Oven Baked Fried-Style Chicken

I've never really been into eating fast food like McDonalds and KFC. But I have on occasion reveled in the idea of easting a KFC twister wrap, and have indulged myself in buying one. The salad in it makes it okay, right? That's what I try to convince myself.
I'm sure it's not as unhealthy as some of the other options, but I'm also sure that chicken can't be great for you. I have no idea how they cook it however and maybe it is baked? (I highly doubt that given the name of the store, but lets give them the benefit of the doubt for a second.)
Anyway I found this great recipe for oven baked fried-style chicken, and just had to try it. I'm in love!
They are delicious portions of chicken breast covered in a layer of Dijon mustard mayonnaise, dipped in golden, crispy crumbed deliciousness on a par with KFC chicken, and healthier for certain! So if you want a recipe for KFC style chicken, this is it! I've altered it from the original recipe as I didn't have all the ingredients such as crushed bagels and melba toast--my version is very easy to make and quite irresistible. Can't wait to try it Twister-style in a wrap with some lettuce, tomato and peppered mayo!

OVEN BAKED FRIED-STYLE CHICKEN (adapted from Food Network)

1 1/3 cup crushed wheatbix
150g Shapes savory biscuits (I used pizza flavour, Chicken Drumstick biscuits worked great last time too)
1 tbsp. oil
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp dijon mustard
800g chicken breast cut into portions

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line and grease an oven tray and set aside. Place crushed wheatbix and savory biscuits in a food processor and blend until finely crushed and ground. Place this mixture in a  large plastic bag along with the oil, salt, pepper, and paprika. Mix until thoroughly combined.
In a shallow dish, place the mayonnaise and the mustard together. Stir to combine. Dip the cut strips of chicken breast into the mayonnaise mixture and thoroughly coat. Add these chicken pieces to the bag of cereal. Shake the bag until all the pieces are well covered in the dry mixture.
Lay the chicken pieces out on the greased and lined tray. Spray each piece evenly with oil and place the tray in the preheated oven. Bake until the chicken is cooked through and moist and tender, and the outer layer is crisp and golden (about 30-40 minutes depending on the size of the pieces of chicken.) This time will depend upon the size of your chicken portions, so keep a good eye on them after the 30 minute mark.

Bacon Rolled Sour Cream and Chive Chicken Bites

I'm pretty excited to add yet another savory to the blog this month. Is that a round of applause? I know, I know,  I am basically a "sweets maker", and I often don't even try my hand at it because my husband rocks in the kitchen with savories. But this month's Secret Recipe Club assignment popped up and directed me to New York City Eats and I fell in love. I feel I should apologise to Lacy from New York City Eats, because I used the idea of her recipe but just sort of winged it when I got into the kitchen. You know, when you forget to buy the specific ingredients, and have to substitute when you get to it? Well, I guess that's the true beauty of cooking, adapting a recipe due to pantry limitations, and arriving at something similar but with a twist. I have been wanting to try out a few different recipes that would serve as hors d'oeuvres for a party my husband and I will be holding in the coming months. So I made these babies in a few different sizes--some man-sized ones for my husband to taste test, and some smaller ones that would be a good size for party finger-food. Man, these morsels are delicious! And very easy to whip up. Lacy from New York City Eats used butterflied chicken tenderloins for this recipe, but I only had chicken breast. The local butcher sells the biggest chicken breasts around, two of them weigh over a kg! So as you can imagine they are rather fat, chunky things, so I had fun belting it flat with a rolling pin...one way to get out some frustration without hurting anyone! I mean, who doesn't have some sort of frustration in the kitchen?
 Speaking of frustration in the kitchen, Lacy I hold you responsible for an amusing incident that happened today! While photographing these delicious morsels, my daughter Vienna was close by on the floor. Yes, I have a lousy photographing system by the back door, its the only place in the house that gets good natural light. Well, here I was busily clicking away and I realised there was a funny panting sound coming from my baby. Before I knew it, there she was, hands reached out to those bacon wrapped, chive and sour creamed, balls of chicken-y goodness. She had crawled her way over! Mind you, there was a trail of drool along the way (saves me getting out the mop I suppose!) Did I mention she's not even 5 months? Now if that's not a good reference for these Chicken Chive and bacon rolls, I don't know what is!

 BACON ROLLED SOUR CREAM AND CHIVE CHICKEN BITES  (adapted from New York City Eats )

1 large chicken breast (about 500g)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp chopped chives
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
2 tsp. dried french onion soup powder
4 rashers of bacon (or a little more depending upon the desired size of each piece of chicken)

Cut the chicken breast in half horizontally to achieve two pieces of thinned chicken breast.  Lay each piece on a board and cover generously with plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, beat the chicken until thinned further, to a desired thickness. Cut into strips in any desired size.
Combine the sour cream, chives, garlic and onion powder together in a small bowl. Stir until well combined. Lather one side of each chicken strip with this sour cream mixture. Roll each from one end to the other to form a roll shape. Cut a piece of bacon the size to fit around each piece of chicken.
Lay on a lined tray and cook in the oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. To crisp up the chicken, place under the drill on high for a few minutes. Serve hot for optimum enjoyment!

NOTES: you can use cream cheese instead of sour cream and onion powder instead of french onion soup powder, if preferred.

Vienna Rose crawled to get a better look at the delicious morsels that were being photographed. She was only 4.5 months at the time! That's determination.