Grandma’s Recipe Book: Rice Krispie Chicken

I had every intention of posting an Apartment Dining Challenge entry today. The meal was cooked over the weekend, I took plenty of photos, and even promised it in my recent Facebook and Twitter updates. Well, things have been a bit crazy since Monday and in anticipation of my new job starting next week, I decided to escape to the Adirondacks for a few days to recharge and refocus. I completely forgot to grab the AD Challenge photos off of my hard drive, so Tuesday was my first night here and my mother made one of her mother’s dinner staples: rice krispie chicken.

I asked my mother for the recipe, and not only did she provide me with it, she also pulled out my Grandma Mangan’s recipe book (she of giblet gravy fame). It’s a Home & Garden cookbook bursting with small pieces of loose leaf paper, newspaper and magazine clippings, pieces of prepared food packaging, and paper scraps with recipes ranging from spaghetti pie to chicken marsala. She had a separate set of index cards with her own recipes (or those from Dom DeLuise), but I’m fascinated by the recipes from other sources she chose to save over fifty years of cooking.

All of this—along with my lack of a printer for my computer—inspired me to go out and purchase a three-in-one printer/scanner/copier so that I can document these clippings and not have to deal with the Staples Copy Center on a regular basis. I will be spending much of Thursday scanning my favorite items so that I can create a feature here called “Grandma’s Recipes” where I post the clipping, prepare it myself, and share the results.

I wasn’t able to find the actual clipping for the rice krispie chicken, however my mother was able to write it out from memory.

Rice Krispie Chicken
-4 cups Rice Krispies (or similar generic cereal brand)
-1 tsp. kosher salt
-1/2 tsp. black pepper
-1/2 cup butter
-6 chicken legs and 2 breasts, rinsed and patted dry

1) Pre-heat oven to 350º.

2) Put Rice Krispies, salt, and pepper in food processor and process until they are the consistency of sand. Pour into shallow dish.

2) Melt butter in a medium bowl.

3) Lightly grease a baking sheet and create a small assembly line on your counter. Dip the chicken in the butter, roll in the cereal, and then place on the sheet. Repeat the process until all of the chicken is coated.

4) Bake for 1 hour. Can be eaten plain, or if you’re anything like my sister, enjoy with ranch dressing on the side for dipping.