Un-fried chicken; Lemon-artichoke risotto

Rosie Daley (chef for Oprah Winfrey); Rachael Ray

Serves: 4

For the chicken:

• 6 chicken drumsticks and 3 whole chicken breasts, halved
• 3 1/3 cups ice water
• 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 1 cup dried Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• dash cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon each dried thyme, basil and oregano

For the risotto:

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1 1/4 cup drained, chopped canned artichoke hearts
• grated peel and 2 teaspoons juice of one lemon
• salt and pepper
• 2/3 cup grated parmesean
• 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

For the chicken:

Preheat oven to 400. Coat a baking sheet with 3 sprays of vegetable oil.

Remove skin from chicken. Place chicken in large bowl with ice water. Put yogurt into medium bowl. Set aside.

Spray a baking sheet with vegetable oil. Breading: Combine all ingredients in large tight-sealing bag; shake to mix. Remove two pieces of chicken from ice water. Roll each piece in yogurt. Put chicken into plastic bag, seal and shake, coating thoroughly. Transfer breaded chicken to oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all 12 pieces are breaded.

Spray chicken lightly with vegetable oil. Place baking sheet on bottom shelf of the oven and bake for 1 hour, turning pieces every 20 minutes for even browning.

For the risotto:

In a saucepan, bring the broth and 4 cups water to a boil, cover and keep at a simmer.

In a large saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes.

Stir in 1 cup of the broth mixture, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Maintaining a low simmer, continue to add the broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently and allowing the rice to absorb the liquid. Cook until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

In the last 3 minutes of cooking, add the artichoke hearts, lemon peel, lemon juice and the remaining 2 tablespoons butter; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese, parsley and walnuts.

*Chef’s note: Double yum. For the risotto, I left out the walnuts because my mom is allergic; I think they would have added a nice earthiness and taken away from some of the uber richness. Otherwise, very lemony, very tasty…. But risotto sure requires a lot of TLC. As for the chicken, it had great flavor but the breading feel apart a bit. I think I would make it on a rack next time so I wouldn’t have to turn the chicken throughout the baking–this is when the breading came off.