"COME AND GET IT" ... Fried Chicken! (or IN YOUR FACE Alton Brown)

 

Who doesn’t like fried chicken? I mean really, that would be un-American! However, I am not talking about the dry, chewy, overcooked, oily mess that I grew up choking down. I’m here to praise the goodness that is the savory, salty, CRUNCHY-crusted chicken with loads of juices that run down your hands from the first bite to the last!

But I have a confession to make: I have never made fried chicken before! Don’t get me wrong, I love the stuff, and I know how it’s made, but for some reason it’s one dish that has always scared me. I am here to say “NO MORE”! For better or worse I am cookin up some “yard bird”!

One of my many character defects is that once I decide to do something well, “good enough” isn't good enough for me!! It is a neurosis born out of OCD but it sure makes for some tasty grub!

My recipe ideas usually come to me many days in advance, and only in hindsight can I link together the train of thought that led me to my first fried chicken experience.  In my head I envisioned a CRISPY coated dark meat chicken, with garlic, whipped potatoes, and buttery, yeasty dinner rolls. There are a myriad of options if you just want some fried chicken, ranging from a trip to the Colonel’s for a bucket-o-chicken to raising, growing, butchering etc. Guess which end of the spectrum I lean toward!

Ok, I’ll give you the rundown, but my “recipes” are approximate at best, I just cook by feel. I needed some chicken stock for the potato recipe that came to me in my fried chicken dream, but I wasn’t about to ruin a culinary masterpiece with some sodium laden chicken-water from a can, or a dehydrated cube! I had FRESH celery, onions, garlic, and some carrots on hand, and a quick trip to the deep freeze produced not one, but TWO chicken carcasses from two birds we butchered some time back. It’s the little things that make me giddy! I also had FRESH sage, thyme etc. picked just days earlier from Lulu’s garden! A rough chop of all the above ingredients, and in they go to a stock pot with a few tablespoons of heated olive oil. After a few minutes I added about two quarts of HOT water, and both chicken carcasses!  Reduced to a simmer and moved on to wake up the yeasty-beasties.

I almost never use store bought yeast, instead I rely on my yeasty friends in my sourdough starter. These little fella’s sleep in my fridge when not in use so I have to wake them up and feed them to get em ready for bread making. Just add some flour and water, sit the jar on the counter and wait for them to start bubbling away.

My favorite cut of chicken is the thigh, so I opted for free range boneless, skinless chicken thighs from Trader Joes (thank you Christie). I removed the eight thighs from the package, and cut each in half giving me 16 pieces roughly  2”x2” for the perfect crust to chicken ratio. These little morsels were going into a buttermilk bath for the next 24 hours along with lots of savory herbs and spices.

By now the chicken that is in the stock pot has been simmering for a few hours I just strain it through a sieve, and refrigerate the 2-3 quarts of amazing stock!!! I only need a cup or two for my recipe so the rest gets frozen in separate freezer bags! How cool is that!? One more great benefit is the 2+ cups of chicken meat from the carcasses for any number of uses!

Day two:

Sleep late, then drink fresh black coffee, and eat my wife’s homemade potato bread French toast…. Oh wait, that’s another post!

A few hours before dinner I removed some sourdough starter, mixed it with flour water, salt, a dash of sugar and my secret ingredient (a tablespoon of homemade SCHMALTZ). Gently knead til smooth and set aside to double in size. After it doubled I punch it down, and form into balls the size of golf balls, and place then on a baking sheet to double one last time before baking. If the house is cool the rise may take a long time... I have a secret turbo method! Place a measuring cup with 2-3 cups of water in it into your microwave and nuke til it boils. Leave the water in there, but move the cup to the side and place your dough in the microwave and close the door. The warm moist environment will make it rise in RECORD time! You will have to watch it so it doesn't over-rise, this will ruin your bread. Once the golf-balls become baseballs, toss them into a 375 oven for 15 minutes, then brush with butter and do 5-8 more minutes. The smell of your kitchen at this point will probably have the neighbors knocking at your door!

The young golden potatoes are all placed in a single layer in a pan with a lid. Then I add just enough of my chicken stock to not quite submerge the spuds. Season them with fresh garlic, chopped onions, black pepper, and maybe some herbs. I pierce each tater with a knife to facilitate the absorption of the stock. My objective it to simmer the potatoes low and slow until the chicken stock is almost completely absorbed by the softening potatoes. Once the spuds are nice and soft, I just mash them with a masher and they are ready to go! I did add about a tablespoon of plain Greek yogurt to mine to cut the richness.

On to the star of the show, the thighs! At this point the meat has been in the seasoned buttermilk for 24 hours, and needs to come up for air. I removed all of the pieces and placed them on a rack to drain. It is then necessary to blot all the excess buttermilk from the chicken, before tossing them into a large bag of seasoned flour (see the pattern here? ... add flavor at EVERY opportunity). Each piece needs to be floured, then shaken well to remove the excess, and get this .... BACK INTO THE BUTTERMILK, then back into the flour! Trust me... it's SO worth it!

One very important pre-fry step is to let the chicken air dry on a rack for an hour to allow the crust to "crustify" and to allow the meat to reach room temperature. This facilitates uniform (and faster) cooking!

The only thing left to do now is get the hot tub ready for the guests. One of the reasons I even tackled this dish was so I could test drive "big Berth" my 100 year old cast iron skillet. I filled her just over an inch deep with almost a quart of lard that I made last year. Using a candy thermometer I waited for the temperature of the lard to reach 370, then I added 4 pieces of the chicken. I try not to put you all to sleep with the reasons for all of the steps, but I am happy to elaborate if you want. If you crowd the pan with cold chicken, the oil cools to the point where the oil can get into the breading. At a high temperature, the steam escaping from the chicken prevents the oil from passing through, and makes a CRUNCHY shell that keeps juice IN and oil OUT! I started with a quart of lard, and ended with a quart of lard! ...  back to the bird ... I have no idea how long they cooked but I think 7-9 minutes seems about right depending on thickness. I just kept an eye on them for that deep golden brown and removed them when they looked "finger lickin good". You need to manage your temps though, too HOT and you burn your lard, to cool and you get a greasy, soggy mess! I had the oven set to 200 degrees, the rolls, and the whipped spuds were staying warm in there. I also laid out some brown paper bags to set the chicken on once I pulled them from the skillet.

What we ended up with was a VERY crunchy/crispy, savory crusted chicken that was easily the most tender and juicy that I have ever had! I am not sure there is any one “secret” but every step in the process contributes to the amazing finished product! The cut of chicken, the buttermilk “brine”, the breading, the HOT oil, all came together to make the very best chicken that I have ever eaten!

I'm sure at this point you all are saying "that is a LOT of work for fried chicken" ... you are right, it was more work than a lot of meals, but when you want to just knock the socks off of someone, I think you can't go wrong with a fantastic homemade meal that you make with heart, and passion!

If any of you want an actual recipe just drop me a line!

Don