Zarf and Makki’s Review Site

Welcome once again to a new food review by yours truly. Today we have another frozen delight that has minimal effort with maximum taste pleasure.

I know some of you may think that fried chicken isn’t that tough to make from scratch. While I cannot disagree with this on the surface, it still is not as simple as opening a box, putting the contents into the oven and walking away. Yep, there you go, that is the whole review…..OK, maybe not.

Here is what you need. Start with a box of chicken.

Now, they have a few flavors you can purchase but the spicy is the best flavor in my opinion. I know some people are afraid of spicy foods. Don’t let that frighten you away. I am a little wussy boy when it comes to spicy food. I like mild spicy but that is about it. I would definitely put this in the mild spicy category so if you are looking for head sweats you might be disappointed.

Get that oven heated up to 350 degrees and grab your cookie sheet. I recommend a cookies sheet with sides as there will be some grease and you don’t want that to run off into your oven. I also suggest lining the pan with aluminum foil. This serves two purposes. Most importantly it allows us to be lazy and not need to wash the pan. It also serves as a protective cover for your cookie sheet. I have found that if you have non-stick type sheet it can get damaged when using it for things like this.

This next part is something I have found to really improve the final project. Grab yourself a cooling rack (aluminum or steel, uncoated).

Put it into the prepared pan.

I have found that if you don’t use the rack the bottom of your finished chicken is soggy and no one wants soggy chicken.

Place the chicken on the rack an throw it in the oven if it has reached operating temperature.

Every time you buy this product you will notice that the items you receive will change. That is normal so don’t worry about it. Consider it a type of lottery. Some days you will get more pieces and others you will get fewer but larger pieces. You can decide for yourself what the better result is.

The chicken needs to bake for 50 minutes or so. Obviously this will vary based upon your equipment. It also seems to be fairly flexible as far as leaving it in too long is concerned. I have left the chicken in for as much as 65 minutes with no ill effects.

Here is the finished product.

You should be able to see some of the grease that has leached out of the chicken. It is not a large amount but it is nice having it separate from the product by using the rack. I can’t say that this is healthier than home made but I like to think that it is. I base that on the fact that we aren’t soaking it in hot oil. Keep in mind that I never make a food decision because of supposed health benefits so that comment may be moot coming from me.

All that is needed now is to serve with some sort of side dish. I am partial to cooking up some frozen White Shoepeg Corn in Butter Sauce. I also serve this with a side of ranch dressing. Some of you may want to use Blue Cheese dressing but I can’t see why you would want to dip chicken in moldy dressing. If you don’t have a favorite Ranch dressing I would suggest using Marzetti’s brand. I think that this is the best flavor to go with this chicken and I have tried many different brands.

I hope you will give this one a try and enjoy it as much as Makki and I do.