Oven ‘fried’ buttermilk chicken with corn and greens
The highlight of this Southern-inspired feast is the chicken: it’s ridiculously tender, juicy and tasty thanks to its lengthy bath in a buttermilk marinade. It really does make all the difference.
8 chicken drumsticks, skin removed
50g panko breadcrumbs
4 tbsp golden breadcrumbs
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
olive oil, for drizzling and brushing
4 small corn on the cobs, or 2 cobs cut in half
2 tbsp unsalted butter
½ tsp smoked paprika
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
160g spring greens, sliced
For the marinade:
2 tbsp lemon juice
250ml buttermilk or plain yoghurt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Serves: 4 | Takes: 55 minutes, plus at least 2 hours marinating
Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a large zip-lock bag. Add the chicken and squelch the contents to ensure the chicken is completely coated in the marinade. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or ideally overnight. Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
Mix both breadcrumbs, the paprika, cayenne, salt and garlic powder together in a shallow bowl. Shake any excess marinade off the chicken and dredge in the breadcrumb mixture, pressing down to ensure the coating sticks. Transfer to a lightly oiled wire rack as you go.
Spread each of the cobs with one-quarter of the butter and sprinkle with a pinch of smoked paprika and salt and pepper. Wrap tightly in foil. Place in a 30 x 20 x 5-cm roasting tray. Sit the rack bearing the chicken over the tray and transfer to the oven. Roast for about 35 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the coating is crisp.
Meanwhile, toss the greens with a splash of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Five minutes before the chicken has finished cooking, push the corn to one side and add the greens to the roasting tray. Push the chicken to one side so that it sits over the corn, not the greens (the steam tends to make the coating go soggy) and cook for the final 5 minutes. Serve immediately.