Ritz Cracker Crusted Chicken

I crave comfort food as the weather gets colder. The cold wind and gray skies that chill you to the bone and make you hunger for something warm in your belly. And although I'm nowhere near the crispy foliage and gloomy ambiance of Fall in New England, I require sustenance appropriate to the season. I mean, nothing says "Autumn" quite like the palm trees and blue skies of Savannah, GA.

No matter how I've tried it, dipped in egg, slathered in butter, and coated in bread crumbs, I just could get my chicken crispy. My Nanna always made the best everything, as I'm sure you know if you've taken a gander at most of my recipes. She uses Depression-era common sense with modern cooking conveniences that give her recipes the homey, old world quality that fills up any tummy with scrumptiousness.

Here's what you need to make extra crispy chicken skin with a delicious sweet and salty cracker crust:

• 1 sleeve of Ritz Crackers
• 6-8 chicken legs, with or without skin
• 1/2 cup mayonaise
• salt
• pepper

Preheat your oven to 325-350.

In a sandwich bag, break up all the crackers into tiny crumbs. Season with salt and pepper.

Wash off the chicken legs and dry them on a couple of paper towels. Season them lightly with salt. Use a spatula or spoon to coat each chicken leg with mayonnaise.

There's two ways you can Ritz up the chicken legs. You can either shake them up in a Ziplock bag or grocery bag. Sometimes this gets all the other crumbs moist, though, and I don't like that.

The other option is to spread out your crumbs on a small plate with a rim to prevent spillage. Dump more bread crumbs over the legs. Keep rolling the chicken leg around over the crumbs until its fully coated. Press the crumbs in to make sure they stick.

Rip off a sheet of parchment paper to line a small baking pan. Place chicken legs evenly on the baking pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Serve with mashed potatoes and stuffing on the side. Well, I like mashed potatoes and stuffing on the side of everything, really.

Love,

Liz