If you want crunchy breaded chicken, you need to start with crunchy ingredients.

That's one of the problems with most baked "fried" chicken recipes. They coat the chicken with flour-or bread crumb-based coatings that rely on you to make them crispy.

Substituting a coating that starts life crispy long before it ever meets up with the chicken removes that element of chance.

For salty, savory goodness, this recipe uses crushed potato chips and pretzels, but any combination of similar ingredients would work. For example, for a Mexican chicken, you could use tortilla chips.

Though a food processor is best for turning the chips and pretzels into crumbs, tossing them into a plastic bag and whacking them with a rolling pin or skillet works, too. The crumbs must be fine, though; large ones don't adhere well.

This recipe keeps the seasonings in the coating mostly neutral, but its easy to improvise. Grated Parmesan cheese would be good, as would any number of spices, such as oregano, paprika, even curry powder.

You can experiment with flavors by using varieties of potato chips with different seasonings. Ranch or salt-and-vinegar chips would be particularly tasty.

Creating a white pan sauce for the chicken is easy, but you could easily skip that step and serve the chicken as you prefer.

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Servings: 6

2 ounces plain potato chips

2 ounces thin pretzel sticks

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 eggs

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

11/4 pounds chicken breasts

2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

For the white pan sauce:

11/2 cups sweet white wine (such as Riesling)

Pinch of saffron threads

1 teaspoon dry parsley

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons cold water

Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

In a food processor, combine the potato chips, pretzels and red pepper flakes, then pulse until they are very fine crumbs. Transfer the mixture to a wide, shallow bowl and set aside.

In a second wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs and soy sauce. Set aside.

Carefully slice each chicken breast in half horizontally to create 2 thin fillets.

One at a time, place the chicken breasts in the egg mixture, turning to coat both sides. Dredge each fillet through the chip and pretzel mixture, turning to coat both sides.

In a large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high, heat the oil until very hot. Add the chicken breasts and cook until browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Turn the breasts, then place the skillet in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and transfer to a serving plate. Cover with foil to keep warm.

Return the skillet to the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the wine, saffron, parsley and salt. Bring to a simmer, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan with a spoon to release any browned bits.

Simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, then add the butter and swirl it in until melted.

In a small glass, mix the cornstarch and water, then add to the skillet. Return to a simmer, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with the pan sauce.

NUTRITION PER SERVING: 352 calories; 114 calories from fat; 13 grams fat (4 saturated; 0 trans fats); 118 milligrams cholesterol; 24 grams carbohydrate; 25 grams protein; 0 grams fiber; 354 milligrams sodium.