Crispy drumsticks | Auckland Lifestyle News | Health, Fashion, Food and Wine in Auckland

One of the wonderful things about properly cooked chicken is the textural contrast between crisp skin and lusciously smooth flesh.

This week's recipe cranks up that contrast by coating the chicken in breadcrumbs enlivened with a little grated parmesan cheese. I have combined two types of crumb: Japanese panko are chunky and super-crisp, while more conventional types ensure good coverage.

The recipe can be used with any chicken pieces, of course, but drumsticks are convenient to pick up in the fingers.

If you can track down free-range chicken, use it. It's nice to think the animals on our table have enjoyed relatively stress-free lives, but we also revel in the greatly increased flavour of birds that have had the freedom to scratch around for at least some of their own food.

12 chicken drumsticks
1 cup plain flour
salt and pepper
3 eggs
quarter cup of milk
1 cup Japanese panko (breadcrumbs)
1 cup toasted breadcrumbs
3 Tbsps grated parmesan cheese
3 Tbsps peanut or vegetable oil

Set oven to 170C. Trim lumps of fat from drumsticks and pat dry with paper towels.

Mix flour and seasonings in a shallow bowl; in a second  bowl, with a fork, beat eggs and milk lightly; combine breadcrumbs and parmesan on a flat plate.

Arrange bowls and plate in an assembly line: coat each drumstick in the flour, then egg, then crumbs. Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and, working in batches, shallow-fry drumsticks until golden-brown, adding more oil as needed.

Cook in the oven for around 30 minutes, or until a skewer jabbed in the thickest part releases only clear juice.

Drain the drums on paper towels and let them cool slightly before serving.

Serves 4

Wine match

Chardonnay is a grape that takes kindly to winery techniques, one of which is to stir the yeast lees that fall to the bottom of the barrel or tank when they have finished converting the sugar in the grapes to alcohol. The process adds a fresh bread or toast note to the wine, and that makes it a logical partner for crumbed foods.

The silver medal-winning Vidal Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2009 was fermented in French oak barrels and in stainless steel tanks but, in both cases, the lees were stirred regularly.

The resulting wine has aromas that suggest Golden Queen peaches and lemon rind, but it is the toast-like secondary notes that make it so good for this dish. You should find it for less than $20.