Crunchy Lemonade Chicken

I found this recipe in my Food Network Magazine. Of course, I made a couple of little changes, just based on what I had in the house.

2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup buttermilk
12 skin on chicken drumsticks (I used, skin off.. chicken breasts, and not 12, but 4)
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups panko
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (i did not use, only because i did not have and did not want to buy)
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup mayonnaise
olive oil cooking spray (i just used what I had.. and that was not olive oil)

1. Mix 1 tablespoon lemon zest and the lemon juice in a large bowl. Add 1 cup water and the sugar and whisk to dissolve, then whisk in the buttermilk. Pierce the drumsticks (or in my case, breasts), several times with a fork and season with salt and pepper. Toss in the marinade, cover and refigerate 4 hours, or overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bring the chicken to room temperature. Put the panko, thyme, the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon zet, the cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper to taste in a large resealable plastic bag and shake to mix. Put the mayonnaise in a bowl. Set a rack on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray.

3. Remove the drumsticks from the marinade, dip in the mayonnaise, then drop into the bag and shake to coat; transfer to the rack.

4. Mist the chicken with cooking spray. Bake until golden, about 35 minutes; flip and bake until browned and crisp, 35 to 40 more minutes.

It was really good! Craig and I really liked it, and I dont always love citrisy flavored food!

Enjoy!