Splatter-free fried chicken

Here's a photo of oven-fried chicken and mashed sweet potato, our dinner one evening, arranged in the shape of a heart. Only the photo is cheesy, the chicken wasn't.

Anyway, it's oven-fried. We picked it up from a Cook's Illustrated magazine article. It's chicken covered in crushed cereal, breadcrumbs, chopped basil, salt, pepper and paprika that have been mixed with a bit of oil. You cook it in a 400-degree fahrenheit oven for about 35 to 40 minutes, and get to eat what resembles fried chicken without the deep-frying and guilt. Not too bad, but a little messy to prepare because of all the crushing and coating and stuff.

It's the first fried chicken we've had in a long time since moving to Cambridge, Mass. The KFC nearby doesn't look any good, and we've just never really eaten at a restaurant that served deep fried chicken. It's good for our health, probably, but it's just a little weird when you think long and hard about it.