Sour Cream Chicken

This has been a family favorite recipe as long as I can remember. This chicken served with steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes would easily have been titled my favorite meal for at least 6 years of my life. Its still way up there, I’ve since decided there can no longer be a single favorite . The recipe is easy, can be made ahead, is kid friendly, and is amazing left over cold the next day. My Mom got the recipe from a friend back before we moved to Saudi Arabia which was in 1985- although I recently stumbled upon it in the Colorado Cache cookbook which is what teased my taste buds for it last week. (Famous junior league of Denver recipe collection from back in the day) I set the book out on the counter as I was leaving for work in hopes I could sweet talk John into making it while I was at work that day... (it worked.) The marinade is very easy and you can let the chicken go for an hour or two or even overnight if you have the time. I like to cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise before marinating- the portions are more reasonable and you can shave off some of the cooking time. I’ve done this with chicken tenderloins as well which is super fast. Marinade/Coating: ½ pint sour cream ¼ cup lemon juice 1 T Worcestershire sauce 4 tsp celery salt 2 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp paprika ½ tsp pepper When I got home from work, I seasoned some panko bread crumbs (I used almost 2 cups I think, more than I would have thought) with salt and pepper. I dredged each of the chicken pieces (you want to leave as much of the gooey marinade coating on them as possible) in the crumbs and placed them on a cookie sheet lined with foil and sprayed with Pam. I then drizzled the chicken ever so lightly with olive oil to help them brown in the oven. The recipe calls for melted butter but I didn’t feel like melting any... it crisped up nicely and olive oil is technically the healthier choice too. I baked the chicken at 350 for approx 35 minutes, checking ever so often to avoid over cooking. I served the chicken hot from the oven with steamed broccoli doused with fresh lemon juice (a must with this dish in my opinion) and some twice baked potatoes that I had left over in the freezer (thanks Tripp and Luci!). I can honestly say that I’ll be making this again very very soon as my tummy is grumbling as I type. I’d be tempted to double the recipe too- as I said earlier, this makes great left-overs and is delicious served cold should you be looking for picnic ideas. Enjoy!