This is my first recipe post. Here are a few things I’m doing differently with my recipe posts compared to other online recipes:

1. I will post ingredients within the first few paragraphs immediately following the photo. No exceptions. I hate scrolling for ten minutes to see if I need to purchase an ingredient. The recipe’s story follows the actual recipe. Read it if you want to.

2. Suggestions are welcome! A recipe is a guide - not a mandate. Please tell me if you did something to make my recipe more delicious.

3. Everything seen here has been made in my imperfect kitchen at least once - so it should turn out ok in your imperfect kitchen.

Ingredients for Rosemary Oven-fried Chicken:

• 8 pieces bone-in chicken legs and/or thighs

• Quart of buttermilk

• 1 1/2 cups fine cornmeal

• 1 tea seasoned salt

• 1 tea garlic powder

• 1/4 cup fresh rosemary snipped fine

• 2 T butter or canola oil

• Oil spray

An hour before cooking, coat and soak chicken pieces in buttermilk. I use a large shallow bowl for this. Chill.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F with the rack in the bottom third of the oven.

Put butter or oil in a roasting pan and heat it while the oven comes to temperature.

Mix together cornmeal, salt, garlic powder and rosemary.

Remove chicken from the refrigerator and coat each piece in the cornmeal/rosemary mixture.

Place chicken pieces, skin side up, in a single layer in the roasting pan.

Spray the top with oil spray.

Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 165 degrees F near the bone (but not touching it).

Remove from oven and drain on a rack before serving.

This chicken is the perfect choice for a picnic. It’s crisp enough to feel like the fried version but with a lot less oil and more flavor. Most of the oil comes from the skin of the chicken. If you want even less oil, cook this dish on a raised rack in the roasting pan and replace the butter with oil spray. You can even take off the skin before soaking in buttermilk, but doing so will lose some of the crunchy texture.

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I discovered this recipe when visiting my (then) 88-year-old grandmother in her little house in Southwest Washington State. The minute anyone comes near Grandma, an invitation to stay for the next meal is eminent. It doesn’t matter if it’s morning, noon, or night. As a child, I didn’t appreciate Grandma’s cooking. She didn’t add a lot of salt because my grandfather had a heart condition. She didn’t use a lot of oil or butter for the same reason. There were few snacks in her house. She wasn’t the woman in an apron feeding grandchildren homemade cookies but rather encouraging us to try an unsweetened, fruit based desert. My other grandmother filled that role. Instead, this grandma cooked amazingly flavorful and healthy meals using whole grains, lean meats, and fresh greens.

This meal was no exception. After thankfully accepting the dinner invitation extended to myself and my two daughters, grandma and my Aunt Bonnie served us this chicken served with spiralized zucchini and carrots tossed in a light vinaigrette and brown rice sautéed with garlic and then steamed until tender. I couldn’t have asked for a more satisfying meal.

Enjoy!