Monterey Oven Fried Chicken

Tortilla chips and taco seasoning flavor this tasty baked chicken.

Ingredients:  

½ cup flour

homemade taco seasoning (or 1 envelope taco seasoning)

12 boneless. skinless chicken thighs (2 1/2 pounds)

½ cup butter (1 stick)

2 cups crushed tortilla chips

Method:
Heat oven to 375*. Place 2 tablespoons of the butter in a 9X13 inch baking pan. Place in oven. Remove from oven when butter is melted. (Melted butter should cover bottom of the pan.) Melt remaining butter in a dish, in the microwave. Rinse chicken and remove pieces of excess fat, that easily pull off. Dry on paper towels. Combine flour and taco seasoning in a 1 quart Ziploc bag. Add chicken, 2 pieces at a time and shake to coat. One piece at a time, Place chicken in dish of melted butter; turn once to coat. Press both sides of each chicken thigh in tortilla chips, then place in baking pan.

 Bake chicken for 40 - 50 minutes. Serve with rice.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons instant minced onion 
½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon crushed dried red pepper 
1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon chili powder 
¼ teaspoon dried oregano 
½ teaspoon instant minced garlic 

½ teaspoon cornstarch 

Combine all ingredients. Equals one envelope of store bought taco seasoning.

Notes: Crush tortilla chips by placing in a food processor or place in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. (I save the crumbs and broken bits, at the bottom of bags of tortilla chips, in a glass jar, in the freezer.)