Besotted Gourmet » Fried Chicken

Summer Fried Chicken

Jessica — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:24:13 +0000

I’ve come to the realization lately that my farm share may be taking over not only my fridge, but also a large portion of my life. As one friend put it, “the pressure to consume” all of the wonderful veggies can be a bit overwhelming, and I did find, as I looked back through the latest Besotted posts that they almost exclusively dealt with vegetables – noble and lovely as they are, I started to feel that there was something a bit lacking.

I spent a couple of quiet hours on Sunday pouring through my cooking magazines and books and came up with a lot of happy inspiration for delicious (and omnivorous!) meals. And, to get the ball rolling, I decided to start-out with one of my favorite carnivorous meals – Fried Chicken.

I know that I already have a Fried Chicken recipe up from the Winter, but this one, much more delicately seasoned and paired with Honey & Pepper Biscuits and fresh Green Beans seemed so much more in keeping with a light and bright summer mood.

This recipe also beats out the Winter version in its diminished complexity – owing to the amount of salt that the Winter version marinates in (which does give it tremendous flavor), it can not be left unattended for very long, and certainly not overnight. Whereas, this summery version can be marinated overnight, or for as little as 6 hours, depending on your schedule, making it far easier to plan and prepare for friends.

Below you’ll find the Summer Fried Chicken recipe, and, in the posts that follow, I’ll include the recipe for the Honey & Pepper Biscuits, as well as 2 Fresh Green Bean recipes – Green Beans with Fried Shallots and Green Beans with Onion Mustard Vinaigrette (one of my new favorites!).

Summer still seems to be clinging on here in New England, with a vigorous heat wave, and what a better way to celebrate the warm weather and sunshine than with a big plate of homemade fried chicken. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Summer Fried Chicken, Serves 4-6

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Prep Time: 90 Minutes

Marinating, Drying & Frying Time: 7 Hours 45 Minutes

Total Prep Time: 9-9.5 Hours

Ingredients:

3 Cups Buttermilk

1 Tbls. Kosher Salt

1 Tsp. Hot Pepper Sauce

3-4lbs. Chicken Pieces (thighs, legs, and wings are best)

2 Cups Flour

2 Tsp. Garlic Powder

2 Tsp. Onion Powder

2 Tsp. Paprika

1 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper

8-10 Cups Peanut Oil for frying

Preparation:

Mix together 2 cups of the buttermilk, salt, and hot pepper sauce in a large bowl. Add the chicken pieces, pushing down to submerge and cover thoroughly. Cover and put in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Before removing the chicken from the refrigerator, prepare your battering station. Combine flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and cayenne in a medium sized bowl and mix well. Pour half of the flour mixture into another medium sized bowl. Between the two flour bowls, add a third bowl filled with the remaining cup of buttermilk.

[Click here for a few tips on battering chicken]

Dredge the chicken pieces in the first bowl of flour and shake off any excess. Submerge the chicken piece in the buttermilk, coat thoroughly, and allow to drip dry. Lastly, dredge the chicken piece in the second flour bowl and, again, shake off any excess. Lay on a drying rack and repeat with the rest of the chicken pieces.

Place the drying rack, uncovered, in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.

When you’re ready to begin frying, pour the peanut oil to a depth of 1.5-2 inches into a large stock pot and heat over medium-high heat until it reaches 300°. Drop the battered and dried chicken pieces into the pot, skin-side down, two at a time, and cook for 12-14 minutes (6-7 minutes each side).

Remove to a plate covered in paper towels, and repeat until all of the chicken pieces are cooked. Sprinkle with a little sea salt, grab a mountain of paper napkins, serve, and enjoy!

Brown-bag lunches to get excited about

Jessica — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:00:57 +0000

A few years back, I had made the foolish habit of buying lunch every day at work; a group of us had become close friends, and I felt worthy, neigh, entitled, to splurge on eating out in order to spend the quality time with friends and break up the work day. I estimate that in one year I spent ~$2000 ‘splurging’ on going out for lunch, rather than brown-bagging it, which is just a little nauseating, given our current recession.

There seems to be some sort of distastefulness associated with brown-bagging-it, and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is – it’s part hassle, part belief that the food won’t taste as good, and part perceived image and social opportunity in a work setting. I understand the reluctance, as I felt it myself, but those qualms disappeared when I started making my own lunches and realized the following: I make a better sandwich, with fresher, more interesting ingredients for a third of the cost of the local cafe.

Unless you decide to wrap your homemade sandwich in gold leaf or are in the habit of smearing your sandwich bread with Beluga caviar, you can make some pretty spectacular and creative sandwiches for far less than your corner deli charges for a turkey on wheat bread. Here are some examples of great sandwich ideas that will makes deli sandwiches look mean and boring:

Goat cheese, fig jam mixed greens & prosciutto on a toasted baguette
Fried chicken sandwich with spicy mayo on toasted whole wheat bun
Fried egg, bacon, cheese, and mixed greens on toasted whole wheat
Whole Foods has an amazing herb roasted turkey breast that, in my opinion, is the best item in their deli case – pair this with some white cheddar, tomato slices, and mixed greens on a toasted oatmeal or 12 grain bread.

So I focused on the best part... the homemade potato chips to go with it.
In case of emergency only… if you’re really having trouble convincing yourself to brown-bag-it, it might be worth treating yourself to a Nutella sandwich, just to get the ball rolling. A toasted, thick white bread smeared with Nutella and dotted with bananas, mango, or pears would certainly get me to bring lunch.

