Fried Chicken
I am still searching for the perfect fried chicken recipe. I haven’t found it. I have tried numerous iterations and that illusive great friend chicken still haunts me.
Some of the best friend chicken I have ever had is at Stroud’s in Kansas City. They usually do it by the whole bird (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs, 2 wings) and it takes about 45 mins for them to cook all of the chicken. None of this make ahead stuff. They fry it in beef fat in large cast iron pots. Man… it comes to the table steaming hot. The crisp and the crunch can be heard when you bite into it and the chicken oozes it’s juicy goodness all over your hands. Man… I wish I had some now.
So, my friend chicken is a 2-day prep ahead recipe. It involves a brine (keeping the chicken moist), then it involves a marinade, making sure the chicken is flavorful and tender, and finally, breading before fried. In this particular case, I only used dark meat, which is my favorite. You could of course use white meat which tends to be thicker and will take longer to cook. I also did boneless, which is not my favorite, but I wanted to only use a shallow pan fry, rather than full deep fried. It’s just less clean up. The result is a fast cooking piece of chicken. If you decide to use bone, it will take longer, much longer. I would recommend either par baking it first or frying it and then baking it.
These chicken thighs turned out juicy and crisp. So, I did at least some things right. As my favorite New Orleans cuisine outside of New Orleans, ACME restaurant in New York, says about itself “it’s an okay place to eat”. This fried chicken “is an okay food to eat.”
I actually made this recipe using a slightly different cooking technique considering they were chicken legs for a play I co-directed: Championship Season. The actors would fight over the chicken even though they needed to stay in character. At the end of the show, techies would descend upon the stage to try and get one of the drumsticks.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
5 chicken thighs, boneless, skin on
2 quarts of water
¼ cup of sugar
¼ cup of salt
1 quart buttermilk
4 cloves of garlic
2 thyme springs
Hot Sauce (I used Crystal from New Orleans but it’s your pick)
1 cup of flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon salt
½ tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper
2 eggs
A splash of milk
½ cup dried bread crumbs
½ cup dried panko bread crumbs (I like mixing the two as the panko is more crunchy, but the regular bread crumb link together to form a more cohesive crust)
(repeat all of the spices above for the bread crumbs)
Peanut Oil
Day 1
Bring the 2 quarts of water to a boil. Once it is boiling, add the sugar and salt and stir till dissolved. Take off heat and allow to cool. It will take several hours. When it is room temperature, pour into a Tupperware. Add chicken to it and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Day 2
Drain chicken off and pat dry. Set aside. Take the four garlic cloves and smash them. In another Tupperware, pour the buttermilk in. Add garlic, thyme sprigs, a sprinkle of salt, a couple fresh cracks of black pepper, and a number of shakes of hot sauce. Add as many as you want. I usually go with 8-10, but you can do more or less. Stir. Once combined, add the chicken into the Tupperware and again refrigerate for another 24 hours.
Day 3
Alright, you’ve waited two days for fried chicken, but now it’s time.
Most fried chicken is merely flour and buttermilk, but for me, I like a thicker coating. In three separate large containers or plates, pour flour in one (along with 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ tablespoon of salt, ½ tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper), crack eggs into another and add a splash of milk before whisking to make a homogenous mixture. Finally, add both style of bread crumbs to the last dish along with 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ tablespoon of salt, ½ tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper. Stir to combine.
Place a cast iron skillet or large deep skillet onto the stove and pour enough peanut oil to make about ½ inch of oil in the pan. Make sure that the pan is deep enough that the inch of oil is less than ¼ of the way up the skillet. When you fry things, the oil expands. You do not want the oil to go over the side into the fire. Turn heat on high and heat for 3-4 minutes. Drop heat to medium / medium high. Take a bread crumb and drop it in to watch how fast it fries. If it burns immediately, turn down the heat. You want it to sizzle and slowly come to a golden brown.
Now you are ready to bread the chicken. Take the chicken out of the buttermilk and pat dry with a paper towel. Place a piece of chicken first in the flour, coating it and dusting it off. Then add to the egg mixture and toss so that it is completely coated by egg. Hold the chicken up with whatever utensil or hand you want and let the egg drip off until it stops running off but is still coated. Place the chicken in the bread crumbs and toss until the entire completely covered. Place on a sheet tray. Then repeat with the other thighs.
Begin frying, do not crowd the pan. I generally do 2 or 3 at a time, but it depends on the size of your pan. Fry for 3-4 minutes a side before flipping. Or until golden brown. Must make sure the chicken is fully cooked. Cutting into it is not ideal as it will bleed out, but using a meat thermometer can work.
As they come out, have a tray ready with a cooling rack on top so that the oil drips off the chicken and onto the tray. Because of the cooling rack, the chicken can air-dry all around it. Placing it directly on a solid surface will cause condensation, which ruins the crust.
If you wish to keep warm, place in an oven till service. If not, serve and enjoy!
