Parmesan and Panko Chicken Thighs

On days when I am feeling exhausted, the oven does most of the cooking.

It saves me the hassle of having to wipe the stove top, to wash my big frying wok, to wipe the oil splatter off the side table .... the list goes on. All I need to do, with oven baking, is to wash the baking tray!

The recipe for Oven Fried Chicken Thighs with Parmesan and Panko was adapted from About.com. I made some changes to the recipe. The original recipe can be found here.

We all love the crispy panko on the chicken thighs!

Darling son KW thought he was having pork chop, and was wondering why the pork chop was so thick.

4 Chicken Thighs

2 tbsp Butter, melted

1 tsp Honey or maple syrup

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

1/3 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese (I use grated parm. cheese)

1 1/4 cups Panko Crumbs

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

1 tsp Dried Parsley Flakes

1/4 tsp Paprika

• Heat oven to 400F.
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Wash chicken thighs and trim excess fat and skin.
• Pat dry and sprinkle with sea salt.
• In a shallow bowl, combine melted butter, honey and garlic powder.
• In another bowl, combine panko, parmesan cheese, salt, dried parsley flakes and paprika.
• Brush or rub chicken thighs with butter mixture.
• Press all sides of the chicken thigh into the panko mixture to coat thoroughly.
• Place on prepared baking tray.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes, or till juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a fork.

I did not follow the amount stated for panko and the grated parmesan cheese. In fact, I had more panko mixture than required. It was a waste to throw it away, so I used the leftover panko mixture to coat florets of cauliflower! Yes, I send the tray of panko coated cauliflower into the oven to bake, even though I had already prepared a vegetable dish for dinner. It's good to eat more vegetables, don't you think?

• Wash and drain the florets of cauliflower.
• Pour a little olive oil to coat the florets of cauliflower.
• Pour the leftover panko mixture into the bowl of cauliflower.
• Mix well, transfer to a baking tray lined with parchement paper.
• Bake the vegetables together with the chicken thighs.
• The cooking time for cauliflower will be shorter than that of the chicken thighs, so keep an eye on both trays.
• Instead of using two separate trays, you could, during the last 15 minutes of baking the chicken thighs, transfer the panko coated uncooked cauliflower into the baking tray that holds the chicken thighs. That is provided your tray is big enough to hold the chicken thighs and cauliflower, all in one!

Darling son YW obediently ate up his portion of cauliflower, and asked for more! He loved the panko crumbs, which fell from the cauliflower, onto his rice. Yummy, he said. I will definitely make this dish again!