Saturday, March 10, 2012

The Weekend Chef: Fried Chicken

The Weekend Chef, a.k.a. my husband, is a big fan of Alton Brown and has probably seen every episode of Good Eats!  He's made this Fried Chicken recipe a couple of other times and the family loves it.  He keeps a bag of the chicken seasoning in our spice cabinet, so it's all ready for when he wants to use it. He'll serve the chicken in different ways though.  This time he served it with waffles and collard greens.  Another time he served it with biscuits and gravy.  Regardless, it's his go-to fried chicken recipe.  It's great because my son enjoys eating "chicken on the bone" and of course we all love the fried crunchy bits.  Yum!

 Fried Chicken
foodnetwork.com - courtesy of Alton Brown

Ingredients:
1 broiler/fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 cups low fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Flour, for dredging
Vegetable shortening, for frying

Directions:
Place chicken pieces into a plastic container and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

Melt enough shortening (over low heat) to come just 1/3-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once shortening liquefies raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 325 degrees F.

Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breast and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side. More importantly, the internal temperature should be right around 180 degrees. (Be careful to monitor shortening temperature every few minutes.)

Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan.  Don't drain by setting chicken directly on paper towels or brown paper bags. If you need to hold the chicken before serving, cover loosely with foil but avoid holding in a warm oven, especially if it's a gas oven.


Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!



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