Tuesday, February 3, 2009

fried chicken for shaina

one of my favorite things in the world is feeding those that i love.  that's why when i got an email today from a good friend on the west coast requesting my fried chicken, it made me sad that i couldn't just up and fly to make it for her.  sorry, this is the best i can do...

soak raw chicken in buttermilk (8 hours to overnight) in the fridge (!)

remove chicken from fridge 30 to 45 minutes before breading and cooking

when you're ready to bread the chicken, prepare three shallow dishes:

one with plain all-purpose flour (add some salt and pepper)
one with scrambled egg wash (i add a little water to the eggs as i scramble them)
one with an even mixture of all-purpose flour, finely ground bread crumbs, healthy dose of ground cumin, a little paprika, and salt and pepper

before removing chicken from buttermilk prepare medium sized skillet or pan with approximately an inch of canola or vegetable oil (oil will not cover chicken), and turn onto medium heat.

remove chicken from buttermilk and let drain.  dredge first in plain flour mixture, then egg wash (let wash drip off a bit), and then the flour/bread crumb mixture.  

gently add chicken to oil and fry until outside is golden brown, flipping once to fry on both sides - approx 5 minutes on each side.  do not crowd chicken in pan.  if necessary, fry in batches.  

i've found that boneless chicken (i.e. chicken fingers or strips) are easier and pretty popular.  yes, you lose a little flavor from not cooking on the bone, but i don't miss it too much.  if you are cooking chicken on the bone, you'll want to put the chicken in a 350 degree oven after frying to cook the rest of the way.



1 comment:

shaina said...

I made this last weekend and it was great! I added some hot sauce to the buttermilk overnight marinate and a little bit of cayenne pepper to the flour and bread crumb mixture to add a little spice. Very yummy. Thanks for the recipe. Wish you had been here to cook and eat with me.