If you’re still having difficulty getting over the brown-bag hurdle, just imagine what you would do with an extra thousand or two lying around…. shoes (PURRR), bags (double-PURRR), trip to Paris to buy said shoes and bags… yup, I thought that would convince you.

Crispy, Garlicky Fried Chicken

Jessica — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 13:00:20 +0000

As I was making dinner the other night, PT jokingly suggested that I start Cooking Heavy magazine, the yummier, more diabolical counterpart to Cooking Light magazine.

Shocked, I stood before the vat of scalding oil, ready to drop the battered chicken in, and asked what would have given him such an idea. “Oh nothing,” he smirked, kissed me on the head, and retreated to the living room.

Now, I will admit that I have a slight predilection for cooking foods that contain cheese, butter, cream, chocolate, more butter, crème fraîche (definitely, crème fraîche), and home-frying does send me into a bit of a frenzy. There’s nothing quite like that first hiss and sizzle, as the food hits the near-bubbling oil, that tells you that you’re in for a treat.

On that particular night, I had decided to make my famous (well, famous within an exclusive circle) Fried Chicken. The weather in Boston was starting to make a turn for the better, and I was in the mood for a bit of kitchen pottering – the mindless activity that certain slow-cooking recipes demand in regular increments throughout the day, and which this Fried Chicken recipe fulfills beautifully.

This Fried Chicken is unlike anything you’ve ever tasted, and, as far as I’m concerned, beats any fast food joint by a mile. It’s salty, a little spicy, super-garlicky, and unbelievably crispy. The marinade flavors the meat straight down to the bone and makes it so tender and juicy, it nearly falls off after the first bite.

The one caveat to this meal is that it must be started by noon at the latest, if you intend to have dinner at a reasonable hour, and it more or less chains you to the kitchen. That being said, if you have the time and inclination, this is a fabulously decadent, fun meal to make and serve.

Click here for a printable version of the recipe

Crispy Garlicky Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Chicken, cut-up, preferably thighs, wings, and legs

3-4 Cups Peanut Oil

For the Marinade

½ Cup Kosher Salt

¼ Cup Sugar

1 Tbls. Garlic Salt

1 Tbls. Chili Powder

1 Tbls. Cayenne*

3 Heads of Garlic, cloves separated and skinned

2 Bay Leaves, Crumbled

2 Quarts Buttermilk

For the batter

3 Cups Flour

1 Tbls. Kosher Salt

1 Tsp. Pepper

1 Egg

1 Tsp. Baking Powder

½ Tsp. Baking Soda

It may be tedious, but dealing with all of this garlic produces an incomparably flavored meat.

To make the marinade, place the skinned garlic cloves, kosher salt, sugar, garlic salt, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and bay leaves in a durable, zip-lock bag. With the flat side of a meat pounder (or anything heavy and flat) pound the mixture, until the garlic cloves are well-smashed into the salt.

Pour the mixture into a large tupperware container (anything non-reactive) and add 7 cups of the buttermilk (reserve the last cup for the batter). Mix well until all of the salt is dissolved.

Submerge the chicken in the mixture, ensuring that all sides are coated well. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Place a cookie sheet underneath a large wire cooling rack. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator. Remove the chicken from marinade using tongs and lay on the wire cooling rack. Refrigerate uncovered for at least 2 hours or for up to 6.

The cookie sheet will catch any drips or spills from the drying chicken.

To make the batter, whisk together the egg, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium-sized nesting bowl. Once mixed, pour the remaining cup of buttermilk into the bowl.

Separately, pour the flour, salt, and pepper into a shallow, wide baking dish and mix well. Drop 2-3 pieces of chicken into the flour mixture. Coat the pieces well by either shaking the dish or using a spoon (or your clean hands) to cover the tops with flour. Using tongs, lift the chicken out of the flour and drop into the egg and buttermilk mixture. Again, coat well. Remove the chicken, allowing the excess liquid to drip off and return to the flour mixture. Again, coat well with the flour mixture, using the same method as before. Once fully coated, return the chicken pieces to the wire rack (with the cookie sheet beneath to catch any drips).

Repeat this process with the remaining chicken. You will want to remove any clumps of batter from the flour mixture and tongs before moving on to the next batch, as they will make coating and moving the chicken messier and more difficult.

Once all the chicken pieces are battered and returned to the wire rack, return the rack to the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before frying.

To fry the chicken, you must have a large pot or dutch oven with a diameter of at least 12 inches, a depth of at least 8 inches, and it must have a lid or cover.

Pour the peanut oil to a depth of about 2-2 ½ inches into the pot. Heat over medium-high heat until it reaches a temperature of 350-375°.

Place 2-3 of the chicken pieces, skin-side down, into the oil. Cover the pot. Turn the heat down to medium and fry for 6-8 minutes. The skin will become instantly golden and brown, but will not burn with the extra time.

Once the 6-8 minutes are done, using tongs, flip the chicken to the other side for another 6-8 minutes.**

Check the heat of the oil to make sure that it has not fallen below 325°, which is the magic number for ensuring crispy fried chicken.

Once the batch is done frying, remove the chicken to a plate covered in paper towels. Allow the oil temperature to reach 350-375° again before beginning on the next batch. Continue, using the same method, until all of the chicken is fried.

Nom nom nom...

Plate the chicken pieces, sprinkle a little salt on top (or whip up a nice honey mustard sauce), and serve with a big salad or heaping of sides.