Shake It Baby!

I hope everyone is having an amazing start to the holiday season.  This time we have brought you a twist on a classic semi-homemade recipe that is totally homemade and even more delicious.  Do you remember when you were a kid and your mom would make Shake n Bake chicken?  I know when I was younger this product was a life saver for my mom who did not have much time to cook for us.  I remember the crispy, crunchy coating and the tender juicy chicken on the inside. Just the aromas emanating from the oven caused our mouths to water.  We have come up with a new and improved Shake n Bake recipe that is just as easy, yet healthier and far superior in taste.  Also, instead of serving this with rice and vegetables as my mom use to do, we opted to roast some acorn squash to go along with the delectable chicken.  We hope this recipe will help inspire easy, time saving, extraordinary food memories at the dinner table.

Recipe: Serving Size 4
4 Chicken legs, thighs, or quarters
About 1/2 lb pita chips, make sure you have enough to coat your chicken
Adjust the spices depending on how much crumbs you end up with and to taste. 
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp ancho chile powder
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp ground himalayan pink salt
 1 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup spicy brown mustard

1.  Remove skin on the chicken, very lightly salt and pepper the chicken and allow to sit in the refrigerator covered for 15 minutes.
2.  While the chicken is resting, mix all the spices and seasonings together.  In a food processor or by hand crush the pita chips into crumbs.
3.  In a hot pan melt butter and place crumbs making sure to mix well.  Lightly toast the crumbs until golden.
4.  Mix in spices and seasonings evenly.  Make sure that when you use the crumbs that you place them in a separate container only using enough for the amount of chicken you have.  If you have left over crumbs that have not been used for breading the chicken they can be placed in an air tight container and used another time.  Make sure the crumbs are cooled down all the way before storing.  
5.  Pull chicken out and coat with a thin layer of spicy brown mustard
6.  Rinse and but an acorn squash in half.  Lightly cover in olive oil, salt and pepper, place on sheet pan cut side down.  
6.  Bread your chicken evenly and place on sheet pan with squash, make sure that they do not touch each other and have enough space to breath.
7.  Bake on 375F for 30 minutes or until the chicken and squash are cooked thoroughly.