LINDY BOGG’S OVEN FRIED CHICKEN

Lindy Boggs’s Oven-Fried Chicken By Marian Burros

YIELD 2 to 3 servings

1 hour 10 minutes

Lindy Boggs, who represented New Orleans in Congress for 18 years, was as astute in the kitchen as she was in politics, and deployed the knowledge that she had gained growing up on a Louisiana plantation in both. Mrs. Boggs, a Democrat who championed women’s economic concerns, did all the cooking for her yearly garden soirees, which were attended by more than 1,000 guests. Here is her easy recipe for oven-fried chicken, which should be for anyone afraid of stovetop frying. It is a weeknight recipe from a busy woman who cooked, and governed, with confidence and grace.

 INGREDIENTS

1⁄4 cup butter

1⁄3 cup flour

2 eggs

Salt to taste

1 tablespoon paprika

2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 cup cracker crumbs

2 1⁄2 pound chicken, cut in equal size pieces

PREPARATION

Step 1

Place butter in 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking dish and place in 350-degree oven to melt butter.

Step 2

Flour chicken pieces and set aside.

Step 3

Beat together eggs, salt, paprika and lemon juice. Dip chicken pieces, one at a time, in egg mixture, then in cracker crumbs. Arrange pieces, skin side down, in melted butter in baking dish and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, turning once.