deep frying was somewhat frowned upon.  A delicious alternative was baked chicken.  

Wasting any morsel of food was a serious NO-NO during WWII. Mrs. Housewife was expected to use every bit and piece of foodstuffs to feed her family, and make available food for our fighting troops and the allies. If anyone had stale or leftover bread pieces, a great way to preserve them for future use was to dry the bread bits, usually in a low oven (or off, but for the pilot light), and then grate it with a box grater.  Dry bread crumbs could be stored for a very long time with no worry of mold. 

What is great about this recipe is that it uses very little added fat, and the fat that is used can be ANY fat; butter, shortening, bacon, lard, etc.  It all works well. This is significant because, since fats were rationed, butter and shortening were hard to come by, so most women would render fat from their meats, strain and store the fats for future use. 

Crispy Un-fried Chicken

Crispy Un-Fried Chicken

425°F  45 - 60 Min

• 1 Chicken - Dressed and cut up
• 1/4-1/3 C Fat, melted (Margarine, Butter, Shortening, Bacon Fat, etc.)
• 11/4t +/- Seasoned Salt (to taste)
  or 1t+/- Salt, 1/2t Onion Powder, 1/4t Garlic Powder, 1/4t Pepper 1/4t Paprika 
• 1 1/2 C Coarsely Grated Dried Bread Crumbs

Preheat Oven to 425°. Grease liberally with fat or oil a cookie sheet.  Set Aside. In a large mixing bowl, pour melted fat. Put chicken in bowl and mix chicken until well coated with melted fat. In a pie plate or flat fluted dish, mix bread crumbs and seasoning. Roll chicken in crumb mixture and place on cookie sheet, fleshy sides up. Bake until thickest piece is 170°F. Remove from oven and let stand 5-10 min before serving.