Susie Quick Serves Up a Healthy Southern Picnic

Aug. 3, 2005 -- -- Susie Quick, food editor of Organic Style magazine, puts a healthy spin on the summer picnic with her recipes for crispy fried chicken, rosemary sandwich biscuits and crunchy peanut butter cookies. She also tells us how to pickle any summer vegetable.

Prep time: 10 minutes (doesn't include 4 1/4 hours marinating/resting time)
Total time: 50 minutes

Serves 4 to 6

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 pounds chicken wing "drumettes"
• 3 cups corn flakes
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

In a large, shallow dish, mix together buttermilk, garlic, salt and pepper. Add chicken and turn to coat evenly. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Arrange a rack on top of a large baking sheet and set aside. Place corn flakes in a blender and grind to make fine crumbs. In a large bowl, combine crumbs, Parmesan and cayenne. Remove chicken from marinade and allow excess to drip off. Dredge each piece in crumbs and transfer to rack. Allow chicken to rest 15 minutes. (The chicken may be prepared to this point earlier in the day and refrigerated until ready to cook.)

Meanwhile, heat oven to 425°F. Arrange chicken in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet. Drizzle with butter (or dab it on with a brush) and bake 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp and golden. (Rearrange chicken halfway through baking so that it cooks evenly). Serve chicken hot or room temperature.