Culinary calamity

Fourth of July! I was craving a hot dog so bad yesterday, maybe a BBQ and some swimming...but when I get home from work all I wanted to do was crash. Then I started having cravings again. I thought "Hey, I should go have some fried chicken" and then I ventured to the refrigerator to see what could be scrounged up (I'm all about saving money when I can). So I open the fridge and lo, I have a five pack of chicken drumsticks staring back at me. I walk to my pantry, and there is my Cajun breading mix for chicken and fish. So what am I thinking? Oven fried chicken of course! I take out the chicken and wash them off...I decided to take a whiff because they had been in the fridge for at least two weeks. They smelled a little funky...not spoiled though. I have no idea what raw chicken is supposed to smell like anyways. So I wash them off a couple of times and then I decide to throw them in a bowl with some lemon juice (I've seen my mom do this a few times...maybe because she hates the smell of raw chicken). I let them sit like that for about 5 minutes while I'm pre heating the oven to 400. So I'm feeling like a culinary giant at this point. A total food thug if you will. Fearless. I wash them off again, pat them dry and baste them in margarine. Then I put them in the plastic bag with the Cajun breading mix and shake.

I forgot to mention the chicken was skinless. It was gross pulling off the skin, but it looks good, right??

The directions told me to bake for 45 minutes, but I am very very scared of food poisoning. I don't like medium rare chicken, so I baked it for an hour.

This is how it turned out. It looked and smelled amazing!

I cut into the biggest one to make sure it was cooked all the way through. It was, and the crust was good...the problem I had was the actual meat. After you eat all the crust off, the chicken tastes like...nothing. No salt, no spice, NOTHING. Being an African, I expect boldness and spice from everything that I eat. If I had just done a spice rub and baked it, it would've been amazing, or maybe if I had injected it with some form of spicy marinade it would've been so much better. I would've been so proud of myself. But the lack of spice ended up making me sick. It left a terrible taste in my mouth...it basically ruined my night. What can I say though....at least I tried. And now I know what to do for next time. That's one recipe down...I will not be deterred! I hope my next culinary venture is more successful.