recipe reviews: southern-style oven-fried chicken and corn with bacon vinaigrette

*blows dust off of login*

so, um, it's been a while, huh? adulting has been one helluva trip lately, as evidenced by the fact that apparently i haven't tried any new recipes in more than 2 months. it's entirely possible that i just forgot to post one, but it's also possible that i haven't tried anything new. oh well. i'm here now, right? right. maybe one of these days i'll write about something that isn't related to recipes. possibly. no promises.

southern-style oven-fried chicken: who decides to make oven-fried chicken in the summer in an apartment that doesn't have central air? o hai, it me. when i saw this recipe, i knew i already had chicken thighs in the freezer and most of the spices on hand, so it'd just be a matter of buying buttermilk during a grocery shopping trip. it should come as no surprise that i basically doubled the garlic powder. i was worried about this being bland, so i added a 1/2 teaspoon or so of creole seasoning, along with a 1/2 teaspoon or so of the seasoning blend i use as an "all-purpose" or "seasoned salt." the last 1/4 teaspoon of salt was added to the panko mixture instead of sprinkling it on the chicken as called for in step 3 of the recipe. i may have had better luck with the breading if i actually used a shallow dish instead of a ziploc bag, but otherwise? i could see myself making this again in cooler weather. one bonus of having the oven cranked all the way up? i roasted some broccoli (with olive oil and lemon pepper seasoning) while waiting for the oven to reach 475°. win.

corn with bacon vinaigrette: sure, fine, give me another excuse to go to the farmers market. almost anything with corn and bacon is going to get my attention because, well, corn and bacon. i used 3 ears of corn, 4 slices of "regular cut" bacon (because i rarely if ever have thick-cut bacon on hand), and eyeballed some dried basil in step 5 of the recipe because no, i was not going to commit to an entire bunch of basil for one recipe. shouts to the vendor at the farmers market who let me buy one shallot instead of a whole entire bunch that i knew good and well i wouldn't use before they went bad. i have to admit to being a bit worried about this one, since the bacon didn't seem to be crisping up as much as i would normally like. i might actually cut back on the nutmeg and add the salt with the corn to see what impact that has on the flavor. it tasted fine, but i think there's room for improvement.